mm 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

GIFT  OF          *  Y\ 

MRS.   MARY  WOLFSOHN 

IN    MEMORY  OF 

HENRY  WOLFSOHN 

SMS'M-JM^^M^M'^MM'Jiti^ 


fflSTOKY  OF  GERMANY; 


FROM    THE 


EARLIEST    PERIOD    TO    THE  PRESENT    TIME 


BY  FREDERICK  KOHLRAUSCH, 

CHIEF  CO  JNi^ELLOR  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HANOVER. 
AND  LATE  PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY  IN  THE  POLYTECHNIC  SCHOOL. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  LAST  GERMAN  EDITION. 

BY  JAMES  D.  HAAS. 


WITH  A  COMPLETE   INDEX, 

PREPARED    EXPRESSLY    FOR    TH12    AMERICAN    EDITION. 


NEW    YORK: 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1,  3,  AND    5    BOND    STREET. 

1880. 


TRANSLATOR'S   PREFACE. 


THE  high  merits  and  distinguished  character  of  the  original  German  work 
Dy  Professor  Kohlrausch,  of  which  this  is  a  translation,  have  long  been 
acknowledged.  A  work  which  during  a  period  of  thirty  years  has  enjoyed 
so  much  popularity  as  to  have  gone  through  several  editions,  embracing  a 
circulation  of  many  thousands  of  copies ;  a  production  which  has  extended 
and  established  its  good  repute,  even  in  its  original  form,  far  beyond  its  native 
clime,  to  England,  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  America,  &c.,  (in  several  of  which 
countries  it  has  been  reprinted  in  German,)  and  has  thus  become  a  standard 
book  of  reference  in  almost  all  the  universities  and  principal  public,  as  well 
as  private  educational  institutions — such  a  publication  possesses  ample  testimony 
proving  it  able  to  create  a  lasting  interest,  and  confirming  its  claims  to  con- 
sideration and  esteem. 

The  aim  of  the  distinguished  author  in  this  valuable  history  is  thus  simply     j 
but  distinctly  expressed   by  himself :    "  My  sole  object,"  he  says,  "  has  been 
to   produce  a  succinct   and  connected   development  of   the  vivid    and  eventful 
course    oi    our   country's    history,  written    in  a   style   calculated   to  excite  the 
interest  and  sympathy  of  my  readers,  and  of  such  especially  who,  not  seeking 
to  enter  upon  a  very  profound  study  of  the  sources  and  more  elaborate  work 
connected  with   the    annals  of   our   empire,  are    nevertheless  anxious  to    have 
presented  to  them  the  means  of  acquiring  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  records 
of  our  Fatherland,  in  such  a  form  as  to  leave  upon   the  mind    and   heart  an 
enduring,  indelible  impression." 

That  our  industrious  historian  has  attained  his  object,  the  intelligent  reader 
will  find  in  the  interest  excited,  the  clear  views  imparted,  and  the  deep  impres^y 
sion  effected  by  his  animated  portrayals  of  both  events  and  individuals.     This 
has  been   the  original   and  acknowledged  characteristic  of  Herr  Kohlrausch's 
work  throughout  its  entire  existence  ;  but  in  the  new  edition  from  which  this 
translation  has  been  rendered,  he  has  endeavored  to    nake  it  as  perfect  as  possi 
ble,  both  in  matter  and  style,  and  besides  this  has  enriched  it  with  many  valuable 


PREFACE. 


notes  not  contained  in  the  former  editions ;  thus  making  it  in  reality  a  concise, 
yet,  in  every  respect,  a  complete  history  of  Germany. 

It  is  important  to  remark,  that  Professor  Kohlrausch  is  a  Protestant,  and  one 
distinguished  not  less  for  his  freedom  from  prejudice  and  partiality,  than  for 
the  comprehensiveness  of  his  views  and  the  high  tone  of  his  philosophy.  The 
general  adoption  of  the  work — alike  by  Protestant  and  Romanist — is  proof 
sufficiently  convincing  of  the  impartiality  of  his  statements,  and  of  the  justice 
of  his  reflections  and  sentiments. 

TAMES  D.  fUAS. 

Isitidon.  1844. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION. 

AN  WENT  GEKMAXY  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS. 

PAGE 

The  Sources  of  the  most  ancient  German  His- 
tory— The  Nature  of  the  Country — The 
Natives— The  Germanic  Races — Manner&f- 
and  Customs — Civil  Institutions — War — 
Regulations  and  Arms  —  Religion — Arts 
and  Manufactures — The  Germanic  Tribes  15 


THE  MORE  ANCIENT  GERMAN  HISTORY. 
FIRST  PERIOD. 

FROM    THE    MOST    ANCIENT    TIMES  TO  THE  CONQ.UE8TS 
OF    THE    FRANKS    UNDER    CLOVIS,    486  A.  D. 

CHAPTER     I. 

B.  C.  113— 6  A.  D. 

The  Cimbri  and  Teutoni,  113— 101  B.  c.— 
Caisar  and  Ariovistus,  58  B.  c. — Julius 
Caesar  on  the  Rhine — Commencement  of 
the  Great  German. Wars — Drusus  in  Ger- 
many— Marbodius,  King  of  the  Marco- 
manni  ....  .-  .  .  .  .  .  43 


CHAPTER  II 
7—374. 

Armimns  or  Hermann — Arminius  and  Varus 
— Arminius  and  Germanicus — The  Death 
of  Arminius,  21  A.  n. — Further  Wars  be- 
tween the  Germans  and  Romans — War 
with  the  Marcomanni,  167-180 — The  Ger- 
manic Confederations — The  Alcmanni — 
The  Franks — The  Saxon  Confederation — 
The  Goths — The  Decline  of  the  Roman 
Empire  .  .  .  .  54 

CHAPTER  III. 

375 — 476. 

The  Hunns — Commencement  of  the  Great 
Migration,  375 — Irruption  of  the  Western 
Goths,  Vandals,  Suevi,  Burgundians,  and 
other  Tribes  into  the  Western  Roman  Em- 
pire— Alaric — Attila,  God's  Scourge  451 
— The  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  i  the 
West.  47G .68 


SECOND   PERIOD. 


FROM    THE    CONQUESTS    OF  CLOV1S  TO 

486—768. 
CHAPTER   IV. 


PAGH 


Clovis,  King  of  the  Franks,  482-511— Theo- 
doric,  surnamed  Dieterich  of  Berne,  488- 
526  —  The  Longobardi  in  Italy,  568  — 
^Changes  in  the  Customs  and  Institu- 
"ons  of  the  Germans — The  Language — 
Constitution  —  Feudal  System  —  Laws  — 
Pastimes — Christianity,  in  Germany — The 
Grand  Chamberlains — Chas.  Martel  against 
the  Arabs,  732 — Pepin  the  Little — The 
Carlovingians  


THIRD  PERIOD. 

THE     CARLOVINGIANS     FROM     CHARLEMAGNE    TO 
HENRY    I.,    768—919. 

CHAPTER  V. 

768—814. 

Charlemagne,  768-814— The  State  in  which 
Charlemagne  found  the  Empire — The  East- 
Roman,  or  Grecian  Empire — England — 
The  North  of  Europe — The  Spanish  Pe- 
ninsula— Italy — Austria  and  Hungary — 
Germany — The  Wars  of  Charlemagne — 
The  Saxons — The  Longobardi — The  Arabs 
— The  Bavarians — The  Empire  of  Charle- 
magne— Charlemagne,  Emperor  of  Rome, 
800— Death  of  Charlemagne,  814— His 
Portraiture  39 


CHAPTER  VI 

814—918. 

Louis  the  Pious,  814-840— Division  of  the 
Empire  among  his  Sons,  Louis,  Lothaire, 
and  Charles  the  Bald,  843 — The  German 
Sovereigns  of  the  Race  of  the  Carlovingians, 
843-911 — Louis,  or  Ludwig,  the  German 
—  Charles  the  Fat — Arnulf  —  Louis  the 
Child — The  later  and  concluding  Period  of 
the  Carlovingians — Conrad  I.,  of  France nia, 
911-918  .  .  .  .  .  10G 


CONTENTS. 


FOURTH   PERIOD. 

FROM    HENRY    I.    TO    RUDOLPHUS    OF    HAPSBURG,  919- 
1273. 

CHAPTER  VII 
919-1024. 

Henry  I. ,919-936 — His  Wars— The  Hungari- 
ans— The  Sclavonians — New  Institutions — 
Otho  I.,  936-973— The  Hungarians— Bat- 
tle of  the  Letcfcfeld — The  Western  Empire 
renewed,  962/-Greece— Otho  II.,  973-983 
—Otho  III/983-1003-His  Religious  De- 
votion— His  Partiality  for  Roman  and  Gre- 
cian Manners  and  Customs — Henry  II., 
1003-1024— Italy— Pavia— Bamburg— His 
Death,  1024 — End  of  the  Saxon  Dynasty  117 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    SALIC    OR    FRANCONIAN    HOUSE,   1024-1125,    TO 
LOTHAIRE    THE    SAXON,    1137. 

Assemblage  of  the  Ducal  States— The  Elec- 
tion—Conrad II.,  1024-1039— Re-estab- 
lishes Internal  Peace — Italy — Canute,  King 
of  England  and  Denmark — Burgundy — 
Ernest,  Duke  of  Swabia — The  Faust-Recht 
—Conrad's  Death,  1039— Henry  III.,  1039- 
1056— The  Popes— Henry's  Zeal  for  the 
Church— His  Death,  1056— Henry  IV., 
1056,  1106— His  Minority— The  Arch- 
bishops— Albert  of  Bremen — Henry  and  the 
Saxons — Their  Hostility— Henry's  Revenge 
—Pope  Gregory  VII. — His  Ambition — The 
Right  of  Investiture — Rupture  with  the 
Emperor — Henry  Excommunicated — The 
Emperor  a  Fugitive — The  Rival  Emperors 
and  Popes — Rudolphus  of  Swabia  and  Pope 
Clement  III.— Henry's  Death,  1106— Hen- 
ry V.,  1106-1125— llome— Pope  Pascal  II. 
—  The  Investiture  Contest — Sanguinary 
Battle  —  Henry  Crowned  Emperor  —  His 
Death,  1125— The  First  Crusade,  1096- 
1099— Lothaire  the  Saxon,  1125-1137  .  .  137 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  SVVABIAN  OR  HOIIENSTAUFEN  HOUSE,   1138-1254. 

1138—1190. 

Conrad  III.,  1138-1152— The  Guelphs  and 
Ghibelincs  —  Weinsberg  —  The  Faithful 
Wives — Conrad's  Crusade — Disastrous  Re- 
sults— His  Death,  1152 — Frederick  I.,  or 
Barbarossa,  1152-1190— His  Noble  Cha- 
racter and  Distinguished  Qualities — Ex- 
tends his  Dominions — The  Cities  of  Lom- 
bardy  and  Milan — Pavia — Pope  Adrian  IV 
— The  Emperor's  Homage — Otho  of  Wit- 
telsbach — Dispute  between  the  Pope  and 
the  Emperor — Milan  taken  and  razed — 
The  Confederation  of  the  Lombardian 
Towns — The  Battle  of  Lignano — Frederick 
Defeated— Pope  Alexander  and  Frederick 
— Venice — Henry  the  Lion,  of  Brunswick 
— His  Rise  and  Fall — Reconciliation  and 
Peace  —  Lombardy  —  Frederick's  Crusade 
uud  Death  in  Fa.estine,  1190  .  .  .  158 


CHAPTER  X. 

FROM  1190  TO  THE  INTERREGNUM,  1273. 

PA(1 

Henry  VI.,  1190-1197— His  Mercenary  and 
Cruel  Character — Richard  I.  of  England — 
Is  Seized  and  Imprisoned  by  Henry — Na- 
ples and  Sicily  —  The  Grandees  —  Their 
Barbarous  Treatment  by  the  Emperor — 
His  Death,  1197— The  Rival  Sovereigns- 
Philip  of  Swabia,  1197-1208,  and  Otho  IV., 
1197-1215— Their  Death— Frederick  II., 
1215-1250— His  Noble  Qualities— Love  for 
the  Arts  and  Sciences—His  Sarcastic  Poetry 
— Preference  for  Italy — Disputes  with  the 
Popes — Is  Excommunicated — His  Crusade 
to  the  Holy  Land — Crowned  King  of  Jeru- 
salem— Marries  a  Princess  of  England — 
Italy — Pope  Gregory  IX. — Frederick  De- 
nounced and  Deposed — Dissensions  in  Ger- 
many— The  Rival  Kings — Death  of  Fred- 
erick II.,  1250 — His  Extraordinary  Genius 
and  Talents — His  Zeal  for  Science  and 
Education — A  Glance  at  the  East  and 
North-Eastern  parts  of  Germany — Progress 
in  Civilization— William  of  Holland,  1247- 
1256  — Conrad  IV.,  1250-1254  — Their 
Death  — The  Interregnum,  1256-1273  — 
Progress  of  the  Germanic  Constitution  .  .  1 7C 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

Chivalry— The  Cities— The  Peasantry— The 
Arts  and  Sciences — The  Clergy  and  Eccle- 
siastical Institutions — The  Monasteries  .and 
Convents—  The  Faust-Recht  —  The  Ad- 
ministration of  Justice  —  The  Vehm-Ge- 
richt,  or  Secret  Tribunal 189 

FIFTH  PERIOD. 

FROM    RUDOLPHUS    I.,  OF    HAPSBURG,    TO    CHARLES    V., 
1273-1520. EMPERORS  OF  DIFFERENT  HOUSES 

CHAPTER  XII. 
1273—1347. 

Rudolph  I.,  of  Hapsburg,  1273-1291— Adoi- 
phus  I.,  of  Nassau,  1292-1298— Albert  I., 
of  Austria,  1298-1308— Switzerland— Con- 
federation of  the  Swiss — Gessler — William 
Tell— Henry  VII.,  of  Luxemburg,  1  SOS- 
IS  13— Frederick,  of  Austria,  1314-1330, 
and  Lewis,  of  Bavaria,  1314-1347 — Swit- 
zerland—The Battle  of  Morgarten,  1315— 
The  Battle  of  Muhldorf,  1322— The  First 
Electoral  Alliance,  1338 — Death  of  Lewis, 
1347 201 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

EMPERORS    OF    DIFFERENT    HOUSE* 

1347—1437. 

Charles  IV.,  1347-1378— Wenccslas,  1378- 
1400— Switzerland— The  Battle  of  Seiw- 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

pach,  1366 — Leopold  of  Austria — Arnold  of 
Winkelricd — His  Heroism  and  Self-devo- 
tion— Wenceslas  Deposed — Rupert  of  the 
Palatinate,  1400-1410— Sigismund,  1410- 
1437 — Grand  CouncL  :f  Constance — John 
Muss,  and  the  Hussite  Wars — I'e?th  of 
Sigismund,  1437 216 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    HOUSE    OF    AUSTRIA. 

\lbert  II.,  1438,  1439— His  Death— Freder- 
ick III.,  1440-1493— The  Council  of  Basle, 
1448— JEneas  Sylvius— The  Turks— Bel- 
grade— Defeat  of  the  Turks— The  Diets — 
The  Emperor  besieged  m  Vienna — His 
Resolution — His  Brother,  Duke  Albert — 
The  Count  Palatine  of  the  Rhine — His 
Hostility — Defeats  the  Imperialists — Albert 
of  Brandenburg,  the  Achilles  of  Germany 
— Feuds  o  '  the  Nobles  and  Cities — Nurem- 
berg— The  Nobles  Defeated — Austria  and 
Burgundy — Charles  the  Rash — His  Ambi- 
tion—  Attacks  the  Swiss  —  Defeated  at 
Mnrten — The  Battle  of  Nancy— His  Death 
— Mary  of  Burgundy — Marries  Maximilian 
of  Austria — Her  Death  —  The  Emperor 
Frederick  a  Fugitive — His  Return — Maxi- 
milian, Roman  King — The  Laws — Their 
Improvement — Frederick's  Obstinacy  and 
Refusal — Maximilian  Appealed  to — The 
>Swabian  League — Death  of  Frederick  III., 
1493— Prussia— The  Teutonic  Knights— 
Their  Decline  and  Fall — Prussia  under 
Polish  Sway,  1466 226 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Maximilian  I.,  1493-1519 — His  Mental  Ac- 
quirements and  Chivalric  Character — His 
Government  —  Italy  —  Charles  VIII.  and 
Louis  XII.  of  France — Switzerland — The 
Venetian  Republic — The  League  of  Cam- 
bray — Maximilian's  Honorable  and  Con- 
sistent Conduct — The  Battle  of  the  Spurs 
— Union  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia — Inter- 
nal Administration  of  Affairs — Perpetual 
Peace  of  the  Land — End  of  the  Faust- 
Recht — The  Imperial  Chamber  and  Aulic 
Council— Opposition  of  the  States— The 
Emperor  triumphant — State  of  the  Coun- 
try— The  Nobles,  Cities,  and  Peasantry — 
Gotz  von  Berlichingen,  &c. — Death  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian,  1519 — Events  of  his 
Reign,  and  End  of  the  Middle  Ages — Dis- 
covery and  Use  of  Gunpowder — Artillery 
and  Fire-Arms—Invention  of  Printing,  1457  234 

SIXTH   PERIOD. 


FROM   CHARLES  V.  TO  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA, 

1520-1648. 
CHAPTER  XVI. 

State    of  the    Empire — Internal    Anarchy — 
Charles  V.    of   Spain,    and    Francis   I.   of 


France — Frederick  the  Wise,  Elector  o! 
Saxony — Charles  V.  elected  Emperor  of 
Germany — His  Character — Jealousy  and 
Discontent  of  the  Spaniards — Try  to  Dis- 
suade Charles  from  accepting  the  Imperial 
Crown — £ew  Spain — Discovery  of  Mexico 
— Arrival  of  Charles  in  Germany — His 
Coronation,  1520 — Schism  in  the  Church 
— Causes  which  produced  it — Ignorance  of 
the  Clergy — Their  Vices — Murmurs  and 
Discontent  of  the  People — A  Reformation 
in  the  Church  universally  demanded  — 
Scholastic  Wisdom — Theology — Enlight- 
enment of  Science — John  Reuchlin  .  .  .  247 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Outbreak  of  the  Reformation,  1517 — Abuses 
in  the  Church — Letters  of  Indulgence — 
Martin  Luther,  the  Reformer — His  Expo 
sure  and  Condemnation  of  these  Proceed, 
ings — Is  summoned  to  appear  in  Rome — 
Withheld  from  going  by  the  Elector  oi 
Saxony  —  The  Pope's  Nuncio,  Cardinal 
Cajetan,  and  Luther  at  the  Diet  of  Augs- 
burg, 1518 — Refusal  of  Luther  to  retract — 
Luther's  Appeal  to  the  Pope  for  a  fair  Hear- 
ing— Controversial  Discussion  between  Lu- 
ther and  Dr.  Eck — Luther  maintains  his 
Ground — The  Pope's  Bull  against  Luther 
— The  Reformer  burns  the  Bull,  with  the 
Canon  Law  and  Eck's  Writings — Propa- 
gation of  the  New  Doctrine — Luther  ad- 
dresses the  People — Ulric  of  Hiitten,  and 
Francis  of  Sickingen — Frederick  the  Wise 
of  Saxony  and  the  Princes  in  favor  of  Re- 
form—The Grand  Diet  at  Worms,  1521— 
Charles  V. — The  Pope's  Legate,  Cardinal 
Alexander — Luther's  Appearance  and  Ex- 
amination there — Solemn  Refusal  to  Re- 
tract— The  Emperor's  Declaration — Lu- 
ther Excommunicated  and  his  Writings 
burnt — Conveyed  by  the  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony for  Safety  to  the  Castle  of  Wartburg — 
His  Translation  of  the  New  Testament — 
Tumults  and  Revolutions  of  the  Peasantry 
— Miinzer  the  Fanatic — Battle  of  Fran  ken - 
hausen — Miinzer's  Death — Tranquillity  re- 
stored   ^53 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Foreign  Relations  of  Charles  V. — Francis  I. 
of  France — War  between  these  two  rival 
Monarchs — Italy — Milan — The  Duke  of 
Bourbon  — The  Chevalier  Bayard  — The 
Battle  ofPavia,  1525 — Defeat  of  the  French 
— Francis  I.  taken  Prisoner — Madrid — The 
King  of  France  liberated — His  Dishonor- 
able Breach  of  Stipu  ation — The  Imperial- 
ists in  Rome — The  Pope  a  Prisoner — His 
Ransom — War  with  France  resumed — 
Andrew  Doria — Peace  of  Cambray,  1529 
— Charles  V.  crowned  Emperor  arid  King 
of  Lombardy  in  Bologna — His  Generosity 
— Return  to  Germany — First  League  of  the 
Protestant  Princes,  1526— The  Augsburg 
Confession,  1530— Melanchthon— His  Cha- 


CONTENTS. 


racter  of  Charles  V. — John,  Elector  of 
Saxony — His  Determination — The  Impe- 
rial Council — The  Emperor's  Declaration 
-Reply  of  the  Protestant  Princes — Ferdi- 
nand, King  of  Rome,  1531 — Religious 
Peace — The  Turks  in  Hungary — Their  De- 
feat— Ulric,  Duke  of  Wurtemberg — Re- 
stored to  his  Possessions  by  Philip  of  Hesse 
— Insurrection  of  the  Anabaptists — Their 
Defeat — The  Emperor  in  Africa — Tunis — 
His  Triumph  and  Liberation  of  22,000 
Christian  Slaves — Francis  I.  attacks  Italy 
— Charles  V.  enters  France — Suspension  of 
Arms — Interview  between  the  two  Mo- 
narchs  at  Aigues-Mortes — Revolt  in  Ghent 
— Progress  of  Charles  V.  through  France 
and  Ghent — Hospitality  received — Peace 
restored  in  Ghent — The  Diet  at  Ratisbon, 
1541 — Charles  V.  in  Algiers — Disastrous 
Expedition  —  His  Fortitude  —  Return  to 
Italy — Francis  I.  resumes  Hostilities — His 
Ill-success — Charles  V.  on  the  Rhine — At- 
tacks the  Duke  of  Cleves — Overcomes  and 
pardons  him — Marches  into  France — Ad- 
vance upon  Paris — The  Peace  of  Crepi, 
1544  .  .  ...  .263 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

State  of  Religious  Affairs  in  Germany,  from 
1534  to  1546— Vain  Attempts  at  Recon- 
ciliation— Rapid  Propagation  of  the  New 
Doctrine — Henry,  Duke  of  Brunswick — 
Death  of  Martin  Luther,  1546— Charles  V. 
and  the  Pope — Their  Alliance — Prepara- 
tions for  War — The  League  of  Schmal-  . 
kald — The  Elector  of  Saxony  and  the  Land, 
grave  of  Hesse — Their  Characters  contrast- 
ed— Maurice,  Duke  of  Saxony — His  extra- 
ordinary Genius — His  Adherence  to  the 
Emperor  — The  Pope's  Bull  — The  Holy 
War— The  Schmalkaldian  Army,  1546- 
1547 — General  Schartlin — Division  among 
the  Protestant  Leaders — Inglorious  Results 
— The  Imperial  Camp  besieged — Charles 
triumphant — Duke  Maurice  and  the  Elector 
of  Saxony — Treachery  of  Duke  Maurice—- 
The Emperor  in  Upper  Germany — Con- 
quers the  Imperial  Free  Cities — Saxony — 
The  Battle  of  Miihlberg— The  Saxons  de- 
feated— The  Elector  taken  Prisoner — De- 
posed and  condemned  to  Death — The  Game 
of  Chess — The  Elector's  Firmness  and  Re- 
signation— His  Life  spared — Duke  Maurice 
made  Elector  of  Saxony — Wittenberg — 
Charles  V.  and  Philip  of  Hesse— The  Land- 
grave's Submission  and  Humiliation — De- 
tained a  Prisoner,  and  his  Lands  seized  by 
the  Emperor — The  Elector  Maurice — His 
Mortification  and  Projects  against  the  Em- 
peror— The  Spanish  Troops  in  Germany — 
Their  Insolence  and  Oppression  ....  276 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Council  of  Trent — Rupture  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope — The  Interim  or 
Temporary  Code  of  Doctrines — Its  Con- 
demnation by  both  Parties— The  Captive 


Elector  of  Saxony — Refuses  to  adhere  to 
the  Interim — His  Declaration — Shamefu. 
Treatment  in  consequence — The  Elector 
Maurice — Magdeburg — Maurice  marches 
against  that  City — The  Emperor  and  Mau- 
rice— Maurice  deserts  the  Emperor,  and 
with  Albert  of  Brandenburg  joins  the  Pro- 
testants— Their  Declaration  against  the 
Emperor — His  Reply — Albert's  Depreda- 
tions— Maurice's  Separation  from  him — 
Charles  V.  at  Inspruck — Pursued  by  Mau- 
rice— The  Emperor  a  Fugitive  in  the  Moun- 
tains of  the  Tyrol — His  Desolate  and  For- 
lorn Condition — His  Return  to  Augsburg — 
Release  of  the  Elector  John  Frederick— His 
Welcome  Home — Jena — Treaty  of  Passau 
— Liberation  of  Philip  of  Hesse — Charles  V 
in  France — Metz — Unsuccessful  Campaign 
— Albert  of  Brandenburg — Defeated  at  Lu- 
neberg  by  Maurice — Death  of  Maurice  and 
Albert — Religious  Peace  of  Augsburg— Fi- 
nal Separation  of  the  Two  Religious  Par- 
ties— Abdication  of  Charles  V. — Retreat  to 
a  Hermit's  Cell — Rehearsal  of  his  Funeral 
Procession— His  Death.  1558  .  .  293 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Ferdinand  I.,  1556-1564  — His  Industrious 
Habits — Moderation  and  Tolerance — The 
Calvinists  and  Lutherans — Their  Hostility 
towards  each  other — Ferdinand  and  Pro- 
testantism— The  Foundation  of  the  Order 
of  Jesuits  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  1540 — Its 
rapid  and  universal  Dissemination — The 
Council  of  Trent — Ferdinand's  Ambassa- 
dors— Their  Propositions  refused — Their 
Letter  to  the  Emperor — Death  of  Ferdinand 
I.,  1564— Maximilian  II.,  1564-1576— His 
Qualifications  and  Good  Character — Bohe- 
mia—Poland— State  of  Tranquillity — Wil- 
liam of  Grumbach  in  Franconia — His  Re- 
volt and  Excommunication — Gotha — The 
Young  Prince  of  Saxony — Joins  Grumbach 
— His  perpetual  Captivity  and  Death  in 
Styria — Grumbach's  Execution — The  mer- 
cenary Troops — Evils  they  produce — Ger- 
man Soldiers  in  Foreign  Service — Death  of 
Maximilian  II.,  1576 — Rudolphus  II.,  1576- 
1612 — His  Indolence  and  Irresolution — 
Bad  Counsellors  —  Religious  Excitement 
renewed — The  Netherlands — The  Duke  of 
Alba — The  Elector  Gebhard  of  Cologne 
and  Agnes  of  Mansfeld,  Canoness  of  Ger- 
resheim  —  Gebhard  Excommunicated  — 
John  Casimir,  the  Count  Palatine — Calvin- 
ism —  Donauwerth  — Austria  —  Rudolphus 
against  the  Protestants — Deprives  them  of 
their  Churches — Hungary — Revolt  of  Ste- 
phen Botschkai — The  Emperor  an  Astrolo- 
gist  and  Alchymist — Neglects  his  Govern- 
ment more  and  more — Tycho  Brahe  and 
Keppler — Rudolphus  resigns  Hungary  to 
his  Brother  Matthias — Bohemia — The  Let- 
ter of  Majesty  —  The  Palatinate — The 
Evangelical  Union — Juliers — Henry  IV.  of 
France  joins  the  Union  —  The  Catholic 
League— Prague — Revolt— The  Empero' 
a  Prisoner— His  Death,  1612  3US 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

PAGR 

Matthias  I.,  K512-1619— His  Coronation- 
Its  Pomp  and  Splendor  deceptive — The 
Protestants — Increase  of  general  Discon- 
tent— Austria — Aix-la-Chapelle  —  Cologne 
— The  Prince  Palatine  Wolfgang  William, 
and  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg — Their 
Quarrel — Box  on  the  Ear — Baneful  Conse- 
quences—  Foreign  Allies  —  The  Young 
Archduke  Ferdinand — Elected  King  of  Bo- 
hemia— His  Character — His  Devotion  to 
Catholicism  and  Hatred  of  the  Protestants 
— Banishes  the  New  Faith  from  his  Lands 
— The  Electoral  Princes — Ferdinand  warn- 
ed ugainst  his  Proceedings  by  the  Elector 
of  Saxony — Bohemia — The  Letter  of  Ma- 
jesty shamefully  infringed — The  Protestant 
Churches  destroyed — Indignation  and  Re- 
volt of  the  Protestants — Their  Defender, 
Count  Matthias,  of  Thurn— Counts  Marti- 
nitz  and  Slavata — Their  Hostility  to  the 
Protestants— Prague— The  Council  Hall— 
Martini tz  and  Slavata  thrown  out  of  the 
Window — General  Revolution — The  Em- 
peror's Alarm  and  Desire  for  Peace — Fer- 
dinand's Declaration  in  reply — Commence- 
ment of  the  Thirty  Years'  War— Count  Er- 
nest of  Mansfeld,  Leader  of  the  Protestants 
— His  great  Military  Genius  and  heroic 
Character — Death  of  Matthias  I.,  1619 — 
Ferdinand  II.,  1619-1637 — Count  Thurn 
and  the  Bohemians  in  Vienna — Surround 
the  Emperor  in  his  Palace — Ferdinand  un- 
expectedly rescued — The  Bohemians  De- 
pose him — The  Elector  Palatine,  Frederick 
V.,  Son-in-Law  of  James  I.  of  England, 
King  of  Bohemia,  1619 — His  Irresolution 
and  Pusillanimity — Ferdinand  and  Maxi- 
milian of  Bavaria — Their  Alliance — Supe- 
riority of  the  Imperialists:  over  the  Bohe- 
mians—Battle  of  Weissenberg,  near  Prague, 
1G2U — The  Bohemians  dialed  and  their 
King  put  to  Flight  —  uis  Abdication  — 
Prague  capitulates — Bohemia  severely  pun- 
ished by  Ferdinand— Thirty  thousand  Fam- 
ilies banished  the  Country 311 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Military  Expeditions  in  Germany,  1G21-1624 
— Generals  Mansfeld  and  Tilly — Successes 
of  Mansfeld — Joined  by  Ihe  Margrave  of 
Baden — Durlach  and  Christian — Duke  of 
Brunswick — Tilly — The  Palatinate — The 
Heidelberg  Library — P'erdinand  resolves  to 
continue  the  War — The  Duke  of  Bavaria 
made  Elector  Palatine— Tilly  defeats  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick  in  Miinster— War  with 
Denmark,  1624-1629  —  The  Protestant 
Forces  under  Christian  IV.  of  Denmark — 
The  Duke  of  Brunswick  and  Mansfeld — 
The  Emperor  without  a  Leader — Count 
Wallcnstein — His  extraordinary  Character 
—Ambition — Astrological  Studies — Faith 
in  Destiny — His  Bravery — Weissenberg — 
Wallenstein,  Duke  of  Fricdhtnd— His  state- 
ly Palace  and  regal  Style  of  Living — Raises 
an  Imperial  Army — His  Appearance — 


vursucs  Mansfeld  —  Death  of  Mansfeld, 
1626 — Death  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick — 
Christian  IV.  of  Denmark — His  Flight — 
Dukes  Adolphus  and  John  of  Mecklenburg 
banished — Their  Estates  seized  by  Wallen- 
stein— Created  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  and 
a  Prince  of  the  Empire,  1628 — Pomerania 
— Stralsund — Besieged  by  Wallenstein — 
Its  brave  Resistance — Forces  Wallenstein 
to  retire — Peace  between  the  King  of  Den- 
mark and  the  Emperor,  1629 — The  Edict 
of  .Restitution,  1639 — Its  Effect— Augsburg 

—  The    Catholic    League  —  Tyranny   and 
Cruelty  of  Wallenstein   and   his    Army — 
Complaints  of  the  Catholics  and  Protestants 
against  Wallenstein  to  the   Emperor — The 
Princes  and  the  Nation  insist  upon  his  Dis- 
missal— His  Resignation 3^' 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden,  in  Ger- 
many, 1630-1632— His  Character  —  Mo- 
tives and  Plans  in  favor  of  Protestantism — 
Stralsund — Gustavus  declares  War  against 
Ferdinand — Lands  with  his  Army  in  Pome- 
rania —  Stettin  —  The  Protestant  Princes 
hesitate  to  join  Gustavus  —  Ciistrin  and 
Spandau — The  Elector  of  Brandenburg — 
The  Elector  of  Saxony — Siege  of  Magde- 
burg— Count  Tilly — Conquers  and  burns 
the  City — Dreadful  Massacre — Gustavus 
and  Tilly — Battle  of  Leipsic — Defeat  of  the 
Imperialists — Glorious  Results  to  Gustavus 
— Surrender  of  the  Cities — Ingolstadt — Til- 
ly wounded — His  Death — Munich — Prague 

—  Ferdinand     and    Wallenstein  —  Regal 
splendor  of  Wallenstein — His  Palace — Re- 
assembles an  Army  for  the  Emperor — Ex- 
travagant Conditions — Appointed  General- 
issimo— The   Camp    of    Nuremberg — The 
Swedish   and  Imperial  Armies — Gustavus 
in  Saxony — Battle  of  Liitzen,  1632 — Gus- 
tavus killed — His  Death  revenged  by  the 
Swedes — Total    Defeat   of  Wallenstein — 
Portraiture  of  Gustavus  Adolphus      .     .     .  .i'4 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Continuation  of  the  War,  1632-1635— Chan- 
cellor Oxenstiern — Wallenstein's  Inaction 
— Court  Martial  over  his  officers — Military 
Executions — Count  of  Thurn  taken  Pris- 
oner and  released  by  Wallenstein — The 
Emperor's  Remonstrance  and  Wallenstein's 
Reply — The  Swedes  in  Bavaria — Wallen- 
stein withholds  Assistance — Prohibits  his 
Officers  from  obeying  the  Imperial  Com- 
mands— Pilsen-Military  Council,  and  Com- 
pact between  Wallcnstein  and  his  Officers 
— Counts  Terzka,  Illo,  and  Piccolomini — 
The  Emperor  divests  Wallenstein  of  all 
Command  —  Italian-Spanish  Conspiracy 
against  Wallenstein — I'iccolomini  marches 
against  Wallenstein — Wallenstein  negoti- 
ates with  France  and  Sweden  for  his  Ser- 
vices— The  Crown  of  Bohemia  offered  to 
him — Retreats  to  Eger — The  Supper  in  «x 


10 


CONTENTS 


Citadel — Murder  of  Counts  Terzka,  Illo, 
and  Kinsky,  by  Dcveroux  and  Geraldin — 
Assassination  of  Wallenstein,  1634 — His 
Estates  confiscated — Succeeded  in  Com- 
mand by  Ferdinand,  King  of  Rome — The 
Battle  of  Nordlingen— The  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony—  Peace  of  Prague,  1635  —  Dreadful 
Condition  of  Germany — Cardinal  Richelieu 
and  Chancellor  Oxenstiern — French  and 
Swedish  Alliance  against  the  Emperor- 
Inglorious  Character  o^  the  War — Death 
of  Ferdinand  II.,  1637 338 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Ferdinand  III.,  1637-1657— Continuation  of 
the  War — Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar  on  the 
Rhine — His  Death— Cardinal  Richelieu — 
The  Swedish  Generals — Banner — Torsten- 
son — Wrangel — Negotiations  for  Peace — 
Tedious  Progress — French  and  Swedish 
Claims  of  Indemnification  —  Humiliation 
and  Dismemberment  of  the  Empire — Terri- 
torial Sovereignty  of  the  Princes — Switzer- 
land—The Netherlands — Final  Arrange- 
ment and  Conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  West- 
phalia, 1648 342 


SEVENTH   PERIOD. 

FKOM    THE    PEACE    OF    WESTPHALIA    IN    1648,    TO 
THE    PRESENT    TIMF.. 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

General  Observations— State  of  the  Empire — 
Agriculture — Commerce — The  Nobility — 
French  Language,  Fashions,  and  Customs 
— Decline  of  National  Feeling  in  Germany 
—Death  of  Ferdinand  III.,  1657— Leopold 
I.,  1658-1705— The  Rhenish  League  — 
Louis  XIV.  of  France — His  ambitious  and 
aggrandizing  Spirit — Conquers  the  Nether- 
lands—The Elector  Frederick  William  of 
Brandenburg — Westphalia — The  Rhine — 
War  between  France  and  Germany — Bat- 
tle of  Fehrbellin,  1675 — Successes  of  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg — His  energetic 
Character — Extends  and  improves  his  Ter- 
ritories —  Berlin  —  Konigsberg  —  Generals 
Montecuculli  and  Turenne — Peace  of  Nim- 
wegen,  1678— The  four  French  Chambers 
of  Reunion — Treachery  and  Dishonesty  of 
Louis  XIV.  towards  Germany — Claims  and 
takes  possession  of  Strasburg  and  other 
German  Towns  on  the  Rhine  —  Enters 
Strasburg  in  Triumph,  1681 — Pusillanimity 
and  disgraceful  Inertness  of  the  Germans 
—The  Turks  in  Hungary — Advance  and 
lay  siege  to  Vienna,  1683 — Flight  of  Leo- 
pold and  his  Court— Brave  Defence  of  the 
Viennese  under  Count  Riidiger  of  Stahren- 
berg — Relieved  by  Duke  Charles  of  Lor- 
raine and  Sobieski,  King  of  Poland— Hero- 
ism of  Sobieski — Battle  of  Naussdorf— To- 
tal Overthrow  and  Flight  of  the  Turks  by 
Sobieski— His  Letter  to  ais  Queen— De- 
scription of  the  Battle  349 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Fresh  War  with  France,  1688-1697— Alii-' 
ance  of  England,  Holland,  and  Spain, 
against  Louis  XIV. — The  French  in  Ger- 
many— Dreadful  Devastation  and  unheard- 
of  Cruelties  committed  by  Orders  of  Louis 
XIV.  —  Conflagration  and  complete  De- 
struction of  Heidelberg,  Worms,  and  Spires 
— Deplorable  Condition  of  the  Inhabitants 
— The  Tombs  of  the  Emperors  pillaged — 
Peace  of  Ryswick,  1697 — Compensation 
demanded  for  Germany — Insolence  of  the 
French  Ambassadors  —  Elevation  of  the 
German  Princes  —  The  First  Elector  of 
Hanover — Frederick,  Elector  of  Saxony, 
ascends  the  Throne  of  Poland,  1696 — 
Frederick,  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  places 
the  Crown  on  his  own  Head  as  Kinjr  of 
Prussia,  1701— War  of  the  Spanish  Suc- 
cession, between  France  and  the  House  of 
Austria,  1701-1714— William  III.  of  Eng- 
land— Louis  XIV.  proclaims  his  Grandson, 
Philip  of  Anjou,  King  of  Spain — Prince 
Eugene — His  military  Genius  and  private 
Character — Appointed  Commander.in-chief 
of  the  Imperial  Army — His  Reply  to  Louis 
XIV.  — Marches  into  Italy— Defeats  the 
French  at  Carpi  and  Chiari — England — 
Louis  XIV.  and  the  Exiled  Stuarts— The 
Duke  of  Marlborough,  General  of  the  Al- 
lied Army— The  Elector  of  Bavaria— The 
Bavarians  in  the  Tyrol— Their  Overthrow 
by  the  Tyrolese — Battle  of  Hochstiidt— 
Blenheim— Triumphant  Victory  gained  by 
the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  Prince  Eu- 
gene, 1704 — The  Duke  of  Marlborough 
created  a  Prince  of  the  Empire — Death  of 
Leopold  I.,  1705  • 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Joseph  I.,  1705-1711— Continuation  of  the 
War— Riots  in  Bavaria — The  Elector  out- 
lawed—Marshal Villeroi— Battles  of  Ra- 
millies  and  Turin,  1706— Triumph  of  Marl- 
borough  and  Eugene —  Complete  Over- 
throw of  the  French — General  Capitulation 
— Naples — Spain — Battles  of  Oudenarde 
and  Malplaquct,  1708-1709— Defeat  of  the 
French  under  Bourgoyne,  Vendome,  and 
Villars — Humiliation  of  Louis  XIV. — Eng- 
land— Queen  Anne — Marlborough  recalled 
and  dismissed — Death  of  Joseph  I.,  1711 — 
Charles  VI.,  1711-1740— Peace  of  Utrecht, 
1713 — Peace  of  Rastadt  and  Baden,  1714 
—Death  of  Louis  XIV.,  1715— The  House 
of  Austria  in  its  Relations  with  the  Ger- 
manic Empire — Peaceful  Reign  of  Charles 
VI. — His  Death,  1740— Maria  Theresa  of 
Austria— Her  Title  to  the  Imperial  Throne 
disputed  by  Charles  Albert  of  Bavaria — 
Frederick  II.  of  Prussia — His  extraordinary 
Genius  and  energetic  Character — His  Army 

Invades    Austria  —  The    First    Silesian 

War,  1740-1742  —  Glogau  —  Sanguinary 
Battle  of  Molwitz— Defeat  of  the  Austriana 
— Alliance  of  France,  Spain,  Bavaria,  and 
Saxony,  against  Austria  in  support  oJ 


CONTENTS 


11 


Charles  Albert — Hanover — George  II.  of 
England— Charles  Albert,  King  of  Poland 
— Election  of  Emperor  in  Frankfort  .  .  3G8 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

CliarlesVIL,  Emperor  of  Germany,  1742-1745 
— Maria  Theresa  in  Hungary — Her  Appeal 
to  the  Nobles — Their  Devotion  to  her  Cause 
— March  into  Bavaria — Seize  that  Country 
and  banish  its  Elector — CliarlesVIL  a  Fu- 
gitive— Battle  of  Czaslau,  between  the  Aus- 
triansand  Prussians,  1742 — Treaty  of  Peace 
between  Maria  Theresa  and  Frederick  II. 
— Continuation  of  the  Austrian  Succession 
War,  1742-1744— The  French  in  Prague 
under  Marshal  Belle-Isle — Prague  besieged 
by  the  Austrians  —  Abandoned  by  the 
French — Charles  VII.  in  Bavaria — Again 
a  Fugitive — George  II.  of  England  in  Ger- 
many— Battle  of  Dettingen,  1743 — Defeat 
of  the  French — Alliance  of  Saxony  and 
Austria— Second  Silesian  War,  1744-1745 
—  Ill-success  of  Frederick  —  Death  of 
Charles  VII.,  1745— Silesia— Battle  of  Ho- 
henfriedberg — Frederick  victorious — Battle 
of  Sorr — The  Princes  of  Brunswick — Fred- 
erick triumphant— Battle  of  Kesseldorf— 
Frederick  conquers  and  enters  Dresden — 
Peace  of  Dresden  and  End  of  the  Second 
Silesian  War — Francis  I.  elected  Emperor, 
1745-1765 — Austria  and  France — Peace 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  1748— Brief  Interval  of 
Repose,  1748-1756— State  of  Affairs— Alli- 
ance of  England  and  Prussia,  1756 — Alli- 
ance between  France  and  Austria,  1756 — 
Saxony —  Russia  —  Sweden — Combination 
of  Powers  against  Prussia — The  Seven 
Years'  War,  1756-1763  —  Frederick  in 
Saxony — Battle  of  Losowitz,  1756 — Fred- 
erick victorious — The  Saxons  lay  down 
their  Arms* — Frederick  Conqueror  of  Sax- 
ony — Immense  Armies  opposed  to  Fred- 
erick— His  Presence  of  Mind — Desperate 
Battle  of  Prague— Charles  of  Lorraine — 
Death  of  the  Prussian  General  Schwerin 
and  the  Austrian  General  Brown — Freder- 
ick victorious — Battle  of  Kollin — General 
Daun  —  Frederick's  grand  Manoeuvre  — 
Generals  Ziethen  and  Hulsen — Frederick 
and  Prince  Maurice  of  Dessau — Defeat  of 
Frederick— Shameful  Conduct  of  the  Duke 
of  Cumberland  —  Convention  of  Closter- 
Sevcn  between  him  and  the  French — Bat- 
tle between  the  Russians  and  Prussians  at 
Grossjagersdorf— Defeat  of  the  Prussians — 
Withdrawal  of  the  Russians — The  Empress 
Elizabeth  of  Russia— The  Grand  Chancel- 
lor Bestuschef— Retreat  of  the  Swedes  .  378 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

CVmtinuation  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  1757. 
1760— Battle  of  Rossbach,  1757— Total 
Defeat  of  the  French— General  Scidlitz 
and  the  Prussian  Cavalry — Reverses  of 
Frederick  —  Silesia  —  Battle  of  Leuthen, 
1757 — Frederick's  Appeal  to  his  Officers 


and  Army — Their  Enthusiasm — Complete 
Overthrow  of  the  Austrians — Glorious  Re- 
sults to  Frederick — His  Proposals  of  Peace 
rejected  by  Maria  Theresa — France — Rus- 
sia— England's  Enthusiasm  for  Frederick 
— William  Pitt — England  supports  Freder- 
ick— Treaty  of  Closter-Sevcn  disavowed — 
Duke  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick  General-in- 
Chief  of  the  Allied  Army — Defeats  and 
drives  away  the  French  from  Germany — 
Frederick  in  Silesia — Schweidnitz — Fred- 
erick's rapid  March  into  Moravia — Olmutz 
— Bohemia — Pomerania  —  Battle  between 
the  Russians  and  Prussians  at  Zorndorf, 
1758— Dreadful  Slaughter  and  Defeat  of 
the  Russians — The  Prussians  attacked  and 
defeated  by  the  Austrians  at  Hochkirch, 
1758— Frederick's  Presence  of  Mind— The 
Prussian  Army — The  Imperial  Diet — The 
Prince  of  Mecklenburg — The  Imperial  Ban 
against  Frederick  proposed — Negatived — 
The  Allied  and  French  Armies— Battle  of 
Bergen,  1759  —  Partial  Success  of  the 
French  —  Battle  of  Minden  —  Shameful 
Conduct  of  the  English  General,  Sackville 
— Defeat  of  the  French — Battle  of  Kay 
and  Kunersdorf,  1759— Total  Defeat  of  the 
Prussians — Frederick's  Misfortunes  —  His 
Despair — Prince  Henry  of  Prussia — Con- 
tinued Reverses  of  Frederick  —  Battle  of 
Liegnitz,  1760— The  Prussians  defeat  the 
Austrians — Beneficial  Results  to  Frederick 
—Battle  of  Torgau,  1760— Total  Defeat  of 
the  Austrians — Frederick  in  Leipsic  .  .  3&t 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Conclusion  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  1761- 
1762 — The  Austrian  and-  Russian  Armies 
— The  Camp  of  Bunzelwitz — Frederick's 
difficult  position — Jealousy  between  Gen- 
erals Butterlin  and  Laudon — Schweidnitz, 
Glatz,  and  Colberg  —  Saxony  —  Berlin 
threatened  by  the  Russians — The  Prussians 
rise  en  masse  to  expel  them — Death  of 
Elizabeth  of  Russia— Peter  III.— Peace 
and  Alliance  between  Russia  and  Prussia 
— Sweden — Battle  of  Reichenbach— Fred- 
erick victorious — Schweidnitz — Final  Bat- 
tle and  Defeat  of  the  Austrians  at  Freiberg 
— Peace  between  France  and  England, 
1763 — Peace  between  Prussia  and  Austria 
at  Hubertsburg,  1763 — Observations — The 
Age  of  Frederick  the  Great— His  Army — 
Exerts  himself  to  repair  the  Calamities  of 
his  Country — His  indefatigable  Industry — 
His  Labors  and  Recreations — Genius  for 
Poetry  and  Music — His  Early  Years — His 
Father's  Tyranny — Its  sad  Effects  event- 
ually proved — His  Predilection  for  French 
Education  and  Literature — Voltaire — Hel- 
vetius,  &c. — His  Anti-German  Feelings 
and  Neglect  of  National  Genius — Lessing 
—  Klopstock  —  Goethe  —  Kant — Fichte — 
Jacobi,  &c.— Joseph  II.,  1765-1790— Dis- 
memberment of  Poland,  1773 — Prussia  and 
Russia — Stanislaus  Poniatowski — Bavarian 
War  of  Succession,  1778 — Death  of  Maria 


CONTENTS. 


Theresa,  17SO — Innovations  and  intolerant 
Measures  of  Joseph  II. — Frederick  and  the 
Allied  Princes  of  Germany  against  Joseph 
II.— Death  of  Frederick  the  Great,  1786— 
Death  of  Joseph  II.,  1790— Leopold  II., 
1790-1792  .  .  .404 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Leopold  II.  and  the  State  of  France — France 
declares  War  against  Austria,  the  Imperial 
Stales,  Holland,  Spain,  &c.,  1792 — Francis 
II.  Emperor  of  Germany,  1792-1806  — 
Prussia — Successes  of  the  Allies — General 
Dumouriez  and  the  Republican  Army — 
The  Austrians  defeated  at  Jemappes — The 
Netherlands  republicanized — Defeat  of  Du- 
mouriez at  Neerwinden,  1793 — Joins  the 

.  Allies — Continued  Successes  of  the  Allies 
under  the  Dukes  of  York  and  Coburg — 
Carnot — Generals  Pichegru  and  Jourdan — 
Battles  of  Tournay  and  Fleurus — Jourdan's 
Aerial  Reconnoitring  Messenger,  or  the 
Adjutant  in  the  Balloon— Defeat  of  the 
Allies  —  Successes  of  the  French  —  Con- 
quests in  Flanders,  Holland,  and  the  Rhine 
— Kaiserslautern — Peace  of  Basle,  1795 — 
England  and  Austria — France — The  Aus- 
trian Generals  Beaulieu,  Wurmser,  and 
Archduke  Charles — Napoleon*  Bonaparte, 
1796 — Appointed  General  in  Italy — His 
Army  —  His  Conquests  and  rich  Booty 
made  in  Italy — The  French  in  Germany — 
Archduke  Charles— Moreau — His  famous 
Retreat — Manttta — Bonaparte  in  Germany 
— His  rapid  Marches — Vienna — Peace  of 
Campo-Formio,  1737  —  Shameful  Condi- 
tions— State  of  Europe— Alliance  of  Eng- 
land, Russia,  Austria,  Mid  Turkey — Hos- 
tilities resumed,  1798 — Bonaparte  in  Egypt 
— Cairo — Aboukir — His  Fleet  destroyed  by 
Nelson  —  Italy  —  General  Suwaroff —  His 
Successes  in  Italy — Genoa — Switzerland 
— SuwarofPs  Passage  across  the  Alps — His 
desperate  Appeal  to  his  Soldiers  —  His 
Recall — The  Emperor  Paul  and  England 
— Bonaparte  First  Consul,  1799 — Genoa — 
Battle  of  Marengo,  1800— General  Desaix 
— Moreau  in  Germany — Peace  of  Lune"- 
ville,  1801— Sad  Results  to,  and  Sacrifices 
made  by,  Germany — Resignation  of  Wil- 
liam Pitt— Peace  of  Amiens,  1802— Eng- 
land declares  War  against  France,  1803— 
Bonaparte  takes  Possession  of  Hanover — 
The  Geirnan  Legion 418 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

vapcleon's  Consulship— Gains  the  Nation's 
Confidence — Restores  internal  Tranquillity 
and  improves  the  Institutions — Napoleon 
Emperor  of  the  French,  1804 — His  Usur- 
pations— Alliance  of  Austria,  Russia,  and 
England  —  War  declared — Napoleon  in 
Germany,  1805 — Defeats  the  Austrians — 
Ulm— General  Mack— Battle  of  Austerlitz 
—The  Allies  defeated — Peace  of  Presburg 


not 

— Dismemberment  of  the  States  of  Ger- 
many— Naples — Joseph  Bonaparte —  Hol- 
land— Louis  Bonaparte — Rhenish  Confed- 
eration, or  League  of  the  German  Pr'nces 
— Their  Degeneration — The  Emperor  of 
Austria  lays  down  his  Title  of  Emperor  of 
Germany,  1806 — Prussia — Declares  War 
against  France — The  Prussian  Army — 
Battle  of  Saalfeld— Death  of  Prince  Lewis 
Ferdinand  of  Prussia — Battles  of  Jena  and 
Auerstadt — Defeat  of  the  Prussians — Na- 
poleon enters  Berlin — The  Russian  and 
Prussian  Alliance — Battles  of  Eylau  and 
Friedland — Defeat  of  the  Allies — Peace  of 
Tilsit  between  Russia  and  France,  1807 — 
Prussia's  Dismemberment  — Westphalia — 
Hesse  —  Jerome  Bonaparte  —  Prussia  — 
— Lieutenant  Schill — Napoleon's  triumph- 
ant Return  to  Paris  ....  ...  43C 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Austria  declares  War  against  France,  1809  — 
Battles  of  Gross-Aspcrn  and  Esslingen  — 
Archduke  Charles  —  The  Austrians  victo- 
rious —  Lieutenant  Schill  killed  —  Execution 
of  Palm,  the  Bookseller—  The  Tyrolese— 
Battle  of  Wagram  —  Defeat  of  the  Austrians 
—  Peace  of  Vienna  —  The  French  in  the 
Tyrol  —  The  Mountaineers  overpowered  — 
Execution  of  Hofer,  the  Tyrolese  Patriot  — 
The  Duke  of  Brunswick  —  His  Territory 
seized  —  His  bold  March  —  Embarks  for 
England  —  His  Heroic  Death  —  Napoleon  at 
the  Height  of  his  Power  —  Marriage  with 
the  Archduchess  Maria  Louisa  of  Austria, 
1810  —  His  continued  Usurpations  in  Ger- 
many —  His  Campaign  in  Russia,  1812  — 
Conflagration  of  Moscow  —  The  French 
Army  destroyed  —  ^opoleon's  Flight  and 
Return  to  Pans  —  me  King  of  Prussia's 
Declaration  and  general  arming  of  his  Na- 
tion pcramst  the  Invaders,  1813  —  JVapo- 
«eoii's  Pit^arations  —  The  French  ir.  ^^~ 


«:  11.11  fER  XXXVI. 


438 


Successes  of  the  PidssHnb-'-The  T)fke  \. 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz  —  Hu  Daughter.  tn«. 
Queen  of  Prussia  —  Erfurt  —  Ruxsia  uii'ifv 
with  Prussia  —  Battle  of  Liitzen  —  JNt.po.jion 
in  Dresden  —  The  King  of  Saxony  —  Batt»j 
of  Bautzen  —  Hamburg  taken  by  Marsha) 
Davoust  —  Heavy  Contributions  —  The  Ar- 
mistice —  Prussia  —  The  Liitzovv  Free  Corps 
—  Theodore  Ko'rner  —  Austria  endeavors  to 
negotiate  a  Peace  between  France  and  the 
Allies  —  The  Congress  at  Prague  —  Napo- 
leon refuses  all  Concession  —  The  Emperor 
of  Austria  declares  War,  and  joins  Russia 
and  Prussia  —  Dresden  —  Renewal  of  Hos- 
tilities —  Strength  and  Position  of  the  Allied 
Forces  —  Bernadotte  —  Bliicher  —  Prince 
Schwartzenberg  —  Marshal  Oudinot  —  Battle 
of  Gross-Beeren  —  Defeat  of  the  French  444 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

PAGE 

Glorious  Victory  of  the  Prussians  under  Blfi- 
cher  at  Katzbach — Bliicher  created  Prince 
of  Wahlstadt— Battle  of  Dresden — Defeat 
of  the  Austrian* — Death  of  General  Mo- 
reau — Battle  of  Kulm  —  General  Kleist 
— Generals  Vandamme  and  Haxo  made 
Prisoners — Battle  of  Dennevvitz — Battle  of 
Wartenburg— General  York — Preparations 
for  the  Battle  of  Leipsic  —  The  French 
Army — Honors  and  Promotions  conferred 
by  Napoleon— The  Allied  Forces— Prince 
Schwartzenberg 452 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  Three  Days'  Battle  of  Leipsic — Murat 
— The  Austrian  General  Meerveldt  taken 
Prisoner — Battle  of  Mockern —  Marshals 
Mannont  and  Bliicher — General  Horn — 
Total  Defeat  of  the  French — Bonaparte's 
Offers  to  negotiate  rejected — Breitenfeld — 
Bernadotte — Bennigsen —  The  Prince  of 
Hesse-Homburg  —  Prince  Poniatowsky  — 
Probstheyda  —  The  Saxon  Army  deserts 
Bonaparte  and  joins  the  Allies — The  Allied 
Sovereigns — Night  Scene  on  the  Field  of 
Battle — Bonaparte's  Slumber — Retreat  of 
the  French  —  Destruction  of  the  Elster 
Bridge— Prince  Poniatowsky's  Death— Tri- 
umphant Entrv  cf  the  Allies  into  Leipsic  458 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

PAf.% 

Napoleon's  Retreat  across  the  Rhine — Bava- 
ria— General  Wrede — Hanau — The  Allied 
Forces  invade  France — Their  rapid  March 
—  Napoleon  against  Blucher — Battle  of 
Brienne — Battle  of  Rothiere — Repulse  of 
the  French — Temporary  Successes  of  Na- 
poleon— The  Congress  of  Chatillon — Na- 
poleon's Confidence  restored — His  Decla- 
ration— Bliicher's  bold  Movement — Sois- 
sons — Laon — Napoleon  against  Schwartz- 
enberg— Rheims — Arcis — Napoleon's  des. 
perate  Courage  and  final  Charge  with  his 
Cavalry -1C4 


CHAPTER  XL. 

The  French  and  Allied  Armies  in  Battle 
Array — Napoleon's  Sudden  and  Mysterious 
Retreat  before  Action — His  secret  Designs 
for  the  Destruction  of  the  Allies — Flis  Plot 
Discovered — The  Allies  before  Paris — Its 
Capitulation — Triumphant  Entry  of  the 
Allies  into  that  City — Napoleen  deposed — 
Louis  XVIII.  King  of  France — Napoleon 
at  Fontaineblcau — His  Abdication — Ban- 
ishment to  Elba — Peace  signed  at  Pa-ia — 
Conclusion  ,  .  .  . 


INTRODUCTION, 


ANCIENT  GERMANY  AND  ITS  INHABITANTS.  „ 

!  he  Sources  of  the  most  ancient  German  History— The  Nature  of  the  Country— The  Natives— Tie  Germanif 
Races— Manners  and  Customs— Civil  Institutions— Ws.r— Regulations  and  Arms— Religion— Arts  and  Manu- 
factures—The  Germanic  Tribes. 

tors,  possibly  after  they  had  dwelt  for  cen- 
turies, or  even  a  thousand  years,  in  our 
native  country,  first  came  into  contact  with 
a  nation  that  already  knew  and  practised 
the  art  of  historical  writing.  This  hap- 
pened through  the  incursion  of  the  Cim- 
brians  and  Teutonians  into  the  country^oT 
the  Tlomans,  in  the*  year  113  before  the 
birth  of  Christ.  But  this  intercourse  was 
too  transitory,  and  the  strangers  were  too 
unknown,  and  too  foreign  to  the  Romans, 
for  them,  who  were  sufficiently  occupied 
with  themselves,  and  besides  which,  looked 
haughtily  upon  all  that  was  alien,  to  in- 
quire very  particularly  into  their  origin 
and  history. 

And  even  the   relation  of  this  contest 


I.  SOURCES  OF  OUR  EARLIEST  HISTORY. 

THE  hrstory  of  the  origin,  and  of  the 
earliest  state  of  the  German  nation,  is  in- 
volved in  impenetrable  obscurity.  No 
records  tell  us  when,  and  under  what  cir- 
cumstances, our  ancestors  migrated  out  of 
Asia,  the  cradle  of  the  human  race,  into 
our  fatherland  ;  what  causes  urged  them 
lo  seek  the  regions  of  the  north,  or  what 
allied  branches  they  left  behind  them  in 
the  countries  they  quitted.  A  few  scat- 
tered and  obscure  historical  traces,  as  well 
as  a  resemblance  in  various  customs  and 
regulations,  but  more  distinctly  the  affini- 
ties of  language,  indicate  a  relationship 
with  the  Indians,  Servians,  and  the  Greeks.* 

This  obscurity  of  our  earliest  history  must 
not  surprise  us  ;  for  every  nation,  as  long 
as  it  lives  in  a  half  savage  state,  without  a 
written  language,  neglects  every  record 
of  its  history  beyond  mere  traditions  and 
songs,  which  pass  down  from  generation 
to  generation.  But  as  these,  even  in  their 
very  origin,  blend  fiction  with  truth,  they 
naturally  become,  in  the  course  of  centu- 
ries, so  much  disfigured,  that  scarcely  the 
least  thread  of  historical  fact  is  to  be  found 
in  them.  Not  a  syllable  or  sound  of  even 
those  traditions  and  songs,  wherein,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  the  Romans,  our 
ancestors  also  delighted  to  celebrate  the 
deeds  and  fate  of  their  people,  has,  how- 
ever, descended  to  posterity. 
J  Our  authentic  history,  consequently, 
commences  at  the  period  when  our  ances- 


*  According  to  more  recent  researches,  it  is  con- 
cluded that  the  ancient  Sanscrit  and  Zend  languages 
may  have  formed  likewise  the  basis  of  the  German 
tongue,  or  at  least  have  upproxi mated  more  closely 
with  the  common  primitive  dialect. 


even 

against  the  German  tribes,  howsoever  im- 
portant .it  was  to  the  Romans,  we  are 
obliged  to  seek  laboriously  from  many  au- 
thors ;  for  the  source  whence  we  should 
draw  most  copiously,  is  precisely  here 
dried  up, — the  books  of  the  Roman  author, 
Livy,  which  treated  of  this  war  in  detail, 
having  been  lost,  together  with  many  oth- 
ers ;  and  we  only  possess — which  we  maj 
even  consider  as  very  fortunate — their 
mere  table  of  contents,  by  means  whereof, 
viz.,  those  of  the  63-68  books,  we  can  at 
least  trace  the  course  of  the  chief  events 
of  the  war.  Beyond  this,  we  derive  some 
solitary  facts  from  Roman  historians  of  the 
second  and  third  class,  who  give  but  a 
short  and  partially  mutilated  account,  and 
collectively  lived  too  long  after  this  period 
to  be  considered  as  authentic  sources.  To 
those  belong — 1,  the  "  Epit.  Rer.  Rom." 
of  Florus,  (according  to  some,  a  book  ot 
the  Augustan  age,  but  according  to  others, 
the  work  of  L.  Annaeus  Florus,  who  lived 


16 


INTRODUCTION. 


at  the  commencement  of  the  second  cen- 
tury under  Adrian  ;)  2,  the  "  History  of 
the  World"  of  Velleius  Paterculus,  in  a 
brief  outline,  down  to  the  period  of  Tibe- 
rius, who  lived  about  the  time  of  the  birth 
u  .->f  Christ ;  3,  the  "  De  Stratagematibus" 
of  Frontinus  (about  150  years  after  Christ) 
contains  some  good  notices  of  the  Cimbrian 

*-  war  ;  4,  the  "  Dicta  et  Facta  Memorabilia" 
of  Valerius  Maximus,  (about  20  years  after 

u  Christ ;)  5,  the  "  History  of  the  World" 
of  Justin,  (about  the  year  150  ;)  and  6. 

-  the  "Sketch  of  the  Roman  History"  of 
Eutropius  (about  the  year  375)  present  us 
\vith  much;  and  again,  much  is  supplied 
us,  incidentally,  by  the  Roman  writers 
who  did  not  directly  write  history. 

Among  those  who  wrote  in  Greek,  must 

.  i-.ta.nd  :  1,  Plutarch,  (about  100  years  B.  c.,) 
iti  his  biography  of  "  Marius,"  besides 
whom,  good  details  may  be  gleaned  from : 

v  2,  Diodorus  Siculus,  (about  the  period  of 
the  birth  of  Christ,)  in  his  "  Historical 

^  Library ;"  3,  Appian,  (about  the  year 
160,)  in  his  ethnographically-arranged 
"  History  of  the  Romans,"  (particularly 
;.n  the  cap.  "  De  Reb.  Celt."  and  "  De 
Lteb.  Illyr. ;")  4.  Dio  Cassius,  (about  the 
year  222,)  in  the  fragments  which  are 
preserved  of  his  "  Roman  History  ;"  and 
among  those  who  treat  of  geography, 
Strabo  (about  the  period  of  the  birth  of 
Christ)  especially. 

After  the  Cimbrian  era,  another  half 
century  passes  before  the  Romans  again 
mention  the  Germans.  It  was  towards  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  before  the  birth 
of  Christ,  when  Julius  Caesar  advanced  to 
the  frontiers  of  wh*at  may  T>e  truly  consid- 
ered Germany.  He  himself  mentions 
having  fought  with  Arioyigtus  in  Gaul,  and 
afterwards  with  some  "German  tribes  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  that  he  twice 
united  the  banks  of  this  river  by  means  of  a 
bridge,  and  set  foot  upon  the  opposite  side  ; 
besides  which,  he  gives  us  all  the  informa- 
iion  he  could  obtain  from  the  Gauls, 
travelling  merchants,  or  German  captives, 
relative  to  the  nature  and  condition  of 
Germany  and  its  people.  His  information- 
is  invaluable  to  us,  although  it  is  but 
scanty,  fragmentary,  and,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, not  to  be  depended  upon.  For  this 
great  commander,  who  strove  for  absolute 
rule — who  used  mankind  (he  cannot  be 
freed  from  the  charge)  as  the  means  to  his 
end — who,  from  the  depth  of  an  already 


corrupted  state  of  civilization,  could  nol 
possibly  estimate  the  simple,  natural  dig- 
nity of  such  a  nation — and  who,  lastly,  in 
order  to  be  considered  worthy  of  belief  in 
every  thing  he  relates,  too  well  understood 
the  art  of  representing  events  to  his  own 
advantage — such  a  writer,  we  say,  cannot 
truly  be  regarded  by  us  without  some  de 
gree  of  mistrust. 

After  him  there  occurs  another  interval 
of  about  fifty  years,  during  which  the  ob- 
scurity of  our  history  is  scarcely  illumi- 
nated by  a  single  ray  of  foreign  observa- 
tion, until  about  the  period  of  the  birth  of 
Christ,  and  when,  immediately  after,  the 
Romans  again  set  foot  upon,  and,  for  a 
longer  period,  traversed  the  German  soil. 
They  then  became  tolerably  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  southwest  and  north- 
west of  Germany  ;  or,  rather,  they  might 
have  become  well  acquainted  therewith, 
had  their  prejudiced  and  selfish  minds, 
which  were  barred  against  all  foreign 
peculiarities,  been  properly  competent  to 
it,  and  had  not  the  difficult  extremities 
to  which  they  were  reduced  in  Germany 
too  much  occupied  them,  and  rendered 
them  unjust  in  their  judgment  of  the  coun- 
try and  its  inhabitants.  In  order  to  expose 
themselves  to  less  shame  for  being  several 
times  severely  cut  up  by  the  very  force 
of  arms  borne  by  those  they  called  barba- 
rians, by  whom  they  were  frequently  sur- 
passed in  prudence  and  warlike  subtlety, 
they  necessarily,  notwithstanding  the  de- 
cisive victories  of  which  they  boasted, 
when  driven  from  the  German  soil,  exten- 
uated their  own  misfortunes,  and  exagger- 
ated those  of  their  opponents,  whom  they 
accused  occasionally  of  deceit,  when  pro- 
bably, on  the  contrary,  the  most  open  con- 
duct prevailed,  and  generally,  in  fact, 
they  heaped  upon  the  Germans  and  their 
country  the  most  opprobrious  charges. 
No  impartial  man  among  them,  who  was 
an  eye-witness  of  their  incursions,  de- 
scribes to  us  faithfully  the  events  them- 
selves, and  the  German  nation  generally. 
The  only  historian  of  the  period  who  might  , 
*nave  done  so,  Velleius  Paterculus,  the  seiV 
vant  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  and  the 
friend  of  his  favorite,  Sejanus,  who,  in  the 
years  immediately  preceding  and  succeed- 
ing the  birth  of  Christ,  was  himself  in 
Germany — that  is  to  say,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Elbe,  with  the  army  of  the  emperor — 
shows  himself,  in  the  very  scanty  notices 


INTRODUCTION. 


he  gives,  only  as  a  flatterer  of  his  despotic 
lord,  whose  deeds  he  elevates  to  the  skies 
in  inflated  and  extravagant  language. 

A  second  Roman  writer,  who  also  had 
seen  Germany,  Pliny  the  elder,  (and  who 
died  in  the  year  79  A.  D.,)  had  heen  upon 
the  northern  coast  of  Germany,  among  the 
Chaucij  but  certainly  did  not  travel  far  into 
the  land.  In  his  "  Hist.  Nat.,"  which  is 
an  Encyclopaedia  of  general  knowledge, 
he  gives  us  several  valuable  notices  of  the 
natural  condition  of  our  country,  and  of 
its  tribes  and  nations.  His  information 
and  judgment,  however,  must  be  used  with 
precaution,  as  his  critical  sagacity  is  often 
questionable.  But  we  have  suffered  an 
irreparable  loss  in  his  twenty  books,  which 
treated  of  all  the  wars  of  the  Romans  with 
the  Germans,  not  the  least  fragment  of 
which  has  come  down  to  us.  He  lived  so 
near  the  period,  that  he  might  have  col- 
lected the  information  as  correctly  as  it 
was  to  be  obtained.  We  may,  however, 
in  some  degree  console  ourselves  that 
.^Tacitus,  (about  100  years  A.  D.,)  who  cites 
his  precursors  as  testimonies,  availed  him- 
self of  the  work  of  Pliny ;  but  Tacitus 
only  relates  the  German  wars  in  part,  and 
does  not  treat  them  as  the  principal  sub- 
ject, while,  also,  much  from  him  that  was 
important  is  lost  to  us.  His  "  Annals," 
which  relate  the  Roman  history  from  the 
death  of  Augustus  to  the  death  of  Nero, 
commence  after  the  great  German  battle 
of  liberty  with  Varus  ;  but  of  these  annals 
all  from  the  seventJT  to  the  tenth  book  is 
also  wanting,  and  the  fifth  and  sixteenth 
books  have  come  down  to  us  only  in  an 
imperfect  state.  We,  nevertheless,  ac- 
knowledge him  to  be  by  far  the  chief  and 
most  important  author  as  regards  our  ear- 
lier German  history,  and  revere  his  ele- 
vated feeling  for  moral  dignity,  for  truth 
and  justice,  in  what  he  also  relates  of  the 
contests  between  the  Romans  and  Germans, 
although,  faultlessly  on  his  part,  he  does 
not  always  draw  his  information  from  a 
pure  source.  But  we  value  him  for  the 
treasure  he  has  left  us  in  his  description 
of  Germany  and  its  people,  ("  De  Sitir  ac 
Moribus  Germ.")  His  deep  feeling  for 
simplicity  of  manners,  and  healthy  energy 
of  nature,  had  made  him  a  warm  friend 
towards  the  German  natives ;  and  it  ap- 
peared to  him  that  a  faithful  description 
of  the  German  nation  would  be  a  work 
worthy  of  his  pen,  so  that,  when  placed 
3 


before  his  corrupted  countrymen,  it  should 
present  to  their  view  a  picture  which  might 
bring  many  of  those  whose  minds  were  as 
yet  not  quite  unsusceptible,  to  acknowledge 
their  own  unnatural  condition.  For  this 
purpose  he  collected  all  that  he  could  ob- 
tain from  the  earlier  authors,  from  the  oral 
information  of  the  Romans  who  had  been 
in  Germanjif  and  from  the  Germans  who 
were  in  the  Roman  service.  Thus  arose 
this  invaluable  book,  which  may  be  called 
a  temple  of  honor  to  the  German  nation, 
and  which  illuminates,  like  a  bright  star, 
the  commencement  of  their  otherwise  ob- 
scure path.  Some  things,  indeed,  through 
too  great  a  predilection,  may  be  placed  by 
him  in  too  favorable  a  light  ;  but,  even  if 
much  be  deducted,  still  sufficient  that  is 
praiseworthy  remains,  and  that  the  mate, 
rial  portion  is  true,  we  may  be  assured  of 
by  the  incorruptible  love  of  truth  of  the 
noble  Roman,  which  speaks  so  triumphant- 
ly in  all  his  works. 

Among  the  remainder  of  the  less  im- 
portant historians  who  contributed  to  our 
earliest  history,  and  are  already  mentioned 
in  the  notice  of  the  Cimbrian  war,  Dio 
Cassius  may  be  included  as  important ;  for 
the  later  wars  may  be  named,  Suetonius, 
(110  years  A.  D.,  esteemed  by  Trajan  and 
Adrian,)  in  his  biography  of  the  twelve 
first  Caesars  ;  the  "  Scriptores  Hist.  Au- 
gustse,"  towards  the  end  of  the  third  cen- 
tury  ;  ^Elius  Spartianus,  Julius  Capito- 
linus,  and  Flavius  Vopiscus ;  Aurelius  - 
Victor,  (330,)  in  his  biography  of  the 
Ca3sars,  from  Augustus  to  Constantino  ; 
and  Paulus  Orosius,  (417,)  in  his  history.  - 
Among  the  geographical  writers,  besides 
Strabo  and  Pomponius  Mela,  (48,)  we  may 
name  in  particular  Claudius  Ptoloma3us,  ~ 
(140,)  who  constructed  a  system  of  geo- 
graphy upon  a  lost  work  of  Tyrian  Ma-^ 
rinos,  and  was  particularly  careful  in  the 
determination  of  longitude  and  latitude. 

But  even  when  we  have  brought  togeth- 
er all  of  the  best  that  ancient  authors  sup- 
ply us  with  upon  Germany,  and  console 
ourselves  over  the  great  chasms  they  leave, 
with  the  idea  that  still  something  has  de- 
scended to  us  both  great  and  important,  we 
must  nevertheless  consider  it  but  as  the  tes- 
timony of  strangers, — of  the  people  of  the 
South,  differing  essentially  from  the  Ger- 
mans in  nature  and  character,  ignorant  oi 
their  language,  and,  with  the  exception  oi' 
one  instance,  indifferent,  or  rather  inimi 


18 


INTRODUCTION. 


sally  minded,  towards  them.  Not  a  single 
German  word,  correcting  the  judgment  of 
the  Romans,  or  elucidating  the  thread  of 
events  which  the  Romans  could  neither  see 
nor  understand,  resounds  to  us  from  yon- 
der period.  How  much  richer,  and  cer- 
tainly more  honorable,  would  the  picture 
develop  itself  before  us,  did  we  also  possess 
German  records ! 

But  it  was  not  until  many  centuries  later, 
after  multifarious  convulsions  had  taken 
place,  and  most  of  the  constituent  parts  of 
ancient  times  had  disappeared  from  their 
seat,  that  isolated  and  scanty  sources  of 
history  commenced  flowing  from  original 
German  testimony,  by  writers  who,  driven 
with  their  countrymen  to  foreign  lands, 
there  endeavored  to  relate  their  career  and 
fate.  Their  names  will  be  mentioned  at 
the  commencement  of  the  second  period. 

After  what  is  stated  above,  we  must  rest 
contented  with  giving  as  true  a  picture  as 
oossible  of  ancient  German  history,  derived 
as  it  is  from  the  Roman  and  Greek  writers, 
and  by  conclusions  drawn  from  later  tes- 
timony upon  earlier  times,  admitting  that 
much  must  necessarily  appear  obscure, 
fragmentary,  and  contradictory,  and  that 
upon  many  points  opinions  will  forever  re- 
main divided.  The  period  to  which  the 
following  description  belongs,  is  about  the 
time  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  the  few  im- 
mediately succeeding  centuries. 

II.  THE  NATURE  AND  CONDITION  OF  THE 
COUNTRY. 

According  to  the  description  of  the  Ro- 
mans, Germany  was,  at  the  time  they  first 
became  acquainted  with  it,  a  rude  and  in- 
hospitable land,  full  of  immense  forests, 
marshes,  and  desert  tracts.  The  great  Her- 
cynian  forest,  by  Caesar's  account,  extended 
from  the  Alps  over  a  space,  that  in  its  length 
occupied  sixty,  and  in  its  width  nine  days' 
journey  ;  consequently,  all  the  chief  moun- 
tain chains  and  forests  of  the  present  Ger- 
many, must  be  the  remnants  of  that  one  stu- 
pendous wooded  range.  But  Ccesar,  from 
the  indefinite  information  he  received,  owing 
to  his  ignorance  of  the  German  language, 
applied  the  general  German  word,  Hart,  or 
Harz,  for  mountain,  to  the  collective  moun- 
tain forests  of  the  land,  which,  however, 
the  natives  certainly  already  distinguished 
by  different  appellations.  Later  authors, 
viz.,  Pliny  and  Tacitus,  circumscribe  the 
flercynian  forests  to  those  chains  of  moun- 


tains which,  to  the  south  of  the  Thuringiar 
forest,  enclose  Bohemia,  and  in  the  east  ex. 
tend  to  Moravia  and  Hungary.  They  also, 
as  well  as  Ptolemy,  subsequently,  mention 
many  individual  mountains  by  peculiar 
names  ;  for  example,  Mons  Abnoba,  the 
Black  Forest,  (Ptolemy  seems  to  imply  by 
this,  the  mountains  between  the  Maine,  the 
Rhine,  and  the  Weser ;)  the  Melibokos 
mountains,  the  present  Harz ;  the  Semana 
forest,  to  the  south  of  the  Harz,  towards  the 
Thuringian  forest ;  the  Sudeta  forest,  a  por- 
tion of  the  Thuringian  forest  ;  the  Gabrela 
forest,  the  Bohemian  forest ;  the  Askibur- 
gish  mountains,  according  to  some  the  Erz, 
or  rather  the  Riesen-Gebirg  •  the  Taunus, 
the  heights  between  Wiesbaden  and  Hom- 
burg  ;  the  Teutsburger  forest,  the  mountain 
and  forest  tracts  which  extend  from  the 
Weser  through  Paderborn,  as  far  as  Osna- 
burg.  Csesar  mentions  besides,  the  Bacenis 
forest,  probably  the  western  portion  of  the 
Thuringian  forest,  which  extends  into  Ful 
da,  and  in  the  middle  ages  was  called  Bo- 
cauna,  or  Buchonia ;  and  Tacitus  names 
the  Silvia  Ccesia,  between  the  Ems  and  the 
Issel,  the  remains  of  which  may  be  the  Ha. 
ser  forest,  and  the  Baumberge,  near  Goes- 
feld  ;  and  that  town  itself  may  probably 
have  preserved  the  name.  Many  other 
less  important  or  uncertain  names  we  pass 
over. 

The  large  German  forests  consisted  pro- 
bably, as  now,  principally  of  oaks,  beeches, 
and  pines.  The  Romans  admired,  above 
all,  the  immense  oaks,  which  seemed  to 
them  coeval  with  the  earth  itself.  Pliny, 
who  had  been  personally  in  the  north  of 
Westphalia,  in  the  country  of  the  Chauci, 
expresses  himself  thus  upon  them  :  "  Cre- 
ated with  the  earth  itself,  untouched  by 
centuries,  the  monstrous  trunks  surpass,  by 
their  powerful  vitality,  all  other  wonders  of 
nature." 

The  Romans  were  also  acquainted  with 
the  majority  of  German  rivers  :  Danubius, 
the  Danube  ;  Rhenus,  the  Rhine  ;  Moeniis, 
the  Maine ;  Albis,  the  Elbe  ;  Vi.sv.rgis,  the 
Weser ;  Viadrus,  the  Oder  ;  the  Vistula  ; 
Nicer,  the  Necker ;  Luppia,  the  Lippe ; 
Amisia,  the  Ems ;  Adrana,  the  Eder ;  Sa- 
las,  (in  Strabo  alone,)  the  Saale  ;  and  seme 
others.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Romans 
do  not  mention  the  Lahn  and  the  Ruhr,  al* 
though  they  must  surely  have  become  ac- 
quainted with  them  in  their  campaigns  in 
the  north  of  Germany  The  German  riv. 


INTRODUCTION. 


19 


ers  were  not  at  that  period  made  passable 
by  means  of  bridges,  which  the  native  did 
not  require,  as  he  easily  swam  across  the 
former,  and  for  wider  transits  he  had  his 
boats. 

The  soil  of  the  land  was  not  cultivated 
as  now,  although  the  Romans  call  portions 
of  it  extremely  fertile,  and  agriculture  and 
pasturage  wore  the  chief  occupations  of  the 
Germans.  Rye,  barley,  oats,  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  opinions  of  some,  wheat  also, 
were  cultivated  ;  flax  was  everywhere  dis- 
tributed ;  various  sorts  of  carrots  and  tur- 
nips it  certainly  produced ;  the  Romans  ad- 
mired radishes  of  the  size  of  a  child's  head, 
and  mention  asparagus,  which  they,  indeed, 
did  not  praise,  and  a  species  of  parsley, 
which  pleased  them  much.  The  superior 
fruits  of  southern  climates  which  have  been 
subsequently  transplanted  among  them, 
might  probably  not  then  thrive,  although 
Pliny  mentions  a  species  of  cherry  found 
:iear  the  Rhine,  and  Tacitus  names  among 
Jie  food  of  the  Germans  wild-tree  fruits, 
\ctgrestia  poma,)  which  must  certainly  have 
been  better  than  our  crab-apples. 

The  pastures  were  rich  and  beautiful, 
and  the  horned  cattle  as  well  as  the  horses, 
although  small  and  inconsiderable,  yet  of 
a  good  and  durable  kind. 

The  most  important  of  all  condiments, 
salt,  the  Germans  found  upon  their  native 
soil,  nor  did  it  refuse  them  that  most  use- 
ful of  all  metals,  iron,  and  they  understood 
the  art  of  procuring  and  manufacturing  it ; 
they  do  not,  however,  appear  to  have  dug 
for  silver. 

Of  the  many  strengthening  mineral 
springs  which  the  country  numbers,  the 
Romans  already  mention  Spa  and  Wies- 
baden. 

The  climate,  in  consequence  of  the  im- 
mense forests,  whose  density  was  impervi- 
ous to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  owing  to 
the  undrained  fens  and  marshes,  was  cold- 
er, more  foggy  and  inclement  than  at  pres- 
ent, but  was  nevertheless  not  quite  so  bad 
perhaps  as  represented  by  the  Romans, 
spoiled  as  they  were  by  the  luxurious  cli- 
mate of  Italy.  According  to  them  the 
trees  were  without  leaves  for  eight  months 
in  the  year,  and  the  large  rivers  were 
regularly  so  deeply  and  firmly  frozen  that 
they  could  bear  upon  them  the  heavy  field- 
equipages  of  the  army.  "  The  Germans," 
says  Pliny,  "  know  only  three  seasons, 
winter,  spring,  and  summer  ;  of  autumn 


they  know  neither  the  name  nor  its  fruits.'* 
The  Romans  found  the  country  in  general 
so  ungenial,  that^they  considered  it  quite 
impossible  that  any  one  should  quit  Italy  to 
dwell  in  Germany. 

But  the  ancient  Germans  loved  this 
country  beyond  all,  because,  as  free  men, 
they  were  born  in  it,  and  the  nature  of  the 
climate  helped  them  to  defend  this  free- 
dom. .  The  forests  and  marshes  appalled 
the  enemy  ;  the  severity  of  the  air  as  well 
as  the  chase  of  wild  animals  strengthened 
the  bodies  of  the  men,  and,  nourished  by  a 
simple  diet,  they  grew  to  so  stately  a  size 
that  other  nations  admired  them  with  aston- 
ishment. 

III.  THE  NATIVES. 

The  Romans  justly  considered  the  Ger. 
man  nation  as  an  aboriginal,  pure,  and 
unmixed  race  of  people.  They  resembled 
themselves  alone  ;  and  like  the  specifically 
similar  plants  of  the  field,  which  springing 
from  a  pure  seed,  not  raised  in  the  hotbed 
of  a  garden,  but  germinating  in  the  healthy, 
free,  unsheltered  soil,  do  not  differ  from 
each  other  by  varieties,  so  also,  among  the 
thousands  of  the  simple  German  race,  there 
was  but  one  determined  and  equal  form  of 
body.  Their  chest  was  wide  and  strong  ; 
their  hair  yellow,  and  with  young  children 
it  was  of  a  dazzling  white.  Their  skin 
was  also  white,  their  eyes  blue,  and  their 
glance  bold  and  piercing.  Their  powerful, 
gigantic  bodies,  which  the  Romans  and 
Gauls  could  not  behold  without  fear,  dis- 
played the  strength  that  nature  had  given 
to  this  people,  for  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  some  of  the  ancient  writers  their 
usual  height  was  seven  feet. 

From  their  earliest  youth  upward  they 
hardened  their  bodies  by  all  devisable  means. 
New-born  infants  were  dipped  in  cold  water, 
and  the  cold  bath  was  continued  during 
their  whole  lives  as  the  strengthening  ren- 
ovator by  both  boys  and  girls,  men  and 
women.  Their  dress  was  a  broad  short 
mantle  fastened  by  a  girdle,  or  the  skins 
of  wild  animals,  the  trophies  of  the  suc- 
cessful chase  ;  in  both  sexes  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  body  was  left  uncovered,  and 
the  winter  did  not  induce  them  to  clothe 
themselves  warmer.  The  children  ran 
about  almost  naked,  and  effeminate  nations, 
who  with  difficulty  reared  their  children 
during  the  earLest  infancy,  wondered  how 
those  of  the  Germans,  without  craiies  o» 


20 


INTRODUCTION. 


swaddling  bands,  should  grow  up  to  the 
very  fullest  bloom  of  health. 

The  Romans  called  our  nation,  from  its 
warlike  and  valiant  mode  of  thinking, 
GERMANS  ;*  a  name  which  the  Tungi, — a 
body  of  German  warriors,  who,  at  an 
earlier  period,  crossed  the  Rhine,  and  col- 
onized, with  arms  in  hand,  among  the 
Gauls, — first  bore,  and  subsequently  ap- 
plied to  all  their  race,  to  express  thereby 
their  warlike  manners,  and  thus  to  impress 
their  enemies  with  terror.  This  name 
was  willingly  adopted,  as  a  name  of  hon- 
or, by  all  Germans,  and  thus  it  remain- 
ed. 

The  aboriginal  name  of  the  people  is, 
however,  without  doubt  the  same  which 
they  bear  to  the  present  day.  It  springs 
from  the  word  Diot,  (in  the  Gothic,  Tliiudu,) 
which  signifies  Nation.  A  Teutscher  or 
Deutscher,  according  to  the  harder  or 
softer  pronunciation,  was,  therefore,  one 
belonging  to  the  nation,  which  styled  itself 
so  prerogatively. 

According  to  history,  it  was  some  cen- 
turies after  the  decline  of  the  Roman  do- 
minion, that  the  name  of  the  nation  of 
Germans  was  again  heard  of,  and  it  is 
found  in  but  few  records  prior  to  Otto  I., 
the  earliest  of  which  bears  the  date  of  the 
year  813. 

It  must  not  appear  remarkable  to  us, 
that  the  original  collective  name  of  the 
people  was  little  used  in  the  earlier  peri- 
ods, and  was  probably  unknown  to  the 
Romans.  In  the  intercourse  with  a  nation 
composed  of  so  many  septs,  the  names  of 
only  those  septs  transpired  with  whom 
•  hat  communication  took  place,  because 
each  held  itself  to  be  a  nation,  (Diot ;)  and 
so  also  later,  when  various  tribes  associat- 
ed together  in  bodies,  merely  the  name  of 
the  union  appeared :  as,  the  Suevi,  the 
Marcomanni,  the  Allemanni,  the  Goths,  the 
Franks,  and  the  Saxons.  It  is,  however, 
remarkable  enough,  that  we  meet  with  the 
original  national  name  in  that  of  the  Teu- 
ronians,  which  is  already  used  by  Pytheas, 

*  Most  probably  from  the  word  ger,  spear  or  lance, 
and  the  word  man— the  man,  the  lord  or  chief.  There- 
fore, in  any  case,  a  warlike  title  of  honor,  which  dis- 
tinguished the  manliness  and  valor  of  the  nation.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  the  name  Germanen,  which, 
oefore  Caesar,  no  Roman  author  mentions,  appears  on 
a  marble  slab  discovered  in  the  year  1 547,  and  which  is 
connected  with  the  celebrated  Fastis  Capitolinis,  in 
he  year,  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  223.  The  consul 
Warcellus  gained  in  that  year  a  victo?  o?«r  the  Gallic 
tfhief  Viridomar,  who  is  inscribed  ujoa  that  captured 
'tab  a  leader  of  the  Gauls  and  Germisjitn, 


300  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  and 
which  again  recurs  in  the  Cimbrian  war. 

IV.  THE  GERMANIC  RACES. 

Ancient  authors  mention  several  Ger- 
man tribes,  as  well  as  their  dwelling-places, 
with  greater  or  less  precision.  Several  c:i 
them  also  speak  of  the  chief  tribes  among 
which  the  single  septs  united  themselves. 
But  their  statements  are  not  sufficiently 
unanimous  or  precise,  to  give  usthatcleai 
view  which  we  would,  however,  so  wil- 
lingly obtain.  For  how  desirable  would  il 
not  be  for  us  to  be  able,  even  in  the  very 
cradle  of  our  history,  to  point  out  the  ori- 
ginal  distinctions  of  the  races  as  yet  dis- 
covered, and  which  display  themselves  in 
the  different  dialects  of  the  German  lan- 
guage, as  well  as  in  many  essential  differ- 
ences in  the  manners  of  the  people,  parti- 
cularly in  those  of  the  less  sophisticated 
peasantry  !  But  we  are  here  upon  too  in- 
secure a  foundation,  although  it  still  yields 
us  some  few  features  always  important. 

The  most  obscure  account  presented  to 
us  is  the  five-fold  division  of  tribes  given 
by  Pliny.  Beginning  at  the  extreme  north 
coast,  towards  the  estuary  of  the  Vistula, 
he  first  mentions  the  Vinilians  or  Windi- 
ler ;  farther  westward,  towards  the  East 
Sea  coast,  and  beyond  the  Cimbrian  penin- 
sula, towards  the  North  Sea,  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  Ems,  the  Ingavonians  ;  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Rhine,  as  far  as  the 
Maine,  and  higher  up  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine,  the  Istavonians ;  and  in  the 
middle  of  Germany,  particularly  in  the 
highlands  along  the  Upper  Weser,  the 
Werra,  Fulda,  and  towards  ihe  south,  as 
far  as  the  Hercynian  forest,  the  Hermio- 
nian  tribes.  He  gives  no  general  name  to 
the  fifth  tribe,  but  includes  therein  the 
Peucinians  and  Bastarnians  in  the  districts 
of  the  Lower  Danube,  as  far  as  Dacia. 

Tacitus  also  mentions  three  of  these 
names,  but  he  derives  them  from  the  myth- 
ical origin  of  the  people.  Man,  the  son  ol 
Tuisko,  had  three  sons,  Ingavon,  Istavon, 
and  Hermion,  whose  descendants  formed 
the  three  principal  tribes  of  the  Ingavo- 
nians, the  Istavonians,  and  the  Hermio- 
nians. 

We  would  willingly,  as  before  mention- 
ed, bring  the  fourth  or  fifth-fold  division 
of  the  tribes  of  Pliny,  in  conjunction  with 
the  subsequent  times,  and,  on  this  head, 
we  are  not  altogether  without  some  histori- 


INTROL  UCTION 


cal  indications, — as,  viz.,  when  the  Van- 
dals, of  their  own  accord,  return  later  and 
join  in  the  great  Gothic  union  ;  when  the 
Suevi,  the  flower  of  the  Allemannic  alli- 
ance, as  the  inhabitants  of  the  internal  and 
southwestern  parts  of  Germany,  thus  bring 
to  mind  the  Hermionians,  the  Ingavonians 
and  Istavonians  therefore  remaining  for 
the  north  and  northwestern  portions;  so 
that  as,  even  in  the  earlier  times  of  the 
Romans,  an  essential  difference,  nay,  a  de- 
cided contrast,  in  comparison  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  North  Sea,  the  Tresians 
and  Chaucians,  evidently  occurs  between 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Middle  and  Lower 
Rhine,  extending  itself  onward  towards 
the  mountain  districts  of  the  Weser  and 
the  Harz,  and  which,  in  the  subsequent 
league  of  the  Franks  and  Saxons,  becomes 
confirmed,  we  have  thence  furnished  to  us 
already  the  third  and  fourth  principal  tribes 
of  Pliny. 

The  fifth  he  refers  to  as  before  mention- 
ed. Proceeding  further  onward  we  may 
find  again  in  Bavaria  the  remnant  of  the 
Gothic  tribe,  which,  after  the  period  of  the 
migration  of  the  people,  remained  stationa- 
ry in  Germany,  so  that  between  the  later 
four  principal  nations  in  Germany,  the 
Franks,  the  Saxons,  the  Swabians,  and 
Bavarians,  a  connection  is  formed  and  es- 
tablished even  to  the  original  tribes  of 
Pliny.  Such  links  of  connection  convey 
assuredly  a  great  charm ;  but  we,  never- 
theless, wander  upon  ground  too  uncertain 
to  enable  us  to  succeed  in  acquiring  au- 
thentic historical  data. 

Much  more  importance  attaches,  on  the 
contrary,  to  what  the  ancients,  but  more 
distinctly  Caesar  and  Tacitus,  relate  of  the 
peculiarities  of  one  German  chief  tribe, 
which  included  many  individual  septs, 
namely  the  Suevi.  From  the  combination 
of  the  picture  sketched  by  them,  in  con- 
j  unction  with  other  descriptions  of  German 
manners  and  institutions,  we  can  define, 
with  tolerable  safety,  the  peculiarities  of  a 
second  tribe,  although  the  Romans  give  it 
no  general  name.  We  will  first  portray  the 
Sucui,  as  Cajsar  and  Tacitus  described  them : 

1.  The  nations  forming  the  Suevic  race 
dwelt  in  the  large  semi-circle  traced  by  the 
Upper  ciid  Middle  Rhine  and  the  Danube, 
through  the  middle  of  Germany,  and  farther 
1 1 wards  the  north  to  the  East  Sea,  so  that  they 
occupied  the  country  of  the  Necker,  the 
Maine,  the  Saale,  and  then  the  right  Elbe 


bank  of  the  Havel,  Spree,  and  Oder.  Nay, 
Tacitus  even  places  Suevic  tribes  beyond 
the  Vistula,  as  well  in  the  interior  as  on 
the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  and  beyond  it  in 
Sweden.  Grounds  of  probability  admit, 
indeed,  of  our  placing  a  third — the  Gothic- 
Vandal  tribe,  between  the  Oder  and  the 
Vistula,  and  along  the  latter  stream  ;  but 
as  distinct  information  is  wanting,  we  can 
but  allude  to  it,  of  which  more  below. 
The  Suevi,  as  Csesar  informs  us,  had  early 
formed  themselves  into  one  large  union, 
whose  principles  were  distinctly  warlike. 
The  love  of  arms  was  assiduously  cherish- 
ed in  all,  that  they  might  be  always  ready 
for  any  undertaking.  Thence  it  was  that 
individuals  had  no  fixed  landed  possessions ; 
but  the  princes  and  leaders  yearly  divided 
the  land  among  the  families  just  as  it  pleased 
them;  and  none  were  allowed  even  to  select 
the  same  pastures  for  two  consecutive  years, 
but  were  forced  to  exchange  with  each 
other,  that  neither  of  them  might  accustom 
himself  to  the  ground,  and,  acquiring  a  love 
for  his  dwelling-place,  be  thus  induced  to 
exchange  the  love  of  war  for  agriculture. 
They  were  afraid  that,  if  an  individual 
were  permitted  to  acquire  an  extensive 
tract,  the  powerful  might >  chase  away  the 
poor,  build  large  and  imposing  dwellings, 
and  that  the  lust  of  wealth  might  give  rise 
to  factions  and  divisions.  Besides  which, 
they  were  obliged,  from  each  of  their  hun- 
dred districts,  to  supply  the  wars  with  a 
thousand  men  yearly,  and  those  who  re- 
mained at  home  cultivated  the  land  for  all. 
The  following  year,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
latter  marched  under  arms,  and  the  former 
remained  at  home,  so  tha  t  agriculture  as  Well 
as  the  art  of  war  was  in  constant  exercise. 

They  considered  it  a  proof  of  glory 
when  the  whole  tract  beyond  their  fron- 
tiers lay  waste,  as  a  sign  that  the  neigh- 
boring nations  were  not  able  to  resist  their 
force.  They  might  also  have  considered 
it  perhaps  as  a  greater  security  p-jainst 
sudden  invasion. 

In  these,  although  rude  principles  of  the 
Suevic  union,  a  great  idea  manifests  itself, 
and  proves  that  the  ancient  Germans,  about 
the  period  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  were  by 
no  means  to  be  reckoned  among  the  savage 
tribes.  What  Lycurgus  wished  to  effect 
by  means  of  his  legislation  among  the 
Spartans,  and  for  the  same  reason  that  he 
allowed  his  citizens  no  fixed  and  exclusive 
possession,  seems  to  have  been  a  principle 


22 


INTRODUCTION 


and  combining  power  of  the  Suevic  na- 
tion, viz.  a  public  spirit,  so  general  and 
operative,  that  the  individual  should  sub- 
mit himself  to  the  common  good,  and  for 
which  and  in  which  he  should  only  live  ; 
and  not  by  selfishness,  faction,  or  by  idle- 
ness, desire  to  separate  himself  from  the 
rest,  or  consider  his  own  weal  as  more  im- 
portant than  that  of  the  collective  body. 

2.  The  Romans  mention  many  indi- 
vidual tribes  in  the  northwest  of  Germany, 
between  the  Lower  Elbe  and  the  Lower 
Rhine,  consequently  about  the  Aller,  the 
Seine,  the  Harz,  the  Weser,  the  Lippe,  the 
Ruhr,  and  the  Ems,  as  high  up  as  the  coasts 
of  the  Baltic,  (later  also  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Rhine,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Meuse  and  Scheldt,)  without  distinguish- 
ing them  by  a  collective  name.  Subse- 
quently, in  the  second  century  after  the 
birth  of  Christ,  the  name  of  Saxon  occurs 
in  these  districts,  and  in  still  later  times  it 
becomes  the  dominant  title  in  the  above- 
mentioned  tracts  of  land  ;  for  in  the  third 
century,  the  tribe  of  Saxons  spread  forth 
from  Holstein  over  Lower  Germany,  and 
gave  its  own  name  to  all  those  tribes  which 
it  conquered  or  united  by  alliance.  It  has 
been  customary  to  apply  the  name  of. Sax- 
ons, for  even  the  earlier  periods,  as  the 
collective  appellation  of  all  the  tribes  of 
Lower  Germany,  and  thereby  to  express 
the  very  opposite  character  they  presented 
in  their  whole  mode  of  living  to  the  Suevi. 
For  as  these  unwillingly  confined  them- 
selves to  a  fixed  spot,  and  by  their  greater 
exercise  and  activity,  kept  themselves  con- 
stantly ready  for  every  warlike  undertak- 
ing, so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nations  of 
Lower  Germany  had  early  accustomed 
themselves  to  settled  dwellings,  and  had 
made  agriculture  their  principal  occupa- 
tion. They  dwelt  upon  scattered  farms  ; 
each  farm  had  its  boundaries  around  it, 
and  was  enclosed  by  a  hedge  and  bank  of 
earth.  The  owner  was  lord  and  priest 
within  his  farm,  and  by  voluntary  union 
with  a  number  of  other  proprietors  was  at- 
tached to  a  community ;  and  several  com- 
munities again  were  bound  to  a  Gait  or 
district.  The  name  of  Saxon,  which  is 
derived  from  sitzen,  to  sit,  and  has  the  same 
signification  as  to  occupy,  or  hold,  appear- 
ed effectively  to  characterize  the  peculiar- 
ity )f  this  people  ;  while  on  the  other  hand, 
the  name  of  Suevi  would  indicate  the  roam- 
ing life  led  bv  the  others.  Rut  these  deri- 


vations are  more  ingeniously  than  histori 
cally  founded.  The  name  of  Saxon  is, 
according  to  all  probability,  to  be  derived 
from  the  short  swords,  called  Saxens,(Sahs,) 
of  this  people ;  but  that  of  the  Suevi  in  its 
derivation  is  not  as  yet  thoroughly  ex- 
plained. Meantime,  however,  the  contrast 
between  the  Suevi  and  the  non-Suevi  is  not 
to  be  mistaken.  In  the  latter  we  find  the 
greatest  freedom  and  independence  of  the 
individual ;  in  the  former  we  perceive  the 
combined  power  and  unity  of  the  whole, 
wherein  the  individual  self  is  merged  ;  in 
the  latter  again,  domestic  life  in  its  entire 
privacy,  and  in  the  former,  public  life  in 
the — although  as  yet  rude — accomplish- 
ment of  an  acutely  formed  idea. 

Saxon  institutions  were  not  the  most 
favorable  for  the  exercise  of  the  strength 
of  a  nation  against  the  enemy.  But  it 
gives  a  strong  and  self-dependent  mind  to 
the  individual  man,  to  find  himself  sole  lord 
and  master  upon  his  own  property,  and 
knowing  that  it  is  his  own  power  that  must 
protect  wife  and  child.  In  villages  or  even 
in  towns  where  man  dwells  amidst  a  mass, 
he  depends  upon  the  protection  of  others, 
and  thereby  easily  becomes  indolent  or 
cowardly.  But  the  isolated  inhabitant,  in 
his,  frequently,  defiance -bidding  retreat,  is 
nevertheless  humane  and  hospitably  mind- 
ed, ana  offers  to  his  neighbor  and  his  friend, 
and  even  to  the  stranger,  an  ever  welcome 
seat  by  his  hearth.  For  he  feels  more  in- 
tensely  the  pleasure  derived  from  the 
friendly  glances  of  man,  and  the  refresh- 
ment of  social  intercourse  ;  while,  on  the 
contrary,  the  townsman,  who  meets  a  mul- 
titude at  every  step,  accustoms  himself  to 
view  the  human  countenance  with  indiffer- 
ence. When  the  Saxon,  with  his  hunting- 
spear  in  his  hand,  had  traversed,  through 
snow  and  storm,  the  wilderness  and  forest, 
the  huts  of  his  friends  smiled  hospitably 
towards  him,  like  the  happy  islands  of  a 
desert  sea. 

We  shall  enumerate  subsequently  the 
individual  tribes  of  both  branches,  as  well 
as  the  others  mentioned  by  the  authors  of 
antiquity.  It  appeared  necessary  to  notice 
thus  early  the  chief  distinction  between 
the  German  nations,  for  many  of  the  de- 
scriptions given  by  the  ancients  of  thcil 
manners  and  customs,  accord  only  with  the 
one  or  the  other  branch,  and  their  appa 
rent  contradictions  are  to  be  explained 
only  by  the  confused  mixture  of  the  in 


INTRODUCTION. 


23 


formation.  Ca:sar,  for  example,  notices 
chiefly  the  Suevi ;  and  Tacitus,  the  Saxon 
tribes.  Yet  in  the  detail  which  we  now 
enter  upon,  it  will  be  perceived  that  the 
essential  fundamental  character  of  both 
was  the  same. 

V.  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

The  Germans  loved  tne  open  country 
above  every  thing.  They  did  not  build 
towns,  they  likened  them  to  prisons.  The 
few  places  which  occur  in  the  Roman  wri- 
ters called  towns — the  later  Ptolemy  names 
the  most — were  probably  nothing  more 
than  the  dwellings  of  the  chiefs,  somewhat 
larger,  and  more  artificially  built,  than 
those  of  the  common  freemen,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  which  the  servitors  fixed  their 
huts ;  the  whole  might  possibly  have  been 
surrounded  by  a  wall  and  ditch  to  secure 
them  from  the  incursions  of  the  enemy. 

The  Saxon  tribes  did  not  even  willingly 
build  connecting  villages,  so  great  was 
their  love  for  unlimited  freedom.  The 
huts  lay,  as  is  already  mentioned,  in  the 
midst  of  the  enclosure  that  belonged  to 
them,  and  which  was  surrounded  by  a 
hedge.  The  construction  of  these  huts 
was  most  inartificial.  Logs  shaped  by  the 
axe  were  raised  and  joined  together,  the 
sides  filled  with  platted  withy,  and  made 
into  a  firm  wall  by  the  addition  of  straw 
and  lime.  A  thatched  roof  covered  the 
whole,  which  (as  is  still  found  in  West- 
phalia) contained  the  cattle  also ;  and  by 
svay  of  ornament  they  decorated  the  walls 
with  brilliant  colors. 

Tacitus  says,  they  selected  their  dwell- 
ing wherever  a  grove  or  spring  attracted 
them.  Advantage  and  comfort  were  con- 
sequently frequently  sacrificed  to  their  love 
of  open  and  Beautiful  scenery,  and  it  is 
probable  that  they  so  ardently  loved  their 
country  from  its  presenting  them  with  so 
great  a  variety  of  hill  and  dale,  wood  and 
plains,  and  rivers  in  every  part. 

This  strong  love  of  nature,  which  may 
be  traced  from  the  very  first  in  our  fore, 
fathers,  is  a  grand  feature  of  the  German 
character.  As  long  as  we  retain  it,  it  will 
preserve  us  from  sensual  enervation  and 
the  corruption  of  manners,  wherein  the 
most  cultivated  nations  of  antiquity,  by  ex- 
cess of  civilization  and  luxury,  and  com- 
pression into  large  cities,  gradually  sunk. 

Next  to  war,  the  most  favorite  occupa- 
tion of  the  Germans  was  the  chase  ;  and 


that  itself  was  a  kind  of  warlike  exercise. 
For  the  forests  concealed,  besides  the  nsua1 
drcr,  also  wolves,  bears,  urocks,  bisons, 
elks,  wild  boars,  and  many  species  of  the 
larger  birds  of  prey.  The  youth  was, 
therefore,  practised  in  the  use  of  arms  from 
childhood,  and  to  him  the  greatest  festival 
of  his  life  was  when  his  father  first  took 
him  forth  to  hunt  wild  animals. 

"  Agriculture,  the  herdsman's  business, 
and  domestic  occupations,"  says  Tacitus, 
"  they  leave  to  the  women  and  slaves ;  for 
it  is  easier  to  prevail  upon  the  Germans  to 
attack  their  enemies  than  to  cultivate  the 


earth  and  await  the  harvest 


nay,  it  even 


appears  cowardly  to  them  to  earn  by  the 
sweat  of  the  brow,  what  the  sanguinary 
conflict  would  procure."  But  this  descrip- 
tion of  our  forefathers,  as  is  so  often  the 
case  with  the  narratives  of  the  Roman  au- 
thors, represents  the  individual  feature  as 
the  general  characteristic.  The  sma.il 
proprietor,  no  doubt,  like  our  peasam 
necessarily  applied  his  own  hand  to  the 
cultivation  of  his  land,  while  the  great 
land-owner  reserved  time  for  hunting,  foi 
festivities,  and  for  all  the  pleasures  of  so- 
cial intercourse. 

And  with  respect  to  the  description  of 
their  dominant  warlike  propensities,  which 
preferred  earning  the  necessaries  of  life  by 
blood  rather  than  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow, 
this  must  be  understood  to  refer  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  conquering  warlike  trains 
of  bold  leaders,  such  as  an  Ariovistus,  or 
to  the  frontier  safeguards  of  the  Germans 
against  the  Romans,  as,  for  instance,  the 
Marcomanni.  For  when  once  among  a 
nation  agriculture  and  pasturage  have  be- 
come prominent  occupations,  and  without 
which  life  could  not  be  supported,  they 
can  no  longer  belong  to  those  employments 
despised  by  the  free  man,  and  which  as 
such  he  leaves  solely  to  the  care  and  at- 
tention of  women  and  slaves. 

It  is,  however,  no  doubt  true,  that  among 
the  Germans  of  the  more  ancient  period, 
warlike  desires,  and  powerful  natural  incli- 
nations for  bold  undertakings,  and  in  partic- 
ular for  the  display  of  an  untamed  strength 
with  its  violent  concomitant*,  were  a  ruling 
passion.  But  the  ennobling  features  of 
higher  virtues  are  seen  through  these  de- 
fects. History  records  no  people  who,  in 
conjunction  with  the  faults  of  an  unrestrict- 
ed natural  power,  possessed  nobler  capa- 
bilities  and  qualifications  rule  and  order, 


INTRODUCTION 


a  sublime  patriotism,  fidelity,  and  chastity, 
in  a  greater  proportion  than  the  Germans. 
"  Tkere,"  says  the  noble  Roman,  who  had 
preserved  a  mind  capable  of  appreciating 
the  dignity  of  uncorrupted  nature  ;  "  there 
no  one  smiles  at  vice,  and  to  seduce  or  be 
seduced,  is  not  called  fashionable ;  for 
among  the  Germans,  good  morals  effect  more 
than  elsewhere  good  laws" 

This  moral  worth  of  the  Germans,  which 
beams  through  all  their  rudeness,  has  its 
true  source  and  basis  in  the  sanctity  of  mar- 
riage, and  the  consequent  concentration  of 
domestic  happiness  ;  for  it  is  these  two 
features  chiefly  which  most  decidedly  de- 
termine the  morality  of  a  nation.  The 
young  man,  at  a  period  when  his  form  had 
taken  its  perfect  growth,  in  the  full  energy 
of  youth,  like  the  sturdy  oaks  of  his  native 
forests,  and  preserved  by  chastity  and  tem- 
perance from  enervating  desires,  at  the 
time  that  his  physical  and  moral  nature 
had  attained  their  equilibrium,  selected 
then  the  maiden  for  his  wife,  little  differing 
in  age  from  himself.  The  exceptions  were 
few,  says  Tacitus,  and  that  only  perchance 
— as  in  the  case  of  a  prince,  who  might 
wish  to  increase  his  own  importance  by  an 
alliance  with  another  powerful  house — that 
a  second  wife  was  taken. 

It  was  not  the  woman  who  brought  the 
portion  to  the  man,  but  the  latter  to  the 
former,  and  who  indicated  the  value  he 
attached  to  his  alliance  with  her  by  the 
quality  of  the  present  he  made,  according 
to  the  extent  of  his  means ;  and  even  this 
custom  displays  the  consideration  the  Ger- 
man nation  had  for  the  gentler  sex.  The 
bridal  gift  comprised,  besides  a  team  of 
oxen,  a  war-horse,  a  shield,  and  arms ;  a 
gift  not  useless  among  people  with  whom, 
particularly  in  long  excursions,  the  wife, 
generally,  accompanied  her  husband  to  the 
field.  She  was  thus  reminded  not  to  con- 
sider valor,  war,  and  arms,  as  wholly 
strange  to  her,  but  these  sacred  symbols 
of  the  opening  marriage  told  her  to  consid- 
er herself  as  the  companion  of  the  labors 
and  dangers  of  her  husband,  in  war  as 
well  as  in  peace,  and  as  such  to  live  and 
die.  She  received  what  she  was  bound  to 
transfer  uncontaminated  to  her  children, 
and  what  her  daughter-in-law  was  to  in- 
herit in  turn,  in  order  to  transmit  to  her 
grand-children.  Arid  this  gift,  as  Tacitus 
says,  was,  as  it  were,  the  mystic  holy  con- 
secration and  guardian  deity  of  marriage. 


Such  an  alliance  founded  upon  love  and 
virtue,  and  calculated  to  continue  fot  bet 
ter  for  worse,  in  firm  union  unto  death, 
must  indeed  be  holy  and  inviolable  ;  an? 
in  fact,  the  infringement  of  the  marriage 
vow  was,  according  to  the  testimony  of 
Tacitus,  almost  unheard  of.  The  deepest 
and  most  universal  contempt  followed  a 
crime  so  very  rare. 

The  children  of  such  a  marriage  were 
to  their  parents  the  dearest  pledges  of  love. 
From  their  very  birth  they  were  treated 
as  free  human  beings.  No  trace  was  to 
be  found  in  Germany  of  the  tyrannical 
power  of  the  Roman  father  over  his  chil- 
dren. The  mother  reared  her  infants  at 
her  own  breast ;  they  were  not  left  to  the 
care  of  nurses  and  servants.  The  Ger- 
mans, therefore,  highly  venerated  virtuous 
women ;  they  even  superstitiously  be- 
lieved there  was  something  holy  and  pro- 
phetic in  them,  and  they  occasionally  fol- 
lowed their  advice  in  important  and  deci- 
sive moments. 

This  veneration  for  the  female  sex  in 
its  human  dignity,  combined  with  their 
strongly  impressed  love  of  arms,  of  war, 
and  manhood,  this  noble  feature  in  the 
German  nature,  which  elevates  nim  so 
high  above  the — in  other  senses,  so  gifted 
— Greeks  and  Romans,  shows  most  clearly 
that  nature  had  resolved  her  German  son 
to  be  the  entire  man,  who,  by  the  univer- 
sal cultivation  of  the  human  powers,  should 
at  some  future  period  produce  an  age, 
which,  as  now,  in  its  liberal  and  many- 
sided  or  multifarious  views,  should  far  sur- 
pass that  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

The  ancient  German  dress  and  food 
were  simple,  and  agreeable  to  nature. 
Female  decoration  consisted  in  their  long 
yellow  hair,  in  the  fresh  color  of  their  pure 
skin,  and  in  their  linen  robes,  spun  and 
woven  by  their  own  hands,  ornamented 
with  a  purple  band  as  a  girdle :  the  man 
knew  no  other  ornament  than  his  warlike 
weapons  ;  the  shield  and  his  helmet,  when 
he  wore  one,  he  adorned  as  well  as  he 
could.  Among  the  Suevi  the  hair  was 
worn  tied  in  a  bundle  on  the  top  of  the 
head,  for  the  sake  of  its  warlike  effect. 
Among  the  Saxons  it  was  parted,  and  hung 
down  the  shoulders,  cut  at  a  moderate 
length. 

V  Their  simple  fare  consisted  chiefly  of 
m^at  and  milk  They  prepared  their  fa- 
vorite drink,  beer  from  barley  and  oats. 


INTRODUCTION. 


They  made  mca.f  also  from  honey  and 
water.  Their  honey  was  collected  by  the 
wild  bees  in  great  quantity,  and  good  qual- 
ity. Upon  the  Rhine  they  did  not  despise 
or  neglect  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  in- 
troduced there  by  the  Romans. 
Y  No  nation  respected  the  laws  of  hospi- 
tality more  than  the  Germans.  To  refuse 
a  stranger,  whoever  he  might  be,  admis- 
sion to  the  house,  would  have  been  dis- 
graceful. His  table  was  free  and  open  to 
all,  according  to  his  means.  If  his  own 
provisions  were  exhausted,  he  who  was  but 
recently  the  host,  would  become  the  guide 
and  conductor  of  his  guest,  and  together 
they  would  enter,  uninvited,  the  first  best 
house.  There  also  they  were  hospitably 
received.  When  the  stranger  took  his 
leave,  he  received  as  a  parting  present 
whatever  he  desired,  and  the  giver  asked 
as  candidly  on  his  side  for  what  he  wished. 
This  good-natured  people  rejoiced  in  pre- 
sents. But  they  neither  estimated  the  gift 
they  made  too  highly,  nor  held  themselves 
much  bound  by  that  which  they  had  re~ 
ceived  in  return. 

At  these  banquets  the  Germans  not  un- 
frequently  took  counsel  upon  their  most 
important  affairs,  upon  the  conciliation  of 
enemies,  upon  alliances  and  friendships, 
upon  the  election  of  princes,  even  upon 
war  and  peace  ;  for  the  joyousness  of  the 
feast  and  society  opened  the  secrets  of  the 
breast.  But  on  the  following  day  they  re- 
considered what  had  been  discussed,  so 
that  they  might  view  it  coolly  and  dispas- 
sionately ;  they  took  counsel  when  they 
could  not  deceive,  and  fixed  their  resolu- 
tion when  fitted  for  quiet  consideration. 

During  these  banquets  they  had  also  a 
peculiar  kind  of  festival.  Naked  youths 
danced  between  drawn  swords  and  raised 
spears  ;  not  for  reward  and  gain  ;  but  the 
compensation  for  this  almost  rash  feat  con- 
sisted in  the  pleasure  produced  in  the  spec- 
tator, and  the  honor  reaped  by  the  display 
of  such  a  dangerous  art. 

They  gambled  with  dice,  as  Tacitus 
with  astonishment  informs  us,  in  a  sober 
state,  and  as  a  serious  occupation,  and 
with  so  much  eagerness  for  gain,  that  when 
•Jiey  had  lost  their  all,  they  hazarded  their 
freedom,  and  even  their  very  persons  upon 
jhe  last  cast.  The  loser  freely  delivered  him- 
self up  to  slavery,  although  even  younger 
and  stronger  than  his  adversary,  and  pa- 
c'ently  allowed  himself  to  be  bound  and 


sold  as  a  slave ;  thus  steadfastly  did  they 
keep  their  word,  even  in  a  bad  case : 
"They  call  this  good  faith,"  says  the  Re- 
man writer. 

VI.  CIVIL  INSTITUTIONS 

The  entire  people  consisted  of  freemen 
and  slaves.  Among  the  latter  there  seemg 
even  to  have  been  an  essential  difference. 
The  one  class,  which  may  be  compared  to 
the  vassals  pertaining  to  the  land  of  the 
lord  of  the  manor,  and  among  whom  the 
freedmen  of  Tacitus  may  be  also  reck- 
oned, received  from  the  land-proprietor 
house  and  home,  and  yielded  him  in  return 
a  certain  acknowledgment  in  corn  or  cat- 
tle, or  in  the  woven  cloth  which  was  made 
under  every  roof.  The  second  class,  on 
the  contrary,  the  true  slaves,  who  were 
bought  and  sold,  and  were  mostly  prisoners 
of  war,  were  employed  in  the  more  menial 
services  of  the  house,  and  the  labors  of 
agriculture.  But  their  lot  even  was  en. 
durable,  for  their  children  grew  up  with 
those  of  their  master,  with  scarcely  any 
distinction,  and  thus  in  the  simplicity  of 
their  living,  there  Avas  formed  a  relation  of 
mutual  adherence.  But  the  slave  was  held 
incapable  of  bearing  arms ;  these  were 
alone  the  privilege  and  prerogative  of  the 
Free -men. 

They  were  divided  into  the  nobles, 
nobiles,  as  Tacitus  calls  them,  and  the 
common  Free-men,  ingenui.  In  later  pe- 
riods the  German  language  distinguishes 
Adelinge  and  Frilinge.  The  former  word 
is  probably  derived  from  Od,  Estate,  and 
therefore  denoted  the  large  proprietor,  who 
reckoned  in  his  estate  bondsmen  and  vas- 
sals, and  who  possessed  already  in  his 
domains  the  means  of  exercising  a  more 
extensive  influence.  The  Friling  was,  on 
the  contrary,  the  commoL  free  man,  who 
cultivated  his  small  possessions  with  his 
own  hands,  or  by  the  assistance  of  but  a 
few  slaves.  If  Tacitus,  as  is  probable, 
indicates  this  distinction  by  his  term  noliles 
and  ingenui,  we  may  therein  trace  the  ori- 
gin of  the  German  nobility,  founded  as  it 
is  in  the  nature  of  all  social  relations. 
From  the  importance  given  by  possessions 
and  merit,  individual  as  well  as  ancestral, 
those  privileges  may  be  adduced,  which 
are  held  over  the  poorer,  unnoticed  fami. 
lies,  and  which  in  the  course  of  time,  and 
as  it  were  by  the  antiquity  of  possession, 
pass  into  rights.  But  the  information  given 


INTRODUCTION 


by  Tacitus  docs  not,  however,  speak  abso- 
lutely of  rights, — implying,  for  instance, 
the  offices  of  director  and  president  in  com- 
munities and  districts, — but  merely  of  the 
custom  of  filling  them  from  the  superior 
families. 

A  number  of  farms  of  great  and  small 
landowners,  specially  united  by  close  ties, 
constituted  a  community,  (Gemeinde  ;)  sev- 
eral communities  a  league  of  the  hundred, 
(Markgenossenschaft})\vhich  exercised  with- 
in a  larger  circuit  the  common  right  of 
herd  and  pasture ;  and,  lastly,  a  number 
of  these  formed  the  larger  confederacy  of 
a,  district,  (Gau,)  formally  united  for  pro- 
tection against  every  enemy,  and  for  in- 
ternal security  both  of  life  and  property. 

As  chief  of  the  district,  a  judge  was 
elected  from  among  the  oldest  and  most 
experienced,  who  probably  may  have  borne 
in  ancient  times  the  name  Graf.*  Cents 
or  hundreds  were  subdivisions  of  the  dis- 
trict, probably  consisting  originally  of  a 
hundred  farms,  whose  chiefs  were  the 
centners  or  Centgrafen.  These  gave  judg- 
ment in  trifling  affairs ;  and  in  matters  of 
more  importance  they  were  the  assistants 
of  the  Gaugrafen.  The  occupation  of 
these  functionaries  was  not  limited  to  their 
judicial  employments,  but  they  had  the 
guidance  also  of  other  affairs  in  the  com- 
munity •  and  together,  they  formed  the 
Principes  of  the  district,  the  foremost  and 
first  among  their  equals,  whence  is  derived 
the  German  word  Furst,  (prince.)  The 
recompense  for  their  trouble  did  not  con- 
sist in  a  regular  stipend,  but  in  presents 
received  from  the  chiefs  of  families. 

But  the  National  assembly  was  at  the 
head  of  all,  and  counselled  and  decided 
upon  the  most  important  affairs.  Every 
freeman,  high  as  well  as  low,  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  national  assembly,  and  took  his 
oart  in  the  welfare  of  the  whole. 

In  earlier  times,  perhaps,  there  never 
existed  in  many  circuits,  and  during  peace- 
ful relations,  a  more  extensive  and  firm 
confederacy  than  that  of  the  Gau.  But 
danger  from  without,  and  the  relationship 
of  the  septs,  chiefly  produced,  without 
doubt,  the  establishment  of  Unions  of  whole 
•riles,  which  may  possibly  have  given  to 
their  collective  body  a  form  variously 
fashioned.  A  multifaribusness  of  social 

*  The  derivation  of  the  word  Graf  or  Gray  is  uncer- 
tain. That  from  grau,  gray,  as  wel  as  from  alt,  old, 
M  not  tenable. 


regulations  was  welcome  to  the  hereditary 
love  of  freedom  of  the  Germans.  This 
majority  of  these  tribes  appear  to  have 
had  a  very  simple  constitution  of  confed- 
eracy in  the  time  of  peace,  inasmuch  as 
all  transactions  in  common  were  deter 
mined  and  regulated  by  the  national  com- 
munity. In  the  individual  districts  all 
continued  according  to  the  customary  mode 
of  administration,  and  it  consequently  did 
not  require  the  permanent  appointment  of 
a  superior  executive  government.  In  war. 
on  the  contrary,  an  election  was  made,  of 
the  common  Herzog,  or  duke,  according  to 
valor  and  manly  virtue,  whose  office  closed 
with  the  war.  (Duces  ex  virtute  su- 
rnunt. — Tac.) 

Among  other  tribes  peace  had  also  its 
chiefs  or  directors,  selected  originally  by 
the  community  from  the  most  meritorious 
of  the  people,  which  election,  in  the  course 
of  time,  when  a  natural  feeling  placed  the 
son  in  the  situation  of  the  father,  became 
invested  with  an  almost  hereditary  right. 
(Reges  ex  nobilitate  sumunt. — Tac.)  We 
cannot  ascertain  whether  these  chiefs  bore 
everywhere,  or  merely  among  some  tribes, 
the  title  of  King  ;  the  Romans  called  them 
Rcges,  because  they  found  this  name  most 
applicable,  and  in  contradistinction  to  the 
transitory  ducal  dignity,  which  terminated 
with  the  war.  The  king  could  also  natu- 
rally be  the  leader  in  war,  in  which  case 
the  duke  was  superfluous.  But  in  smaller 
expeditions,  which  were  not  to  be  consid- 
ered in  the  light  of  a  national  war,  or 
when  the  king,  by  reason  of  age  or  natural 
infirmity,  was  unable  to  act,  a  duke  may 
have  been  appointed  as  his  substitute. 

Among  some  tribes  we  see  a  change  of 
constitution.  Among  the  Cherusci,  when 
they  fought  against  the  Romans,  there  ap- 
pears to  have  been  no  king  ;  Arminius 
was  the  leader  appointed  by  the  people. 
Later,  however,  in  the  year  47  after  the 
birth  of  Christ,  the  Cherusci  appointed 
Italicus,  the  son  of  the  brother  of  Flavius, 
who  was  brought  up  among  the  Romans, 
to  be  their  king,  in  order  to  adjust  the  in- 
ternal factions. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  Saxon  people 
consisted  altogether  in  their  free  form  of 
government,  a  constitution  most  conforma- 
ble  to  their  origin,  springing  as  they  did 
from  the  union  of  the  heads  of  free  fa  mi 
lies,  each  of  whom  ruled  his  domain  ac 
cording  to  the  ancient  patriarchal  form. 


INTRODUCTION. 


A  common  general  was  required  only 
during  war,  which,  in  general,  was  de- 
fensive, and  consequently  national.  Among 
the  Suc.vi,  on  the  contrary,  whose  consti- 
tution was  one  warlike  throughout,  where- 
in the  individual  was  early  accustomed  to 
consider  himself  but  a  portion  of  tne  whole, 
a  monarchical  government,  became  the 
natural  form  of  the  constitution,  and  we 
consequently  find  among  them  an  Ariovis- 
tus,  a  Marbodius,  and  a  Vannius,  as  kings 
of  a  warlike  state. 

These  differences  may  assist  in  explain- 
ing the  various  characteristics  and  forms 
of  the  public  institutions  which  the  Ro- 
mans mention,  and  which  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  distinguish,  from  their  having  con- 
founded and  mixed  the  individual  details. 

In  the  larger  confederations  there  also 
occurred  general  assemblies,  although 
more  seldom  than  in  the  individual  dis- 
tricts, and  much  that  the  Romans  relate 
refers  to  these  said  larger  assemblies,  while 
on  the  contrary  the  leading  subjects  were 
common  to  both  large  and  small  assemblies. 

These  were  generally  held  at  a  return 
of  the  full  moon  and  new  moon  ;  as  they 
considered  those  the  most  happy  moments 
for  any  transaction.  They  came  armed — 
arms  being  the  symbol  of  freedom,  and 
they  preferred  exposing  themselves  to  the 
possibility  of  their  misuse,  rather  than  come 
without  them.  The  right  enjoyed  by  the 
youth  of  bearing  them  as  an  ornament 
when  he  had  attained  a  fitting  age,  and  was 
adjudged  worthy,  even  in  times  of  peace, 
was  imparted  by  the  national  assembly  it- 
self; he  was  there  solemnly  invested  by 
one  of  the  princes,  his  father  or  a  relative, 
with  shield  and  spear.  This  was  deemed 
among  them  the  clothing  of  manhood,  the 
ornament  of  youth ;  previous  to  this  the 
youth  was  considered  only  as  a  member  of 
the  domestic  hearth,  but  henceforth  he 
was  received  as  the  representative  of  the 
common  fatherland. 

Priests  ruled  the  communities ;  God  only 
was  the  universally  feared  lord,  whom  it 
was  no  breach  of  freedom  to  obey  ;  and  in 
his  name  the  priests  kept  the  multitude  in 
order.  They  commanded  silence ;  the 
kings,  dukes,  counts,  who  derived  experi- 
ence from  years — the  nobles,  who  learned 
"rom  their  ancestors  how  the  district  was 
to  be  governed — the  most  valiant,  who,  by 
their  deeds  in  war,  stood  in  general  respect, 
sooke  in  turn  simply,  briefly,  and  impres- 


sively, and  not  in  a  commanding  tone,  but 
by  the  force  of  reason.  If  the  proposition 
displeased  them,  it  was  rejected  by  the 
multitude  with  hisses  and  murmurs  ;  but 
if  approved,  they  signified  their  satisfaction 
by  the  clashing  of  their  arms,  their  most 
honorable  mode  of  testifying  applause. 

In  important  affairs,  the  king  and  princes 
first  counselled  together,  prior  to  the  mat- 
ter beitfg  brought  before  the  people ;  a 
custom  consistent  with  good  government, 
for  the  multitude  can  form  conclusions  only 
upon  a  transaction  being  simply  and  clear- 
ly explained. 

These  few  traits  of  aboriginal  German 
institutions  display  the  sterling  sense  of  our 
forefathers,  who  therein  sought  to  establish 
the  principle,  that  the  foundations  of  every 
community  should  be  based  on  individual 
good  feeling,  obedience  to  the  laws,  and 
respect  for  religion.  Thus  an  internal 
durability  was  given  to  the  whole  structure, 
which  no  external  means  could  replace, 
howsoever  artificially  applied. 

We  have  yet  a  word  to  say  upon  the 
larger  unions  of  several  tribes.  In  a  com- 
mon danger,  they  formed  themselves  into  a 
Confederation,  at  the  head  of  which  stood 
one  of  the  more  powerful  tribes.  Thus  it 
was  with  the  Cherusci  alliance  against  the 
Romans;  thus  the  Suevi,  at  whose  head, 
in  earlier  times,  stood  the  Semnoni ;  and 
later,  the  confederations  of  the  Goths, 
Franks,  and  Allemanni.  In  all  that  con- 
corned  the  universal  league,  the  laws  were 
very  severe.  The  slightest  breach  of  faith, 
and  treachery  as  well  as  cowardice,  were 
punished  by  death. 

Their  principle  was,  "  One  for  all  and 
all  for  one,  for  life  or  death !"  May  this    ; 
through  every  century  be  the  motto  of  all; 
Germans  ! 

VII.  WAR-REGULATIONS,  AND  ARMS. 

When  the  nation  was  threatened  by  im- 
pending danger,  or  the  country  of  the  ene- 
my was  to  be  invaded  by  a  large  force,  all 
the  freemen  were  summoned  to  arms  by 
what  was  called  the  Hee.rbann.*  The  army  - 
thus  proceeded  under  the  banner  of  the 
national  god,  borne  by  the  priests  in  ad- 

*  In  the  language  of  the  earlier  times  Heerbnnnt 
(Heribannwt,)  the  penalty,  which  was  inflicted  upon 
those  who,  at  the  general  summons  to  the  war,  neglect- 
ed their  duty.  This  word,  however,  for  its  object,  is 
at  once  so  usual  and  significant,  while  it  is  so  difficult 
to  replace  with  another,  that  it  may  be  here  retained 
in  its  original  form. 


IN  PRODUCTION. 


vance.  The  princes  and  judges  of  each 
Gau  or  district  were  also  its  leaders  in 
war ;  the  confederates  of  one  mark  or  hun- 
dred, and  of  one  race  or  sept,  fought  uni- 
ted ;  and  when  the  invasion  became  a  re- 
gular migration,  or  when  the  invading  foe 
chased  all  from  their  hearths,  the  women 
and  children  followed  them.  Thus  was 
all  combined  that  could  excite  their  valor; 
each  warrior  stood  side  by  side  to  his  near- 
est relations,  companions,  and  friends,  and 
in  the  rear  of  the  order  of  battle  were 
placed  their  wives  and  children,  whose  ap- 
peals could  not  fail  to  reach  their  ear. 
When  wounded,  they  retired  to  the  matrons 
and  females,  who  fearlessly  investigated 
and  numbered  their  wounds.  We  read, 
indeed,  of  the  women  having  occasionally 
restored  a  faltering  battle  by  their  inces- 
sant supplications,  from  the  dread  of  slave- 
ry, and  even  by  forcing,  with  arms  in  hand, 
the  fugitives  back  to  the  contest. 

Besides   the  general    summons   of    the 

|  Heerbann,  there  was  a  Companionship  in 
arms,  founded  upon  a  voluntary  union, 
which  was  called  the  Gefolge,  the  reserve 

» phalanx  or  sacred  battalion.  Warlike 
youths  collected  themselves  around  their 
most  tried  and  esteemed  leader,  and  swore 
in  union  with  him  to  live  and  die.  There 
was  much  contention  among  this  Gefolge 
who  should  take  the  first  place  next  to  the 
leader,  for  this  ^orps  had  its  grades.  It 
was  high  fame  for  a  leader,  not  merely 
among  his  own  tribes,  but  among  all  the 
adjacent  ones,  when  he  was  distinguished 
by  the  number  and  valor  of  his  Gefolge. 
He  was  appealed  to  for  assistance  ;  embas- 
sies were  sent  to  him,  he  was  honored  by 
presents,  and  the  mere  celebrity  of  his 
name  would  frequently  check  a  war.  In 
battle  it  was  considered  a  disgrace  to  the 
chief  to  be  outvied  in  valor,  and  to  the  Ge- 
folge not  to  equal  that  of  their  leader  ;  but 
to  return  alive  from  battle,  after  the  death 
of  his  chieftain,  was  a  stigma  that  attached 
for  life  to  the  individual,  and  their  fidelity 
was  so  great,  that  scarcely  an  instance  of 
this  occurs.  It  was  considered  the  most 
sacred  duty  to  protect  and  defend  their 
brave  brother  in  arms,  and  to  attribute 
their  own  valorous  deeds  to  his  fame.  The 
leaders  contended  for  victory,  and  the  Ge- 
folge for  the  leaders.  When  the  tribe  to 
which  they  belonged  continued  in  a  state 
of  long  and  monotonous  peace,  the  majori- 
ty of  these  bold  youths,  led  by  their  cap- 


tain, voluntarily  joined  those  tribes  ^hich 
were  at  war.  Repose  was  hateful  to  them  ; 
and,  amidst  danger,  the  valiant  acquired 
fame  and  booty.  The  Gefolge  received 
from  the  leader  their  war-horse,  and  their 
conquering  and  deadly  spear ;  a  large  Ge- 
folge, consequently,  supported  itself  most 
easily  by  war  and  booty.  It  is  thus  that 
Tacitus  describes  the  military  institutions 
of  the  Germans.  He  wrote,  however,  at  a 
period  when  long  wars  and  their  attendant 
chances  may  possibly  have  altered  much 
Originally,  perhaps,  the  alliance  between 
the  Gefoige  and  their  chieftain  was  bind- 
ing only  during  single  excursions,  and 
ceased  at  their  termination.  For  it  is  not 
probable  that  a  people  so  jealous  of  its  liber- 
ty would  have  allowed  individual  princes 
to  have  surrounded  themselves  with  such 
a  troop,  as  with  a  body-guard.  But  when 
the  dangers  of  war  continued  for  a  longei 
period,  it  became  desirable,  and  even  ne- 
cessary, to  be  prepared  for  every  casualty. 
The  Gefolge  remained  long  united,  and 
they  formed  the  experienced  and  elite  por- 
tion of  the  army  for  attack,  defence,  or 
pursuit.  In  the  migratory  period,  king- 
doms were  founded  by  these  Gefolges,  arid 
from  the  essence  of  their  internal  organi- 
zation, the  laws  sprung  which  regulated 
these  new  states,  (feudal  system.) 

The  chief  arms  of  the  ancient  Germans 
were  the  shield  and  the  spear,  called  by 
them  Framen,  (Framed*)  with  a  narrow 
and  short  blade,  but  so  sharp  and  well 
adapted  for  use,  that  they  could  employ 
the  same  weapon,  according  to  necessity, 
both  far  and  near.  Long  heavy  lances  are 
also  spoken  of  in  the  description  of  many 
battles.  For  close  combat,  the  stone  bat- 
tle-axe, which  is  still  frequently  dug  up, 
and  the  common  club,  were  certainly  used. 
From  the  scarcity  of  iron,  few  wore  body- 
armor,  and  but  here  and  there  a  helmet ; 
even  swords  were  scarce,  and  the  shield 
was  formed  of  wood,  or  of  the  platted  twigs 
of  the  withy.  Nevertheless,  it  was  with 
these  simple  weapons  that  they  achieved  so 
much  that  was  grand,  inasmuch  as  natural 
courage  and  strength  of  limb  effect  more 
than  artificial  weapons. 

Their  horses  were  neither  distinguished 
by  beauty  nor  speed,  but  they  were  very 
durable,  and  the  Germans  knew  so  well  tc 
manage  them  that  they  frequently  over 

*  From  framen,  to  throw 


INTRODUCTION. 


;hrew  the  fully-armed  and  mounted  Roman 
end  Gallic  cavalry.  They  held  the  latter 
in  contempt  because  they  used  saddles, 
which  appeared  to  them  unmanly  and  ef- 
feminate ;  they  themselves  sat  upon  the 
naked  back  of  the  horse.  But  the  chief 
strength  of  their  army  lay  in  their  infan- 
try, and  they  placed  the  boldest  and  strong- 
est of  their  youth,  mixed  with  their  cavalry, 
in  the  van,  in  order  to  give  an  additional 
solidity  to  the  ranks.  The  cavalry  them- 
selves selected  their  companions  from 
among  the  infantry,  and  thus,  even  in  the 
rude  pursuit  of  war,  esteem  and  affection 
exerted  their  influence.  They  thus  held 
together  in  the  tumult  of  the  fight,  and 
came  to  each  other's  assistance  when  the 
contest  was  desperate.  If  a  horseman  fell 
heavily  wounded  from  his  steed,  the  foot- 
soldiers  immediately  surrounded  and  shield- 
ed him.  When  sudden  and  rapid  move- 
ments either  in  advancing  or  retreating 
were  necessary,  the  quickness  of  those  on 
foot,  by  means  of  incessant  practice,  was 
so  great,  that  holding  by  the  mane  of  the 
horse,  they  equalled  the  swiftest  in  their 
course. 

Their  order  of  battle  was  generally 
wedge-shaped,  that  they  might  the  more 
speedily  break  the  ranks  of  the  enemy. 
Before  battle  they  sang  the  war-song  re- 
lating the  deeds  of  their  ancestors  and  the 
celebrity  of  their  fatherland.  Warlike 
instruments  also,  horns  of  brass  or  of  the 
wild  bull,  and  large  drums,  formed  of  hides 
expanded  over  hampers,  beat  the  measure 
to  their  joined  shields  •  and  as  they  pro- 
ceeded they  became  more  and  more  ex- 
cited. In  the  march  against  the  enemy 
the  song  became  ruder  and  wilder,  a 
courageous  and  stimulating  cry,  which 
was  called  Bqrrit ;  at  first  deep-sounding, 
then  stronger  and  fuller,  and  growing  to  a 
roar  at  the  moment  of  meeting  the  foe. 
The  chieftain  felt  excited  with  hope  or  fear, 
according  to  the  louder  or  weaker  tone  of 
the  Barrit.  Frequently,  to  maKe  the  sound 
more  strikingly  fearful,  they  held  their  hol- 
low shields  before  their  mouths.  This  ter- 
rific war-song,  combined  with  the  sight  of 
their  gigantic  figures,  and  the  fearful  threat- 
ening eyes  of  the  Germans  themselves,  was 
so  terrible  in  its  effects  upon  the  Romans 
and  the  Gauls,  that  it  was  long  before  they 
could  accustom  themselves  to  it. 

To  leave  their  shield  behind  them  was 
to  the  Germans  an  inexpiable  disgrace  ;  he 


who  had  so  debased  himself  durst  not  at- 
tend religious  worship  nor  appear  in  the 
national  assembly,  and  many  who  had  thus 
effected  their  escape  from  the  field  of  bat- 
tle could  not  endure  so  miserable  a  life, 
but  ended  it  by  a  voluntary  death 

VIII.  RELIGION 

The  religious  worship  of  the  Germans 
attached  itself  to,  and  was  associated  with 
nature.  It  was  a  veneration  of  her  great 
powers  and  phenomena ;  but  withal  it  was 
more  simple  and  sublime  than  the  worship 
of  other  ancient  nations,  and  bore  the  im- 
press of  its  immediate  and  profound  feel- 
ing for  nature.  Although  but  rudely  so, 
they  yet  had  the  presentiment  of  an  infi- 
nite and  eternal  divine  power  in  their 
breasts ;  for  they  considered  it  at  variance 
with  the  dignity  of  the  divinity  to  enclose 
him  within  walls,  or  to  conceive  and  repre- 
sent him  in  a  human  shape.  They  built 
no  temples,  but  they  consecrated  to  holy 
purposes  groves  and  woods,  of  which  na- 
ture had  formed  the  pillars,  and  whose 
canopy  was  the  infinite  heaven  itself;  and 
they  named  after  their  divinity  the  mystery 
which  their  faith  alone  allowed  them  to 
contemplate.  Even  their  aboriginal  poeti- 
cal descriptions  of  their  divinities  display 
the  nobler  sentiments  of  the  Germans,  who 
did  not,  like  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  at 
tribute  to  their  deities  all  the  infirmitiee 
of  human  nature,  but  represented  in  them 
the  portraiture  of  strength,  valor,  magna- 
nimity, and  sublimity.  And  they  still 
more  strongly  distinguish  themselves  from 
all  other  ancient  nations  by  their  firm  and 
cheerful  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  which  entirely  dissipated  every  fear 
of  death  ;  and  in  the  confidence  of  a  fu- 
ture state  they  committed  suicide,  when 
life  itself  could  be  purchased  only  by  sla. 
very. 

This  sublime  natural  feeling,  and  this 
purity  of  their  religious  ideas,  made  them, 
in  after  times,  better  adapted  for  the  re- 
ception of  Christianity.  They  were  the 
vessel  which  God  had  selected  for  the 
pure  preservation  of  his  doctrines.  For 
Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans  were  already 
enervated  by  sensuality  and  vice ;  they 
could  neither  comprehend  nor  retain  the 
new  doctrines,  just  as,  according  to  the 
scriptural  image,  the  old  drunkard  could 
not  retain  the  new  wine.  The  ancient  Ger- 
mans  revered,  like  the  Persians,  the  suu 


30 


INTRODUCTION. 


and  fire  ;  but  woi shipped  as  their  superior 
God,  Wodan,  (Gitodan,  the  Godcn,  Guten, 
Gott.)  They  called  him  also  by  a  beauti- 
ful name,  the  Universal  Father.  They 
kept,  in  their  sacred  groves,  white  horses 
for  the  sun,  which  were  harnessed  to  the 
consecrated  chariot  and  driven  by  the  priest 
or  prince,  who  paid  particular  attention  to 
their  neighing,  which  they  considered,  as 
did  the  Persians,  prophetic  of  the  future, 
and  indicative  of  the  will  of  their  divinity. 

They  venerated  the  mother  earth  as  their 
most  beneficent  deity  ;  they  called  her  Ner- 
thus,  (the  nourishing,*)  and  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing relation  of  her  worship:  "  In  the 
midst  of  an  island  in  the  seaf  there  was  a 
sacred  grove,  in  which  was  a  consecrated 
chariot,  covered  with  tapestry.  Sometimes 
(as  noticed  by  the  priests)  the  goddess  de- 
scended from  the  sacred  dwellings  above, 
and  drove  the  chariot,  drawn  by  conse- 
crated cows,  accompanied  by  the  priests 
in  the  deepest  reverence.  The  days  were 
then  cheerful,  and  the  places  which  she 
honored  with  her  presence,  solemn  and 
holy  ;  they  then  entered  into  no  war,  seized 
no  arms,  and  the  iron  spear  reposed  in 
concealment ;  peace  and  tranquillity  then 
reigned  in  every  bosom,  until  the  priests  re- 
conducted  the  goddess,  satiated  with  her 
intercourse  with  mortals,  back  into  the 
temple.  The  chariot  and  carpet  were  im- 
mersed, and  the  goddess  too,  if  we  may  be- 
lieve it,  bathed  in  a  secret  lake ;  slaves  per- 
formed the  offices  of  service,  whom  the  same 
lake  immediately  swallowed  up.  Thence 
arose  a  mysterious  fear  and  holy  ig-norance 
of  what  that  might  be  which  only  those  be- 
held who  were  to  die." 

The  Germans  placed  great  faith  in  pro- 
•hecies  and  indications  of  the  future,  as 
shown  already  in  the  neighing  of  the  sacred 
horses  of  the  sun.  When  they  were  at  war 
they  often  selected  a  prisoner  taken  from 
their  enemy,  and  caused  him  to  fight  with 
one  of  their  countrymen,  each  armed  with 
his  national  weapons ;  the  victory  of  the 
one  or  the  other  was  received  as  prophetic, 
or  as  a  divine  judgment.  They  considered 
the  raven  and  the  owl  as  harbingers  of  evil ; 
the  cuckoo  announced  length  of  life.  They 
prophesied  of  the  future  also  with  small 
staves  cut  from  a  fruit-tree,  having  peculiar 
or  runic- signs  carved  upon  each  staff*,  and 

*  Tacitus,  Germ  xl 

t  Much  here  indicates  the  island  to  be  Riigen ;  but 
(here  are  important  grounds  for  contradictiru 


these  were  then  strewed  upon  a  white  rai. 
ment.  And  then,  on  public  occasions,  the 
priest,  but  in  private  the  father  of  the  family, 
prayed  to  the  divinity,  and,  'with  upraised 
eyes,  took  up  each  individual  rod  thrice, 
the  characters  upon  which  indicated  the 
event. 

The  holy  prophetesses  were  highly  es- 
teemed, and  history  names  some  to  whom 
the  credulity  of  the  tribes  attached  great  in- 
fluence  in  the  determination  of  public  af- 
fairs. Tacitus  names  Aurinia,  (perhaps 
Alruna,  conversant  with  the  mystic  runic 
characters ;)  again,  the  celebrated  Veleda, 
who,  from  a  tower  on  the  banks  of  the  Lippe, 
directed  the  movements  of  the  tribes  of  the 
Lower  Rhine ;  and,  lastly,  a  certain  Gauna, 
in  the  time  of  Domitian.  In  the  incursions 
of  the  Cimbri,  and  in  the  army  of  Ariovis- 
tus,  notice  is  taken  of  prophesying  females. 

There  was  no  ceremony  at  their  fune- 
rals ;  only  the  bodies  of  the  most  distinguish- 
ed were  burned  with  costly  wood,  and  with 
each,  at  the  same  time,  was  offered  up  his 
arms  or  war-horse.  The  tomb  which  cov- 
ered the  ashes  and  the  bones  of  the  deceased 
was  a  mound  of  turf.  Splendid  monuments 
they  despised  as  oppressive  to  their  dead. 
Laments  and  tears  they  speedily  gave  over, 
but  grief  they  indulged  in  much  longer. 
Lamentations  they  considered  as  appropri- 
ate to  females,  but  to  men  remembrance 
alone  was  deemed  suitable. 

IX.  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 

Should  we,  after  all  that  has  preceded, 
inquire  concerning  the  progress  made  by 
the  ancient  Germans  in  the  arts  of  life,  we 
shall  find  upon  that  subject  the  information 
of  the  Roman  writers  unfortunately  very 
scanty.  Looking  down  from  the  point  of 
their  very  superior  culture,  they  did  not 
consider  it  worth  their  trouble  to  attend  to 
the  origin  of  the  arts,  trades,  and  knowledge, 
found  among  those  nations  which  they  con- 
sidered as  barbarians.  This  silence  has 
misled  to  the  supposition,  that  the  Germans, 
about  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  were 
to  be  considered  as  half  savages,  resem- 
bling the  North  American  Hurons.  But  his- 
tory may,  where  she  finds  no  express  testi- 
mony, draw  conclusions  from  uncontested 
facts.  Therefore  we  can,  with  certainty, 
infer  that  about  the  time,  and  shortly  after 
the  birth  of  Christ,  the  Germans — who  in 
arms  and  warlike  skill  could  contest  with 
an  enemy  who  had  acquired  in  a  war  of  five 


INTRODUCTION. 


31 


hundred  years,  with  all  the  nations  of  the 
eanh,  the  highest  grade  in  the  art  of  war,  and 
consequent  subjugation ;  these  Germans, 
who  had  already  far  advanced  in  their  civil 
institutions  ;  to  whom  marriage  and  the  do- 
mestic hearth,  and  the  honor  of  their  nation, 
and  their  ancestors,  were  sacred  ;  who  in 
(heir  religious  symbols  displayed  a  deep 
feeling  for  the  most  profound  ideas  of  the 
human  mind ;  and  who,  lastly,  by  a  digni- 
fied natural  capacity,  and  exquisite  moral 
traits,  in  spite  of  the  undeniable  ferocity  of 
unbridled  passions,  were  enabled  to  inspire 
that  noble  Roman,  in  whom  dwelt  a  deep 
sense  of  all  that  was  great  and  elevated  in 
human  nature — these  Germans  we  say, 
could  not  have  been  the  rude  barbarians 
described  as  resembling  North  Ameiican 
savages.  Their  cultivation,  as  far  as  their 
wild  life  and  dispersed  mode  of  dwelling 
admitted,  advanced  to  a  degree  worthy  of 
mention. 

Agriculture  and  pasturage  united,  con- 
sequently a  regulated  and  settled  rural 
economy,  presupposes  the  use  of  the  ne- 
cessary implements,  howsoever  simple  they 
inijjht  bo.  The  German  made  them  him- 
self. The  iron  necessary  for  that  purpose, 
as  well  as  for  his  weapons,  he  must  have 
known  how  to  work,  and  the  manipulation 
of  hard-melting  iron  is  not  easy ;  presum- 
ing they  were  only  able  to  use  that  which 
lay  upon  the  surface  without  understand- 
ing or  practising  the  art  of  mining.  Yet 
Tacitus  names  iron  mines  among  the  Goths, 
in  the  present  Silesia.  That  the  prepara- 
tion of  iron  utensils  must  indicate  already 
a  higher  degree  of  skill  in  art,  in  the  earli- 
est ages  of  nations,  is  shown  by  the  very 
frequent  use  of  copper  in  such  instruments 
for  which  iron  is  much  better  adapted. 
Copper  is  much  easier  to  manufacture. 

In  the  irruptions  and  battles  of  the  Ger- 
mans, namely,  among  the  Cimbri  and  Teu- 
toni,  chariots  and  cars  are  named,  which 
conveyed  the  women  and  children,  and 
which  were  placed  around  to  defend  the 
camp.  The  Germans  appear  also  upon 
their  rivers,  and  upon  the  coasts  of  their 
seas  in  ships,  and  contest  also  with  the 
Romans  in  naval  battles.  Tribes  which 
could  build  structures  of  this  description, 
need  no  longer  be  considered  savage. 

The  art  of  spinning  and  weaving  is  also 
not  possible  without  complicated  machine- 
ry, and  this  formed  the  daily  occupation  of 
the  females. 


Although  the  art  of  building  houses  was 
not  carried  to  any  extent,  yet  the  towerg 
or  burgs  of  the  superior  classes,  some  of 
which  are  mentioned  in  the  records  of  his- 
tory,  must  have  been  essentially  different 
from  the  huts  of  the  community;  and  that 
walls  of  stone  were  used  in  their  construc- 
tion, we  may  infer  from  the  subterranean 
excavations  in  which  provisions  were  pre- 
served, and  wherein  the  women  generally 
wove  their  linen,  and  which  must  there- 
fore  have  been  walled  in. 

Trade  and  commerce  were  not  foreign 
to  the  ancient  Germans  ;  they  were  even 
acquainted  with  that  pivot  of  all  commerce, 
a  general  medium  of  barter — money.  Ta- 
citus remarks  that  they  knew  well  how  to 
distinguish  the  old  good  coins  of  the  Romans, 
and  took  silver  in  preference  to  gold  in 
their  retail  transactions.  The  great  mul- 
titude of  Roman  coins,  which  by  degrees 
have  been  dug  out  of  the  German  earth, 
proves  that  their  commercial  intercourse 
was  not  trifling,  although  mucn  may  have 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Germans  as 
booty  upon  the  defeat  of  the  Romans.  Ar- 
minius,  before  the  battle  of  Idistavisus, 
offered  to  every  Roman  deserter  daily  200 
sesterces. 

Their  music  was  no  doubt  limited  to 
their  war-song,  and  the  rude  warlike  in- 
struments previously  named,  and  to  the 
heroic  song  at  festivals.  German  antiqui- 
ty had  without  doubt  its  inspired  singers, 
equally  as  the  Greeks  had  their  Homer- 
ides  ;  the  testimony  of  Tacitus  tells  us  so, 
and  the  inclination  of  the  people  for  all 
that  was  great,  and  worthy  of  fame,  as  it 
evinces  itself  in  their  deeds,  would  even, 
without  that  testimony,  have  convinced  us. 

It  has  been  disputed  whether  the  Ger- 
mans, about  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ, 
had  a  written  character.  Tacitus  express- 
ly says,  that  neither  men  nor  women  un- 
derstood writing,  (literarum  secreta  viri 
pariter  ac  feminse  ignorant. — Germ.  19.) 
And  although  this  passage  might  be  inter- 
preted in  a  more  restricted  sense,  were 
there  express  witnesses  to  the  contrary 
extant ;  still,  for  the  want  of  them,  it  is 
sufficiently  conclusive  of  the  ignorance  of 
writing  among  the  ancient  Germans.  There 
are,  indeed,  letters  mentioned  of  Marbodius 
and  Adgandaster,  a  prince  of  the  Chatti. 
to  Rome ;  but  these  were  certainly  written 
in  Latin,  and  only  prove,  if  they  we  e  writ- 
ten bv  the  prinres  themselves,  that  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


upper  classes,  who  had  intercourse  with 
the  Romans,  and  perhaps  lived  a  long  time 
in  Rome  itself,  learned  there  the  Roman  art 
of  writing.  The  people  generally,  how- 
ever, were,  without  doubt,  ignorant  of  the 
art. 

X.  THE  GERMANIC  TRIBES 

The  seats  of  the  Saxon  tribes  are  al- 
ready generally  stated  in  the  fourth  divi- 
sion;  the  following  are  the  names  and 
situations  of  the  individual  septs  : 

1.  The  Sigamlri,  a  considerable  tribe 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sieg,  whence 
they  probably  derived  their  name;  and 
farther  inward  towards  the  mountainous 
districts  of  Westphalia,  which  was  called, 
later,  the  Siiderland,  or  Sauerland.  Ccesar 
found  them  here  about  the  year  56,  and 
Drusus  in  the  year  12,  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  at  which  time  their  domain  extend- 
ed as  far  as  the  Lippe.  Weakened  by  the 
attacks  of  the  Romans,  to  whom  they  were 
most  exposed,  a  portion  of  them  were  driv- 
en by  Tiberius  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  as  far  as  its  mouths,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  Issel ;  another  portion  remained  in 
their  ancient  dwelling-places,  and  fought 
with  the  Cherusci  against  Germanicus.  In 
the  subsequent  centuries,  the  name  was 
retained  only  by  that  portion  which  dwelt 
at  the  mouths  of  the  Rhine,  and  which 
constituted  the  Salic  Franks,  and  formed  a 
leading  tribe  in  the  confederation  of  the 
Franks.* 

-2.  The  Usipetri  and  Tenchieri,  almost 
always  neighbors,  and  sharing  the  same 
casualties.  Driven  by  tne  Suevi,  about 
the  year  56  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  from 
their,  original  seat,  probably  in  the  Welte- 
rau,  (the  district  between  the  Maine,  the 
Rhine,  and  the  Lahn,)  farther  towards  the 
north,  they  were,  upon  their  crossing  the 
Rhine,  beat  back  again  by  Caesar,  and 
partly  destroyed.  The  remainder  were 
received  by  the  Sigambrians  ;  and  in  the 
time  of  Drusus,  the  Usipetrians  dwelt  north 
of  the  Lippe,  on  the  Rhine.  But  the 
Tenchterians  had  already,  about  the  year 
36  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  when  the 
Ubierians  were  driven  to  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine,  occupied  their  domain  upon  its 
rirrht  bank,  so  that  both  the  tribes  became 


*  Claud.  Claudianus  (about  400  years  after  the  birth 
of  Christ)  de  iy.  Cons.  Honor.  449 ;  Gregory  of  Tours, 
ii.  31 ;  and  others.  Clovis,  on  being  baptized,  was  ad- 
diessed  by  the  Bishop  Remigius :  mitis  Sicamber. 


again  neighbors,  and  dwelt  in  the  duclvy 
of  Berg  and  in  a  portion  of  Cleves.  Final- 
ly, the  Tenchterians  appear  to  have  formed 
a  portion  of  the  Franks.* 

3.  The  Brukteri,  a  powerful  tribe  in  the 
country  north  of  the  Lippe,  as  far  as  the 
more  central  Ems,  and  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  Rhine  near  the  Weser,  consequently 
more  properly  in  the  present  Miinsler  land, 
and   some    of    the    approximate    districts. 
According   to  the   most  recent  investiga- 
tions, the  country  in  the  south  of  the  Lippe, 
as    far   as   the    mountains   of  Sauerland, 
therefore,  the  so-called^  Hellweg,   is  con- 
sidered a    portion   of  the  country  of  the 
Brukterians.     They  were  divided  into  lar- 
ger and  lesser  bodies,  took  an  active  part 
as  the  confederates  of  the  Cherusci,  in  the 
war  of  freedom,  against  the  Romans,   and 
they  received  as  their  booty,  after  the  bat- 
tle with  Varus,  one  of  the  three  conquered 
eagles.     About  the  year  98  after  the  birth 
of  Christ,  in  an  internal  war  with  their 
neighbors,   they  were  almost  annihilated, 
so  that  Tacitus  divides  their  domain  be- 
tween the  Chamavrians  and  the  Angriva- 
rians.     But  this  account  is  certainly  exag- 
gerated, as  their  name  occurs  in  Ptolemy 
much  later  in  the  same  district ;  and  even 
afterwards  they  appear  as  a  portion  of  the 
Frankish    confederation.     After   the    alii- 
ance  of  the  Saxons  had  more   and   more 
widely  extended  itself  towards  Westphalia, 
the  country  and  tribe  of  the  Brukterians 
became    equally   included    therein  ;     but 
whether  by  force  of  arms,  or  by  alliance, 
is   not   to   be  decided.     The  Brukterians 
may  possibly  have  derived  their  name  from 
the  marshes  (briichen)  in  their  country. 

4.  The  Marsi)  neighbors  of  the  Brukte- 
rians,  also    present  themselves  as    active 
enemies  of  the  Romans,  about  the  time  of 
the  birth  of  Christ.     In  the  battle  with  Va- 
rus they  seized  an  eagle,  which  Germani- 
cus afterwards  reconquered  ;  and  this  same 
leader  commenced  his  campaign   against 
Lower  Germany,  in  the  year  14  after  the 
birth  of  Christ,  by  an  incursion  from  Ve- 
tera  Castra  (near  Xanten)  through  the  Ca3- 
sian  forest,  into  the  land  of  the  Marsi,  in 
which   he   destroyed  the  celebrated  sanc- 
tuary of  Tanfani.     These  events  show  us 
the  Marsi  as  a  Westphalian  tribe,  dwelling 
not  far  from  the  Rhine.     Beyond  this,  we 
cannot    determine    with    certainty    their 

*  Gregory  of  Tours,  ii.  9 


INTRODUCTION. 


dwelling-place,  and  antiquarians  conse- 
quently entertain  different  opinions  with 
respect  to  it.  Some  place  them  on  the 
Lippe,  others  eastward  of  the  Ems,  towards 
Tecklenburg  and  Osnaburg,  which  latter 
is  the  most  probable.  The  sanctuary  of 
Tanfana,  which  has  been  sought  for  indif- 
ferent places,  and  among  the  rest  near 
Minister,  would,  therefore,  henceforth  be 
considered  to  lie  in  the  land  of  Tecklen- 
burg. 

5.  The  Tubanti,  likewise  neighbors  of 
the  Brukterians,  are  placed  by  some  in  the 
country  between  Paderborn,  Hamur,  and 
the  Arnsberg  forest,  (the  Soesler  Borde  ;) 
by  others,  and  with  greater  probability,  on 
the   opposite   side    of  the    country  of  the 
Brukterians,  northwest  of  the  Rhine,  and 
the  Vechte,    the    Twente    of  the    present 
day. 

6.  Southward  of  the    Tubanti,    on    the 
Rhine,  dwelt  the   Chamavi,  and  bordered 
farther  southward  on  the  Usipetrians,  to 
whom  they  had  yielded  a  portion  of  the 
pasturage  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Issel,  even 
before   the   time   of  Drusus.     About   the 
year  98  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  they  de- 
prived the  Brukterians  of  a  portion  of  their 
country,  and  they  appear  later  as  forming 
a  part  of  the  confederation  of  the  Franks. 
In  the  middle  ages,  their  domain  was  call- 
ed the  Hamaland.     Ptolemy  mentions  the 
Chamavi,  as  well  as  ..the  Cherusci,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Harz  mountains,  but  which  for- 
mer were  probably  a  very  different  tribe. 

7.  The  Ansibari  or  Amsivarians,  north- 
ward from  the  Brukterians  on  the  Ems, 
(thence  called  Emsgauer  or  Emsbauer.)  In 
the  year  59  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  a  por- 
tion of  them  were  driven  away  by   the 
powerful    Chauci;    they   long    sought,    in 
vain,  another  dwelling  among  the  neigh- 
boring   tribes,    and   they  at    last 'vanish 
among  the  Cherusci.     A  portion,  however, 
must  have  remained  in  their  ancient  dwell- 
ing-place,  as  they  appear  later,    forming 
part  of  the  Prankish  confederation. 

8.  The   Chasuari   and    CkaUuari  were, 
according  to  some,  two  tribes,  the  first  of 
which  dwelt  upon  the  Haase,  northward  of 
.he  Marsi,  and  were  thence  called  Hase- 
gauer,  but  the   latter  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Ruhr,  where  the  Gau  or  district  Hatterun 
gave  testimony  of  them  in  the  middle  ages  ; 
but,  according  to  others,  they  were  but  one 
tribe,  which  had  their  dwelling  northward 
of  the  Chatti,  on  the  Diemel. 


9.  Tbe  DiiJgibini  are  placed,  with  prob 
ability,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Weser, 
perhaps  precisely  in  the  district  of  the 
Lippe,  where  the  legions  of  Varus  wero 
destroyed,  and  where  the  name  still  exists 
on  the  heath  of  Dolger.  In  a  stricter  sense 
they  belonged  to  the  confederation  of  the 
Cherusci.  Ptolemy  places  them  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Weser;  there foie,  they 
very  probably  occupied  both  its  banks.  In 
this  neighborhood  Ptolemy  also  names  Tu- 
Hsurgium,  perhaps  wrongly  copied  for  Teu- 
tiburgium,  in  the  vicinity  of  Detmold,  and 
Tropcza  Drusi,  the  monument  of  the  vic- 
tory of  Drusus  on  the  Weser,  perhaps  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Hoxter. 

The  following  are  some  other  places. 
mentioned  by  Ptolemy,  in  Westphalia,  un- 
fortunately without  indicating  the  domain 
wherein  they  were,  and  which  are,  conse- 
quently, very  variously  referred  to  by  an- 
tiquaries : 

a.  Bogadium — Miinster,     according    to 
some,  but  according  to  others,  Bochold,  or 
also  Beckum ;  according  to  Ledebur,  Beck- 
urn  on   the  Lippe,  upon  the  great  Roman 
road  between  Vetera  and  Aliso. 

b.  Mediolanium — Also    supposed   to    be 
Miinster,  but  now,  probably,  Metelu  on  the 
Vechte. 

c.  Muniiium — is  either    Osnaburg,    the 
Castle  Ravensberg,   or  Stromberg  in   the 
neighborhood  of  Miinster. 

d.  Stereontium — Warendorf,  Strombe/g 
Steinfort  or  Steveren,  all  in  the  land  of 
Miinster. 

e.  Amasia — probably  the  same  place  as 
the  Amisia  of  Tacitus,  the  hold  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Ems,  not  far  from  its  estuary, 
which  was  built  by  Drusus. 

f.  Ascalingium,  near  Minden  on  the  We- 
ser. 

g.  With  respect  to  Aliso,  the  castle  built 
by  Drusus,  in  the  second  year  before  the 
birth  of  Christ,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ali- 
so and  the  Lippe,  according  to  the  infor- 
mation of  Dio  Cassius,  opinions  are  so  far 
unanimous  that  it  was  situated  upon   the 
Upper  Lippe,  not  very  far  from  the  entrance 
of  the  Teutoburgian  forest.     The  majority 
again  have  decided  for  Etscn,  near  Pader- 
born, not  far  from  the  confluence  of  the 
Alme  and  the  Lippe  ;  the  most  recent,  very 
careful  investigation  of  Ledebur,  however, 
has  raised  it  to  the  highest  probability  that 
Aliso  lay  in  the  present  parish  or  district 
of  Liesborn,  in  the  space  which  is  formed 


INTRODUCTION. 


between  the  junction  of  the  Liese  and  the 
Glenne,  and  that  of  the  Glenne  and  the  Lip- 
pe,  near  the  religious  foundation  of  Cap- 
peln. 

h.  Arlalo — where  Drusus  was  pressed 
hard  by  the  Germans,  upon  the  frontiers  of 
the  country  of  the  Cherusci,  Sigambri,  and 
Chatti,  was,  very  probably,  between  Niih- 
den  and  Gesecke,  where  the  Haar  moun- 
tains gradually  dwindle  into  the  plains  of 
the  Hellweg,  and  where  in  the  middle  ages 
a  Gau  or  district,  Arpesfeld,  was  situated. 
The  syllable  ending  with  70  in  the  name, 
implies  &  forest;  Feld,  in  contradistinction 
to  Wald,  indicates  old  forest  land  made 
arable. 

Close  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Weser,  be- 
yond the  Dulgibini,  dwelt  also  the  remain- 
ing smaller  tribes  of  the  confederation  of 
the  Cherusci ;  and  on  the  opposite  side  of 
this  river  : 

10.  The  Cherusci  themselves,  the  most 
celebrated  Germanic  tribe  of  ancient  times, 
when  in  their  most  flourishing  state.  About 
the  period  of  the  birth  of  Christ  they  pos- 
sessed an  extensive  domain,  but  of  which 
it  cannot  be  exactly  stated  how  much  was 
properly  their  own  hereditary  land,  and 
how  much  of  the  land  belonged  to  their 
more  closely  attached  confederates,  who 
are  often  called  by  the  Romans,  off-hand- 
edly,  Cherusci.  This  domain  extended 
from  the  Harz,  its  centre,  eastward  as  far 
as  the  Saale  and  the  Elbe,  northward  near- 
ly as  far  as  the  Aller,  westward  as  far  as 
he  Weser,  and  southward  as  far  as  the 
Werra  and  the  Thuringian  forest.  From 
the  time  of  Drusus  to  the  generalship  of 
Varus,  in  the  twenty  years  during  which 
the  Romans  were  almost  settled  in  Lower 
Germany,  and  already  spoke  of  a  Roman 
province,  the  Cherusci  were  on  friendly 
terms  with  them  ;  the  sons  of  their  princes 
entered  the  Roman  armies,  Augustus  had 
a  German  body-guard,  and  all  seemed 
peaceable.  But  under  Varus  the  Cherusci 
placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  almost  all 
the  tribes  between  the  Rhine  and  the  We- 
ser ;  the  smaller  tribes,  particularly  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Weser,  united  themselves 
with  them,  whom  the  Romans  often  called 
clients  of  the  Cherusci,  naming  them  often 
absolutely  Cherusci,  whence  has  arisen  the 
error  that  the  Cherusci  dwelt  on  both  sides 
of  the  Weser.  Later,  when  Arminius  went 
forth  against  Marbodius,  the  Longobardi 
and  Semnoni,  their  powerful  neighbors  in 


the  East,  united  themselves  with  them. 
But  after  the  death  of  Armhrus  the  super! . 
ority  of  the  Cherusci  diminished.  They 
became  enervated  in  a  protracted  state  oi 
inactivity,  and  were  by  degrees  so  weak- 
ened by  the  Longobardi,  Chauci,  and  Chat- 
ti tribes,  that  the  shadow  alone  of  their  for. 
mer  greatness  remained.  Once  again  only 
does  their  name  appear  as  a  constituent  por- 
tion of  the  confederation  of  the  Franks. 
Ptolemy  mentions  in  their  domain  Lupia  oi 
Lupla,  now  Eimbeck,  Callagri,  Halle  on  the 
Saale,  Brieurdium,  Erfurt. 

With  the  Cherusci  sank  also  their  con- 
federates, viz  : 

11.  The  Fosi  on  the  Fuse,  or  Brunswick 
of  the  present  day. 

12.  The  Angrivari,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Weser,  below  Minden,  the  neighbors  and 
faithful  confederates  of  the  Chauci,  with 
whom  they  appear  again  later  as  a  con- 
stituent portion  of  the  Saxon  confederation 
under  the  name  of  Engern.     The  Saxon 
district  on  the  Weser  was  called  Angana. 

13.  The  Chauci  dwelt  on  the  Baltic,  from 
the  estuary  of  the  Ems  to  the  Elbe,  sur- 
rounding the  Weser,  by  which  they  were 
divided  into  the  greater  and  the  lesser  class- 
es.*    PHny,    who   had   personally  visited 
their  country,  sketches  a  melancholy  pic- 
ture of  the  inhabitants  on  the  coast :  "  The 
ocean,  twice  a  day,"  he  says,  "  overflows 
an  extensive  district,  and  produces  a  con- 
stant contest  in  nature,   so  that  we  must 
continue  doubtful  whether  to  call  this  part 
land  or  sea.     The  miserable  natives  dwell 
upon  the  hills  of  the  coast,  or  rather  heaps 
of  earth,  thrown  up  by  the  hand  upon  the 
margin  of  the  highest  side.     They  dwell 
there  at  flood-tide  like  mariners,  and  at  its 
ebb    like    shipwrecked   beings.     The  fish 
driven  hither  by  the  sea  they  catch  with 
nets  of  reeds  and  sea-grass.     They  have 
no  cattle,  and  do  not,  like  their  neighbors, 
feed   upon  milk.     They  are  not  allowed 
even  to  hunt    for  game,  for  not  a  shrub 
grows  near  them.     The  turf,  secured  by 
hand,  they  dry  more  in  the  air  than  in  ihe 
sun,  wherewith  to    cook   their   food,   and 
thereby  to  warm  their  bowels  frozen  by  the 
north  wind.     They  have  no   other  drink 
than  rain-water,  preserved  in  holes  ;  and 
yet,  had  these  tribes  been  conquered  by  the 

*  Their  name  appears  to  have  been  derived  from  tli« 
nature  of  their  country ;  kauken,  quaken,  means,  in 
the  vulgar  language,  to  quake  ;  and  Ihe  marshy  ground 
of  the  country  quakes  under  the  feet.  Quakenbiuck 
still  retains  the  original  denomination. 


INTRODUCTION 


Romans,  they  would  have  called  them- 
selves slaves  !"  Tacitus,  on  the  contrary, 
who  had  more  in  view  the  extensive  tribe 
of  the  Chauci  in  the  interior  of  the  coun- 
try, celebrates  them  as  the  most  conside- 
rable tribe  of  the  Germans,  peaceably 
minded  and  yet  warlike  and  valiant.  They 
were  long  the  faithful  allies  of  the  Romans, 
who  frequently  traversed  their  country, 
against  the  tribes  on  the  more  central  We- 
ser,  probably  emanating  in  an  original 
feud  with  the  Cherusci.  Indeed,  in  the 
reign  of  Nero  they  pressed  hard  upon  the 
Wehrmanni  of  the  Cheruscian  alliance — 
the  Ansibarians,  and  spread  themselves  so 
far  towards  the  south,  that  Tacitus  makes 
them  even  extend  as  far  as  the  Chatti.  In 
the  third  century  they  devastated  Gaul  in 
the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Didius  Julianus, 
and  at  last  they  disappear  under  the  con- 
federate name  of  Saxons. 

Ptolemy  mentions  some  of  the  towns  of 
the  Chauci :  Tuderium,  probably  Meppene  ; 
Thuliphardum,  Verden  ;  Phaliranum,  Bre- 
men or  Bremenvorder  ;  Levphana,  Lline- 
burf*,  and  others.  tft\fc^ 

14.  The  Frist,  on  the  BUlSe;  from  the 
mouths  of  the  Rhine,  to  the  Ems,  allies  of 
ihe  R.omans  in  the  German  wars.     In  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries  they  again  ap- 
pear in  the  Saxon  alliance,  and  even  em- 
bark with  these  for  Britain.*    The  Romans 
call    tha   island   Borkum,   Burchana,  and 
Ameland,  Ausleravia,  on  their  coast,  and 
in  their  country  :  Fleum  or  Flevum,  on  the 
Dollart. 

15.  The  Saxons,  afterwards  so  impor- 
tant, are  first  mentioned  by  Ptolemy  in  the 
middle  of  the  second  century,  as  inhabit- 
ants of  the  present  Holstein.     They  were 
skilful  sailors,  and  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  became  dreaded  from  their  pira- 
cies.     Tacitus  and   Pliny  do   not   name 
them,    probably    because    they    comprise 
them    under   the    name   of   Cimbri.     We 
shall  speak  further  on  of  the   confedera- 
tion they  founded  and  called  by  their  name. 

16.  The  Ciinbri  remained  for  many  cen- 
turies  after    their    great    irruption,    with 
which  our  history  begins,  still  in  their  old 
dwelling-place,  called  the  Cimbrian  penin- 
sula, styled  the   present  Jutland  ;  Strabo 
expressly  says,  "  they  still  dwelt  in  their 
old  seat."f 

Between  the  Saxon  and  Suevic  septs  is 


»  Procop.  Goth.  iv.  20 


t  Geogr  vii.  2,  i. 


found  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
German  tribes,  which  appears  to  belong  to 
neither  side  ;  viz., 

The  Chatti  or  Katti,  in  high  probability 
the  Hessians  of  the  present  day,  (Chatten, 
Chiissen,  Hessen  )  They  frequently  came 
in  contact  with  ,he  Romans,  upon  whom 
they  bordered,  and  are  often  named  by 
them.  Caesar  himself  even  knew  them, 
for  the  Suevi,  against  whom  he  defended 
the  Ubcrians,  and  whom  he  tlircatcm-d  by 
his  passage  across  the  Rhine,  must,  accord- 
ing to  the  locality  of  the  dwelling-place, 
have  been  the  Chatti.  They  even  then, 
probably,  belonged  to  the  great  Suevic 
confederation.  Tacitus,  on  the  contrary, 
expressly  separates  them  from  the  Suevi, 
and  we  may,  therefore,  most  rightly  con- 
sider them  as  a  self-dependent  tribe,  form- 
ing a  separation  between  the  two  great 
tribes,  the  Suevi  and  Saxons.  At  the  time 
of  these  great  wars  under  Augustus,  their 
country  was  often  visited  by  the  Romans ; 
but  in  the  age  of  Tacitus,  after  the  entire 
reduction  of  the  Cherusci,  their  domain 
seems  to  have  acquired  its  greatest  extent, 
for  they  spread  themselves  from  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Hanau,  and  where  they  bor- 
dered upon  the  Roman  tithe-land  beyond 
the  Spessart  and  the  mountains  of  the 
Rhine  as  far  as  the  Thuringian  forest,  and 
towards  the  southwest  as  far  as  the  Fran- 
conian  Saale,  then  towards  the  north, 
somewhat  beyond  the  country  where  the 
Werra  and  Fulda  join,  and  northwest  as 
far  as  the  heights  of  the  Wester  forest. 

Tacitus  celebrates  the  Chatti  especially 
for  their  valor  and  prudent  management 
of  war.  Their  infantry  was  the  best  of 
all  the  Germans.  They  were  more  ac- 
customed than  all  the  rest  to  discipline  and 
order,  and  knew  how  to  form  defensive 
camps  ;  besides,  they  were  large-formed, 
powerful,  and  fearless,  and  their  warlike 
glance  was  intimidating.  "  They  can  all 
fight,"  says  Tacitus,  "  but  the  Chatti  alone 
know  how  to  conduct  a  war ;  and  what  is 
very  rare  in  savage  nations,  they  depend 
more  upon  their  leader  than  upon  the 
army.  Good  fortune  they  reckon  among  the 
casual,  valor  among  the  certain  things.'' 
Their  youths  allowf  '1  their  hair  and  beard 
to  grow  long,  and  they  wore  an  iron  ring 
upon  their  arm,  the  sign  of  minority,  until 
a  slain  enemy  proved  their  manliness ; 
over  whose  body,  and  captured  arms,  they 
freed  their  face  from  the  abundance  of 


INTRODUCTION. 


hair,  and  only  then  first  boasted  of  having 
paid  the  reward  for  their  tenure  of  life, 
and  of  being  worthy  of  their  fatherland 
and  ancestors. 

At  a  later  period  the  Chatti  joined  the 
extensive  confederation  of  the  Franks. 

The  ancient  metropolis  of  the  Chatti 
was  Mattium,  which  many  consider  to  be 
Marburg  ;  but  it  is  probably  the  present 
village  Maden,  near  Gudensberg,  on  the 
river  Eder. 

The  Mattiaci,  a  branch  of  the  Chatti, 
which,  in  the  expeditions  of  Drusus  and 
Germanicus,  appear  only  under  this  latter 
name,  but  by  Tacitus  are  called  by  their 
individual  name,  dwelt  between  the  Lahn 
and  the  Maine,  as  far  as  the  Rhine,  there- 
fore in  the  present  Nassau.  The  Romans 
located  themselves  very  early  in  their 
country,  constructed  defences  upon  the 
Taurus  mountains,  and  treated  the  Mat- 
tiaci as  a  conquered  tribe.  In  the  revolt 
of  Civilis  they  took  a  part,  and  invested 
Mentz.  Subsequently,  their  name  disap- 
pears, and  the  Allemanni  occupy  their 
land.  Pliny  mentions  warm  springs  here, 
which  he  calls  Fontes  Matiaci,  doubtless 
Wiesbaden,  where  many  remains  of  Ro- 
man buildings,  baths,  &c.,  have  been 
found  ;  and  Arctaunum,  the  Roman  fort 
upon  the  heights  near  Homburg,  of  which 
traces  are  yet  extant.  Ptolemy  names 
also  Maitiacum,  probably  the  present  Mar- 
hurg. 

SUEVIC  TRIBES. 

1.  The   Semnoni  are  called  by  Tacitus 
the  most  ancient  and  considerable  among 
the  Suevi ;  and  Ptolemy  fixes  their  seat 
between   the   Elbe   and  the  Oder,  in  the 
southern  part  of  BranHenburg,  ana1  in  the 
Lausitz  as  far  as  the.  Bohemian  frontiers. 
It  is  said  that  in  their  country  the  sanctu- 
ary of  the  confederation  was  a  holy  grove, 
wherein  the   confederate   sacrifices   were 
solemnized.     They,  consequently,  appear 
to  have  stood,  in  more  ancient  times,  in 
peculiar    regard    among    all    the    Suevic 
tribes.     After  the  second  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  however,  their  name  does 
not  again  occur  in  the  annals  of  history  ; 
of  the  causes  for  this  disappearance,  we 
are  ignorant. 

2.  The  Longobardi,  few  in  number,  but 
the  most  warlike  of  all  the  Suevi.     They 
dwelt,  when  history  first  becomes  acquaint- 
ed with  them,  about  the  period  of  the  birth 
of  Christ,  westward  from  the  Middle  Elbe, 


opposite  the  Semnoni  in  the  Alt-Mark  anc 
Liineburg  districts,  where  the  name  of  the 
city,  Bardewik,  the  villages  of  Barleber 
and  Bartensleben,  and  the  Bardengau,  stil] 
preserve  their  recollection.  They  thence 
spread  to  the  eastern  banks  of  the  Elbe,  as 
far  as  the  Havel.  Under  Arminius,  they 
fought  against  Marbodius,  but  subsequently 
they  assisted  towards  the  reduction  of  the 
Cherusci,  who  appear  to  have  been,  for  a  pe- 
riod, in  a  certain  degree  of  dependency  on 
them.  Ptolemy  gives  them,  in  the  second 
century,  a  very  extensive  domain,  from  the 
Elbe  over  the  country  of  the  Cherusci,  the 
Tubanti,  and  Marsi,  as  far  as  the  Rhine. 
They  may  possibly,  if  Ptolemy's  relation 
be  true,  have  made  successful,  but  short 
invasive  expeditions.  History  then  becomes 
silent  concerning  them,  until  towards  the 
end  of  the  fifth  century,  when  they  appear 
upon  the  Danube,  in  Hungary ;  and  in 
the  sixth,  they  establish  their  kingdom  in 
Italy.  They  derived  their  name,  accord- 
ing to  their  ancient  legend,  (as  handed  down 
of  king  Rothari,)  from  their  long  beards, 
but  according  to  others,  from  their  Helle 
harden  or  Halberts ;  more  probably,  how 
ever,  from  their  dwelling-place,  on  the  hor- 
ders  of  the  Elbe,  where  a  tract  of  land  ig 
still  called  the  long  Borde,  or  fruitful  plain. 
Ptolemy  names  Mesuium  among  them,  per- 
haps the  present  Magdeburg. 

3.  Northward  from  the  Longobardi  and 
Semnoni,  in  the  present  Lauenburg,  Meck- 
lenburg, and  Pommerania,  dwelt,  accord 
ing  to  Tacitus,  the  Suevic  tribes  of  the  Va- 
rini,  Angeti,  Reudingi,  Avioni,  Eudosi,  Su- 
ardoni,  and  Nuitlwni ;  but  little  known  or 
remarkable.  We  have  already  referred 
to  their  common  worship  of  the  goddess 
Nerthus. 

The  name  of  the  Varirii  reminds  us  of 
the  river  Varne,  in  Mecklenburg  ;  and,  in- 
deed, Ptolemy  mentions,  in  their  domain,  a 
series  of  towns,  which,  according  to  his 
geographical  determination,  are  comprised 
in  the  district  on  the  north  of  the  Elbe,  from 
Hamburg  as  far  as  the  estuary  of  the 
Varne.  Hamburg  itself  appears  under  the 
name  of  Marionis  ;  Liibeck  under  that  of 
Marionis  Altera.  Laciburgium  may  be 
Wismar,  and  Alistus,  Schwerin. 

The  Angeli,  neighbors  of  the  Varini,  ap- 
pear later  in  union  with  the  Saxons,  with 
whom  they  seemed  to  have  joined  them- 
selves, in  the  vicinity  of  Silesia  and  upon 
the  neighboring  islands ;  then  in  England 


INTRODUCTION 


37 


which  has  preserved  their  name  nobly  down 
to  the  present  day. 

On  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  extending 
farther  towards  the  east,  Tacitus  names  a 
series  of  tribes,  which  he  refers  to  the  Sue- 
vie  race.  Perhaps  we  may  recognise  in 
them  a  third,  namely,  the  Gothic,  and  we 
therefore  quit,  for  the  present,  that  direc- 
tion, to  turn  ourselves  towards  the  undis- 
puted Suevic  tribes  in  the  interior  of  Ger- 
many- Here  first  we  meet: 

4.  The  Hcrmunduri.     The   information 
of  the  dwelling-places  of  this  tribe,  which, 
besides,  is  named  by  almost  all  the  writers 
who  mention  the  Germans,  from  Veil.  Pa- 
tercuhis  to  DioCassius,  (with  the  exception 
of  Ptolemy,)    is    very    contradictory,    but 
which  may,  perhaps,  be  owing  to  their  fre- 
quent change  of  locality.     Tacitus   is  ac- 
quainted   with   them    as   the    friends   and 
neighbors  of  the  Romans  on  the  northern 
shore  of  the  Danube,  whence  they  stood 
wun  the  Romans  in  a  peaceful  commercial 
intercourse,  namely,  in  the  capital  of  Rhce- 
tia,  Augusta  Vindelicorum,  Augsburg,  and 
he  makes  them  contend  with  the  Chatti,  on 
the  Franconian  Saale,  for  the  possession  of 
the  salt  springs,  so  that  their  domain,  con- 
sequently, stretched   between   the  Danube 
and  the  Maine,  across  the  present  Franco- 
nia.  They  had  arrived  here  about  the  time 
of  the  Christian  era,  when  the  Marcomanni, 
under    Marbodius,    were    moving  towards 
Bohemia.      They    were    received    by  the 
Roman     general,    Domitius    .Snobarbus. 
Thence    arose    their    friendship    with    the 
Romans.     They  probably  dwelt,  previous- 
:y,  farther   northeastward,  in  the  Frarico- 
nian   and  Bohemian  mountains,  as  far  as 
the  Elbe.     The  Hermunduri,  from  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century,  appear  only  un- 

'der  the  collective  name  of  Suevi  ;  and  it  is 
they,  probably,  who,  carrying  it  farther  to 
the  southwest,  have  preserved  and  brought 
it  down  to  the  present  day  under  the  name 
of  Swabians. 

Ptolemy  mentions,  in  the  present  land  of 
Franconia,  Segodunum,  perhaps  Wiirzburg; 
Bergium,  Bamberg ;  Menosgada,  Baireufh, 
&c. 

5.  The    Nariski,    in  the   Upper  Palati- 
nate,   between   the    Hermunduri    and   the 
Marcomanni. 

6.  The  Marcomanni,  the  most  important 
of  the  southern  Suevic  tribes,  or  perhaps, 
more  properly,  the  advanced  Wehrmannei 
of  the    Suevic    confederation    against   the 


Gauls,  and  later,  agains.  the  Romans — 
thence  called  marker  frontier-men — guard- 
ed the  boundaries  of  Germany  between  the 
Rhine,  the  Maine,  and  the  Danube.  Upon 
the  increasing  weakness  of  the  Gauls,  they 
endeavored  to  make  conquests  in  the  coun- 
try of  their  enemies.  Ariovistus  was,  ac- 
cording to  all  probability,  a  Marcoman. 
History  will  inform  us  how  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  era,  they,  un- 
der Marbodius,  advanced,  in  front  of  the 
Romans,  towards  Bohemia  ;  and  how,  sub- 
sequently, they  became  the  terrific  enemies 
of  the  latter.  Their  name  disappears  in 
the  migration,  probably  merging  in  that  of 
the  Suevi,  under  which  collective  name 
they  may  have  wandered,  with  other  Suevic 
tribes,  to  Spain. 

7.  The    Quadi,   the    rrjost    southeastern 
Suevic  tribe,  seated  upon  the  Danube,  in 
Austria  and  Moravia,  as  far  as  the  river 
Grau,  in  Hungary,  where  they  joined  the 
Sarmatian  tribe  of  the  Jazygi.    They  lived 
in  peace  with  the  Romans  until  the  great 
Marcomann.ic  war,  under  Mark  Aurelius, 
in   which  they  took  a  share.     From  this 
time  they  always  remained  the  enemies  of 
the   Romans.     In  the   fifth  century,  their 
name  likewise   disappears,  and  merges  in 
that  of  the   Suevi,  among  whom  they  are 
again  mentioned  in  Spain.     Ptolemy  names 
many  towns  in  their  country,  as  a  great 
commercial    road    led    from     Carnuntum, 
Pressburg,  through  the  land  of  the  Quadi, 
and  by  this  means  conveyed  life  and  spirit 
into  it.     We  name  only  Phurgisatis,  Co- 
ridorgis,    and    Philecia,    probably   Znaim, 
Brunn,  and  Olmiitz. 

8.  Behind  these,  towards  the  east,  an- 
cient writers  mention  the  names  of  many 
other  tribes,  without,  however,  giving  more 
particular  information  about  them,  or  even 
being  able  to  state  precisely  that  they  were 
of  German  origin.     Thus   it  is  with   the 
Gothini  and  Osi,  in  the  mountains  which 
border  upon  Moravia  and  Bohemia,  run- 
ning towards  Upper  Silesia,  of  whom  Taci- 
tus himself  says,  that  the  former  spoke  the 
Gallic,  and  the  latter  the  Pannonian,  ac- 
cordingly, the  Sarmatian  tongue. 

The  Marsingi  are  mentioned  by  Taci- 
tus alone  ;  according  to  whom,  their  dwell- 
ing-place .seems  to  have  occupied  a  por- 
tion of  Lower  Silesia,  eastward  from  the 
Riesengebirge.  It  is,  however,  doubtful 
whether  the  Marsingi  of  Tacitus  were  not 
a  branch  of  the  Vandals.  In  the  distric! 


INTRODUCTION. 


of  the  above-mentioned  tribes,  belong  many 
of  the  names  of  towns  which  occur  in 
Ptolemy;  viz.,  Strevinta,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Neisse  ;  Casurgis,  in  that  of  Glatz. 

9.  The  Lygi,  a  powerful  union  of  tribes 
in  the  eastern  portion  of  Silesia,  and  in 
that  part  of  Poland  which  is  enclosed  by 
t.he  elbow  of  the  Vistula,  from  its  source 
as  far  as  Bromberg.  Tacitus  considers 
them,  perhaps  rightly,  as  Suevi,  although 
their  manners  and  mode  of  life  partake 
much  of  that  of  their  savage  Sarmatian 
neighbors,  on  which  account  several  mod- 
ern historians  class  them  with  the  Sclavo- 
nic tribes.  They  belonged,  when  we  first 
hear  of  them,  to  Marbodius'  confederation 
of  tribes,  and  their  alliance  with  the  Mar- 
comanni  and  Hermunduri  seems  to  have 
continued  even  much  later.  In  the  third 
century,  they  appear  with  the  Burgundians 
on  the  Rhine,  and  are  defeated  by  the  Em- 
peror Probus.*  The  chief  stem,  however, 
which  remained  behind,  probably  attached 
itself,  at  the  time  of  the  great  migration,  to 
the  Goths,  the  name  being  no  longer  men- 
tioned. 

Among  the  Lygian  tribes,  Tacitus  names 
the  Ari,  the  Helveconi,  Manimi,  Elysi,  and 
Naharvali ;  his  Buri  also,  which  he  does 
not  join  to  the  Lygian  union,  belonged 
probably  to  it ;  they  dwelt  at  :he  sources 
of  the  Oder  and  the  Vistula.  Tacitus  de- 
scribes the  Ari  as  the  most  powerful,  but 
also  the  most  savage  of  the  Lygians.  They 
painted  their  shields  black,  colored  their 
bodies,  selected  dark  nights  for  their  bat- 
tles, and  excited  terror  in  their  enemies  by 
the  fearful  and  almost  infernal  appearance 
of  their  ghastly,  death-like  ranks. 

In  the  country  of  the  Naharvali,  there 
was  a  sacred  grove,  wherein  a  youthful 
pair  of  twins,  similar  to  Castor  and  Pollux, 
were  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Alcis, 
and  were  attended  by  a  priest  in  female 
raiment. f 

The  whole  domain  of  the  Elysi,  who 
dwelt  probably  in  Silesia,  and  perhaps  gave 
its  name  to  the  principality  of  Oels,  was 
certainly  traversed  by  a  Roman  commer- 
cial road,  which  is  proved  by  the  many 
Roman  coins  that  have  been,  and  still 
continue  to  be  found  buried  there  in  the 
earth. 

In  the  great  Lygian  domain,  Ptolemy 

*  Fosimua  i.,  67. 

t  Tacitus  calls  it  the  Sanctuary  or  deity  Alcis,  pro- 
bably the  Gothic  Allis. 


mentions  many  nanu  of  towns ;  amonjj 
others,  Budorgis,  probably  Ratibor ;  Ly 
gidunum,  Liegnitz ;  Caltsia,  Kalisch,  &c. 

10.  The  Goths.  Tacitus,  who  only 
knew  the  Suevi  and  non-Suevi  among  tH6 
German  tribes,  considers  this  tribe  also, 
which  he  calls  Goths,  as  Suevi.  Pliny,  o^ 
the  contrary,  who  makes  a  five-fold  divi- 
sion of  the  tribes,  regards  them  as  belong- 
ing to  the  stem  of  the  Windili,  namely,  to 
that  of  the  Vandals.  That  the  tribes  of 
this  stem  dwelt,  collectively,  in  the  ex- 
treme east  of  ancient  Germany,  these  two, 
as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  ancient  authors 
who  mention  their  names,  are  in  opinion 
unanimous.  Later  history  finds  many  of 
these  tribes  likewise  in  combination,  or,  at 
least,  acting  under  the  same  impulses  and 
towards  the  same  purpose  ;  and  it  was  by 
them  that  the  first  grand  blow  was  struck 
against  the  Roman  colossus.  If,  therefore, 
nothing  decided  can  be  said  upon  these  ob- 
scure relations,  to  the  elucidation  of  which 
the  light  cf  history  is  wholly  wanting,  it 
will  not  be  objectionable,  but  rather  contri- 
bute to  the  easier  survey  of  this  manifold 
mixture,  if  we  here  collect  these  tribes  to- 
gether, as  belonging,  probably,  to  a  third 
chief  stem,  allied  to  the  Suevi,  which,  with 
Pliny,  we  may  call  the  Vandalian,  or,  ac- 
cording to  the  title  of  the  later  principal 
tribe,  the  Gothic  branch. 

a.  The  true  Goths,  or  Gothones,  wert 
known  to  Pytheas,  about  the  year  300  be- 
fore  the  birth  of  Christ,  on  the  Amber- 
coast,  near  the  estuary  of  the  Vistula. 
Tacitus  places  them  beyond  the  Lygi, 
therefore  still  on  the  Vistula,  but  no  longer 
extending  to  the  sea ;  for  on  the  coast  he 
names  the  Rugi  and  the  Lemovi.  Ptolemy, 
nearly  fifty  years  later,  places  them  like- 
wise on  the  Vistula,  in  the  interior  of  the 
country,  and  mentions,  by  name,  the  Ve- 
nedi,  or  Wendi  upon  the  coast.  We  may 
thence  conclude  that,  even  at  this  period, 
the  great  movement  of  the  Wendian  and 
Sclavonian  nations,  from  the  northeast  to- 
wards  the  southwest,  had  already  com- 
menced, whereby  the  Germans  were  im- 
pelled forward  in  the  same  direction.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  we  al- 
ready find  the  Goths  again  further  south^ 
ward,  namely,  in  Dacia,  where  they  fixed 
themselves.  At  this  time,  also,  they  ap- 
pear  divided  into  two  great  branches,  the 
Ostro-Goths  and  Westro-Goths,  or  Eaa 
and  West  Goths.  Their  progress  and  fate. 


INTRODUCTION 


at  the  time  of  the  great  migration,  will  be 
farther  related  in  the  history  itself. 

As  single  tribes,  the  Gepidi,  Mosogothi, 
Therwingi,  and  Greuthungi,  are  named  as 
branches  of  the  Gothic  stem,  upon  whose 
affinity  and  position  towards  each  other  a 
variety  of  opinions  are  still  maintained. 

b.  The  Burgundians  are  placed  by  Pliny 
at  the  head  of  the  Vandal  stem,  but  they 
are  not  named  by  Tacitus.  Ptolemy  points 
out  as  their  dwelling-place  the  country  be- 
tween the  Oder  and  Vistula,  where  the 
Netze  and  the  Warthe  flow.  Driven  by 
the  Gepidi  from  this  district,  a  portion  of 
them  turned  towards  the  north  and  located 
themselves  upon  the  island  Bornholm,  (Bur- 
ganda-holm,)  between  Sweden  and  Den- 
mark ;  but  the  greater  portion  drew  off  to 
the  southwest,  attacked  Gaul,  were  beaten 
back  by  the  emperor  Probus,  dwelt  for  a 
space  of  time  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Maine, 
then  upon  the  Upper  Rhine,  and  received 
from  the  Roman  governor,  Aetius,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  a  dwelling- 
place  in  the  southeast  of  Gaul,  where  their 
name  still  continues.  In  their  ancient  do- 
main Ptolemy  names  the  city  Ascaucalis, 
where  Bromberg  now  exists. 

c.  The  Rugi  are  placed  by  Tacitus  on 
the  Baltic ;  he  attaches  close  to  them  the 
Lemovi,  who  are  mentioned  by  no  one 
else,  and  who  do  not  even  again  appear  in 
the  great  migration.  The  name  of  the 
Rugi  survives  in  the  island  of  Rugen  and 
some  neighboring  places.  Tacitus  does  not 
enumerate  them  among  the  tribes  who 
took  part  in  the  Nerthus  worship  on  the 
isle  of  Rligen  ;  but  it  was,  perhaps,  after 
the  age  of  Tacitus  that  they  spread  them- 
selves so  wide  towards  the  west,  and  gave 
ts  name  to  the  island  Riigen,  with  which 
:ie  was  unacquainted.  At  the  time  of  the 
great  migration  they  appear  in  the  army  of 

IAttila,when  he  advanced  against  the  Gauls ; 
afler^his  death  they  settled  themselves 
upon  the  northern  banks  of  the  Danube  in 
Austria  and  Hungary,  which  country  was 
called  Rugiland  ;  and,  shortly  afterwards, 
Odoacer,  king  of  the  Heruli,  Rugi,  Sciri, 
and  Turcilingi,  (he  being  sometimes  called 
by  one  and  sometimes  by  the  other  of  these 
iitles;  although  by  birth  a  Scirian,)  came 
forth  arid  destroyed,  in  the  year  476,  the 
west  Roman  empire.  The  said  four  named 
tribes  were,  according  to  all  probability, 
closely  allied,  originating  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  Baltic,  between  the  Vistula  and  the 


Oder ;  and  who,  after  several  separations 
and  a  variety  of  adventures,  of  which  iso- 
lated notices  occur  in  history,  are  again 
found  united  under  Odoacer.  The  Hern- 
Hans  are,  next  to  the  Rugi,  the  most 
remarkable.  They  appear  as  a  portion  of 
the  great  kingdom  of  the  Ostro-Gothic  king, 
Hemanrich,  and  form,  after  Attila's  death, 
a  powerful  empire  on  the  banks  of  the 
Danube,  at  last  vanishing  on  different 
sides,  after  encountering  the  most  adven- 
turous fortunes.*  A  portion  seems  to  have 
united  itself  into  a  nation  with  the  Bojoari- 
ans  or  Bavarians. 

d.  The  Vandals  appear  as  an  individual 
tribe  in  Dio  Cassius  only,  who  calls  the 
Riesengelirge  the  Vandalian  mountains, 
whence  the  Elbe  has  its  source,  and  we 
indeed  find  upon  its  northeast  side  the 
original  dwelling-place  of  the  Vandalian 
tribes.  We  have  already  noticed  that  the 
Wendili  race  of  Pliny  is  the  Vandalian,  and 
that  Tacitus  speaks  really  of  the  Vandalian 
as  received  by  some  others ;  later  writer? 
expressly  say,  that  the  Vandals  were  of 
the  same  stem  as  the  Goths,  had  a  similar 
appearance,  the  same  laws  and  institutions. 
We  shall  further  relate  their  history  at  the 
period  of  the  migration. 

Tacitus  does  not  allow  his  country  of 
the  Suevi  to  end  with  the  coasts  of  the 
Baltic  only,  as  far  as  the  estuary  of  the . 
Vistula,  but  conveys  his  readers  to  the 
^Estyi,  on  the  Amber  coasts.  They,  ac- 
ording  to  their  manners  and  dress,  were 
Suevi,  but  approached  nearer  to  the  Britons 
by  their  language.  They  zealously  culti- 
vated grain,  and  collected  amber,  which 
they  called  hesum,  (glass,)  and  received 
with  astonishment  the  high  price  Roman 
luxury  offered  for  it.  Tacitus  describes 
amber  very  distinctly  and  rightly. 

11.  Also,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Baltic, 
in  the  present  Sweden,  according  to  him, 
are  found  Suevi,  viz.  the  Suioni.  "Equal- 
ly strong,"  says  Tacitus,  "  by  their  fleets 
as  by  their  men  and  arms,  kings  rule  over 
them  with  unlimited  power.  Beyond  the 
Suioni  there  is  another  sea,  calm  and  al- 
most motionless.  It  is  believed  that  this 
sea  limits  the  earth,  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  last  dying  splendor  of  the  setting 
sun  continues  until  its  rise,  and  so  bright- 
ly, that  it  obscures  the  stars."  Thus  it  ia 
evident  that  they  had  intelligence  of  the 

*  Procop.  tie  BelJ.  Goth,  n.,  11  and  12. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Polar  circle.  Tacitus  also  seems  to  hint 
at  the  great  northern  lights,  by  citing  the 
tradition  that  particular  rays  are  seen  in 
the  skies,  and  tones  heard  at  the  same 
time.  To  the  Suioni  are  attached  the 
races  of  the  Sitoni,  over  whom  a  woman 
reigns.  "  Thus  far,"  says  Tacitus,  "  they 
are  not  only  degenerated  from  freedom, 
but  fallen  into  slavery.  Here  is  the  end 
of  the  Suevi." 

That  the  Swedes  are  of  German  origin, 
may  be  considered  as  decided,  and  that 
they  were  closely  related  to  the  Goths  is 
extremely  probable.  The  name""oF~~the 
island  Gotland,  and  many  other  names  in 
Sweden,  corroborate  this.  The  Gothic 
historian,  Jordanis,  describes  the  Goths  as 
having  migrated  and  shipped  themselves 
direct  from  Scandia,  (Scandinavia,  the 
general  name  given  by  the  ancients  to  the 
northern  countries,)  and  settled  on  the 
banks  of  the  Vistula.  But  what  he  states 
assumes  more  the  form  of  heroic  tradition 
than  a  history  of  his  people  ;  and  it  may  be 
received  as  equally  correct,  that  the  Goths 
passed  over  to  Sweden  from  our  coasts. 

TRANS-RHENISH  TRIBES 

In  the  west,  the  Rhine  was  not  properly 
ihe  boundary  of  the  German  tribes,  but 
many  of  them  had  passed  over  it  already, 
before  the  period  of  the  birth  of  Christ, 
and  had  located  themselves  on  its  left 
bank.  To  these  belonged  : 

1.  The  Vangioni,  the  Nemeti,  and  the 
Triboci,  in  the  district  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine  from  Bingen,  below  Mentz,  as 
far   as   Breisach.      In  their   domain    are 
many  towns,  which  owe  either  their  origin 
or  enlargement  to  the  Romans;  viz.,  Mon- 
guntiacum,  Mentz,  an  ancient  Gallic  city 
in   the  country  of  the  Vangioni ;    under 
the   Romans   an   important   citadel.     Al- 
ready, in  the  year  70  after  the  birth  of 
Christ,  the  22d  legion,  which,  on  returning 
from  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  was  quar- 
tered  in   this   place,   brought   with   them 
probably,  and  introduced  Christianity  there. 
Bonconica,     Oppenheim  ;     Borbetomagus, 
Worms ;    Noviomagus,   chief  seat  of  the 
Nemeti,   Spires  ;    Taberna,  Rheinzabern  ; 
Argentoratum,  Sirasburg,  in  the  country  of 
the  Triboci,   containing  the  chief  arsenal 
throughout  Gaul. 

2.  The  Ubi  dwelt  earlier  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  but  were  so  hard  pressed 
oy  the  Suevi,  that  they  applied  to  Julius 


Ca3sar  for  help,  and  after  he  had  procure* 
them  peace  for  a  short  time,  they  allowed 
themselves,  in  the  year  36  before  the  birth 
of  Christ,  to  be  transplanted  to  the  left 
bank  by  the  Roman  general  Vispawus 
Agrippa.  They  were  always  the  faithful 
allies  of  the  Romans.  Their  country  com- 
menced  at  the  confluence  of  the  Nahe  with 
the  Rhine,  and  here  was  founded  Bingmne, 
Bingen,  the  first  seat  of  their  domain  ;  fur. 
ther,  Bontobrice,  Boppart ;  Conflyentes,  Cob- 
lentz  ;  Antunnacum,  Andernach ;  Bonna, 
Bonn;  on  the  opposite  side,  as  a  bridge 
head  or  sconce,  built  by  Drusus,  was  es- 
tablished Gesonia,  the  present  village  Geu- 
sen ;  Colonia  Agrippina,  Cologne,  a  chief 
city  of  the  Romans  on  Ihe  Rhine,  named 
after  the  daughter  of  Germanicus,  and 
consort  of  the  emperor  Claudius,  Agrippina, 
who  was  born  in  this  city  of  the  Ubi,  and 
in  the  year  50,  after  the  birth  of  Christ, 
sent  hither  a  colony  of  veterans  in  order  to 
distinguish  her  birth-place.  Constantine 
also  caused  a  bridge  to  be  built  here  over 
the  river,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  to 
be  seen  at  low  water ;  on  the  right  side 
was  Divitia,  the  present  Deutz,  the  bridge 
head.  Novesium,  Neuss  ;  Gdduba,  (often 
named  by  the  Romans,)  the  present  village 
Gelb,  near  the  little  town  of  Uerdingen. 

3.  The  Gugerni,  northward  from  the 
Ubi,  commencing  not  far  from  Gelduba, 
down  the  Rhine  to  where  the  Waal  divides 
itself  from  it.  Places :  Asciburgium,  As- 
burg,  near  Meurs ;  Vetera  (castra,)  Xanten 
or  Bliderich,  opposite  Wesel. 

4.  The  Batavi  and  Canninefati,  both  oi 
the  Chattic  race,  were,  according  to  Tacitus, 
driven  from  their  country  by  a  revolt,  and 
settled  themselves  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Rhine,  in  that  part  of  the  land  surrounded 
by  water,  which  was  called  the  island  of 
the  Batavians.  They  were  allies  of  the 
Romans  until  they  revolted  under  Civilis 
in  the  year  70,  after  the  birth  of  Christ.  In 
their  domain  lay  Lugdunum,  Leyden  ;  Ul- 
trajeclum,  Utrecht ;  Noviomagus,  Nimwe- 
gen. 

Besides  these  tribes,  there  were  several 
others  in  the  Trans-Rhenish  countries  who 
had  formerly  wandered  thither,  and  were 
still  proud  of  their  German  origin,  as  if  the 
celebrity  of  their  race  separated  them  from 
a  connection  with,  and  a  resemblance  to 
the  weak  and  cowardly  Gauls.  The  chief 
among  them  were  the  Treviri,  with  thei 
capital  Augusta  Trcvirorum,  the  presen 


INTRODUCTION. 


41 


Treves,  the  most  important  city  of  the  Ro- 
man empire  in  our  northern  countries; 
and  the  Nervi,  between  the  Meuse  and  the 
Scheldt. 

The  south  of  the  Danube  was  no  longer 
inhabited  by  the  pure  German  tribes,  but 
such  as  had  become  mixed  with  Gallic 
and  other  emigrants.  The  Danube  may 
be  considered  as  the  boundary  of  Germany 
at  that  periodj  and  the  Roman  provinces  on 
its  southern  side  from  Switzerland  to  be- 
yond Carinthia,  and  Carniola,  were  called  : 
Helvetia,  Rhetia,  Vindelicia,  Noricum,  and 
Pannonia. 

ROMAN  TITHELAND 

But  more  important  for  the  ancient  geo- 
graphy of  our  country  is  the  consideration 
of  the  southern  part  of  Germany,  from  the 
Rhine  downward  beyond  the  Maine,  ac- 
cording to  others  still  further  morthward, 
and  which  was  called  the  Roman  titheland, 
(agri  decumates.)  From  these  districts  the 
Germans,  pressed  hard  by  the  superiority 
of  the  Romans,  who  threatened  them  from 
the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  had  retired 
more  and  more  into  the  interior — among 
the  rest  the  Marcomanni  especially — and 
the  Romans  considering  the  land  now  as  a 
portion  of  their  own  provinces,  allowed 
Gallic  and  other  colonists  to  cultivate  it, 
upon  the  payment  of  a  tithe.  Thence  the 
country  which  was  now  considered  as  a 
frontier  or  foreland  against  the  barbarians, 
received  its  Roman  name ;  and  as  such  it 
was  already  known  to  Tacitus.  To  secure 
it  from  the  predatory  irruptions  of  the  Ger- 
mans, a  long  line  of  fortresses,  walls, 
ditches,  walls  with  towers,  and  other  de- 
fences, were  by  degrees  constructed,  the 
traces  whereof  by  unwearied  research  have 
been  discovered  in  the  whole  of  the  south 
and  middle  of  Germany,  so  that  we  are 
enabled  to  follow  these  Roman  frontier- 
defences  almost  uninterruptedly. 

Their  commencement  is  found  in  con- 
siderable remains  of  defensive  works,  three 
miles  beyond  Ratisbon,  near  the  influx  of 
the  Altmuhl  into  the  Danube.  The  in- 
trenchment,  well  known  to  the  natives  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Devil's  Wall  and  the 
moat  of  piles,  runs  from  here,  for  twelve 
miles  uninterruptedly,  towards  the  north- 
west, sometimes  raised  three  or  four  feet 
above  the  ground,  then  again  southwest 
and  west  into  Wurternberg,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Necker,  and  at  the  distance  of  some 


miles  from  this  river  constantly  northward, 
as  far  as  the  Oden  forest.  This  wall  wag 
built  of  a  stone  found  in  the  earth  near  the 
spot,  and  at  every  half  league  was  almost 
regularly  provided  with  towers.  If  here 
and  there  perhaps  the  traces  of  the  lino 
have  become  indistinct,  we  soon  again  meet 
with  them  more  perfect.  In  the  Oden  forest 
we  only  discover  the  ruins  of  solitary  towers 
more  distinctly  marked  ;  and  it  is  highly 
probable  that  here,  where  there  was  such 
an  abundance  of  wood,  they  were  con- 
nected by  a  fence  of  piles,  or  a  row  of  pal- 
isades, all  traces  of  which  have  naturally 
disappeared.  But  if  we  follow  the  remains 
of  these  isolated  fortifications,  we  find  at 
last  that  near  Obernburg  and  eastward  from 
Aschaffenburg,  the  line  joins  on  the  Maine, 
after  it  has  completed  from  the  Danube 
onward  a  distance  of  nearly  two  hundred 
miles. 

Northward  from  the  Maine,  the  traces 
of  the  line  are  very  slight,  yet  it  traverses 
Hanau  and  Darmstadt,  to  the  north  of  the 
Nidda,  where  the  moat  of  piles  begins  to 
be  again  visible,  and  runs  past  Butzbach 
towards  Homburg.  Here  lies  the  Salburg, 
probably  the  fort  or  citadel  of  Arctaunum, 
erected  by  Drusus  on  the  Taunus  moun- 
tains. In  this  part  the  frontier  wall  is 
twenty  feet  high,  and  closed  in  by  trees  as 
old  as  the  forest  itself.  It  runs  over  the 
whole  of  the  Taunus  mountains,  then 
through  the  latter  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Rhine,  as  far  as  the  Ems,  and  thence  again 
over  mountain  and  through  forest  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Neuwied.  Its 'traces  are 
lost  behind  the  Seven  mountains.  This 
Roman  boundary  line  extended  no  doubt 
as  far  as  the  Sieg,  near  Siegburg,  perhaps 
also  still  further  northward.  Tiberius,  at 
least,  according  to  Tacitus,  built  a  border 
wall,  limes,  also  in  the  Cresarean  forest ; 
but  no  trace  of  any  connection  between 
this  and  the  southern  defences  has  been 
discovered.  It  is  clear  that  even  under 
the  later  emperors,  the  defensive  works 
were  constantly  being  extended,  until  the 
repeated  irruptions  of  the  Allemannic 
hordes  destroyed  them.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  fourth  century  the  Al- 
lemanni  were  in  possession  of  the  former 
Titheland. 

As  Roman  colonies  within  the  boundary 
line  of  defences,  besides  those  in  the  north 
already  mentioned,  the  following  are  fur- 
ther  cited : 


INTRODUCTION. 


1.  Castellum  Vakntiniani,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Manheim. 

2.  Civitas  Aurdia  Aquensis,  called  also 
merely  Aqiuz,  the  present  Baden  ;  it  is  not 
cited,  it  is  true,  in  Roman  authors,  but  from 
inscriptions  that  have  been  found,  it  is  at 
least  clear  that  a  Roman  garrison  and  baths 

here  already  at  the  end  of  the  second 


3.  Tarodunum,  near  Friburg,  in  Breis- 
gau,  where  the  Mark  or  boundary,  Zarten, 
is  still  found. 

4.  Ara  Flavia,   Rotweil,  together  with 
several  others.     The  whole  titheland  is  full 
of  the  remains  of  Roman  buildings,  forts, 
citadels,  and  temples,  bridges,  streets,  tow 
ers,  pillars,  and  baths. 


THE  MORE  ANCIENT  GERMAN  HISTORY 


FIRST  PERIOD. 

FROM   THE   MOST    ANCIENT   TIMES   TO    THE    CONQUESTS    OF    THE    FRANKS   UNDER    CLC  VIS, 

486,  A.  D. 


CHAPTER  I. 

B.C.  113-6,  A.  D. 

The  Cimbri  and  Teutoni,  113-101  B.  c. — Caesar  and 
Ariovistus,  58  B.C.— Julius  Caesar  on  the  Rhine — 
Commencement  of  the  great  German  Wars— Drusus 
in  Germany— Marbodius,  King  of  the  Marcomanni. 

THE  Roman  and  Greek  writers  who 
give  information  upon  this  period  of  our  his- 
tory, have  already  been  mentioned  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Introduction.  In 
addition  to  those,  we  may  include  here  the 
subsequent  chronicles  of  Prosper  and  his 
continuators,  Marius  especially,  Idacius 
and  Marcel  i  in  us,  which  are  collected  to- 
gether by  Roncallius,  in  his  "  Vetustiora 
Latinorum  Chronica,"  2  vols.  Further,  is 
to  be  named  Beda  Venerabilis,  a  very 
learned  English  monk,  who  died  in  the 
year  735,  and  who  has  left  behind  him  a 
chronicle,  "  De  Sex  ^Etatibus  Mundi,"  to 
726,  and  a  "  Hist.  Eccles.  Gentis  Angli- 
cance."  Finally,  we  have  likewise  col- 
lected  largely,  for  this  earlier  epoch,  from 
Jordanis,  who  will  be  referred  to  in  the 
second  period. 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  trace  back 
the  signs  of  migrations  and  contests  of  Ger- 
man tribes  on  Roman  and  Greek  ground 
.o  very  early  times,  and  especially  to  the 
invasion  of  the  Gauls  under  Brennus  into 
Italy  in  the  year  389  B.  c.,  and  the  incur- 
sion of  the  Gauls  again,  under  a  second 
Brennus,  through  Thracia  and  Macedonia, 
as  far  as  Delphi,  in  the  year  278,  as  refer- 
ring  to  German  tribes  from  the  vicinity  of 
he  Alps.  But  these  indications  are  much 
too  obscure  and  fragmentary,  and  to  pursue 


the  inquiry  would  produce  no  essential  con- 
tribution  towards  a  knowledge  of  our  na- 
tional records.  We  shall  therefore  com- 
mence the  running  thread  of  our  history, 
after,  as  before,  with  the  incursion  of  the 
Cimbri  and  Teutoni. 

It  was  in  the  year  113  B.  c.,  that  a  wild 
and  unknown  tribe  crossed  the  Danube,  1 
and  appeared  upon  the  Alps,  where  the  j 
Romans  guarded  the  passes  into  Italy.  In 
this  same  year  they  defeated  the  Roman 
consul  Papirius  Carbo,  who  commanded 
the  army  here,  near  Noreja,  in  the  moun- 
tains of  the  present  Styria.  Carbo  had 
proved  treacherous  to  them,  for  upon  their 
request  to  remain  on  friendly  terms  with 
him,  he  had  provided  them  with  false 
guides,  who  led  them  astray  among  the 
mountains,  while  he  advanced  by  a  shorter 
road  and  fell  unexpectedly  upon  them. 
For  this  breach  of  faith  they  punished  him 
severely,  and  he  and  all  his  troops  would 
have  been  utterly  destroyed  had  not  a 
heavy  storm  intervened  and  assisted  his 
flight. 

No  one  knew  whence  these  fearful 
hordes  originally  came  ;  they  called  them- 
selves, according  to  the  account  of  the 
Romans,  Cimbri  and  Teutoni.  Upon  col- 
lecting together  the  isolated  narratives  of 
writers,  it  appears  that  the  Cimbri  had  al- 
ready, for  a  length  of  time,  been  wander- 
ing about,  and  had  fought  with  many  na. 
tions,  especially  with  the  Boi,  and  now, 
quitting  the  Danube,  appeared  upon  the 
Roman  frontiers.  Whether  they  are  to 
be  considered  as  collective  tribes  intent 
upon  migrating,  or  only  as  troops  of  war. 


THE  CIMBRI  AND  TEUTONI. 


riors  seeking  adventures,  (as  was  subse- 
quently the  practice  of  the  Suevic  warriors 
under  Ariovistus,)  or,  forming  themselves 
by  degrees  into  one  entire  mass  by  the 
junction  of  women  and  children,  they  re- 
quired a  country  wherein  to  settle,  we 
cannot,  owing  to  the  deficiency  of  precise 
information,  positively  decide.  If  the 
Cimbri,  as  is  the  general  opinion,  proceed- 
ed from  the  Cimbrian  peninsula,  so  called 
by  the  Romans,  but  which  now  is  the  pre- 
sent Jutland,  it  is  very  certain  that  only  a 
portion  of  the  tribe  could  have  left  it,  as  it 
was  styi  occupied  by  that  tribe  at  a  much 
later  period.  But  if  the  name  Kimoer,  as 
others  have  surmised,  implied  merely 
Kampfer,  fighters,  (Kamper,  Slrenuus,) 
they  may  then  have  belonged  to  other 
German  tribes,  probably  to  the  Suevi. 
Opinions  likewise  differ  upon  the  name  of 
the  Teutoni.  Some  believe  it  was  not  the 
name  of  an  individual  tribe,  but  that  the 
Romans,  hearing  that  these  Cimbri  were 
Teuten  or  Teutones,  imagined  that  they 
had  a  second  tribe  to  contend  with,  which 
they  called  Teutoni.  According  to  the 
opinion  of  others,  the  Teutoni  were  wan- 
derers of  several  tribes  between  the  Vis- 
tula and  the  Elbe,  who,  urged  forward  by 
the  eruption  of  the  Cimbri  from  their 
northern  peninsula,  formed  themselves  into 
an  individual  horde,  and  called  themselves 
Teuten,  or  Teutones,  the  collective  name 
j  of  all  the  German  races.  Others  fix  the 
home  of  the  Teutoni  in  the  northern  Scan- 
dinavia, in  favor  of  which  their  iron  armor 
appears  to  say  much  already.  But  we 
shall  follow  the  accounts  of  the  ancient 
writers,  who  always  name  the  Teutoni  as 
an  individual  tribe,  and  remind  us  that 
Pytheas  had  already,  more  than  three 
hundred  years  B.  c.,  heard  the  name  of  the 
Teutoni  on  our  northern  coasts. 

After  the  Cimbri  had  fought  near  Nore- 
ja,  they  advanced  through  the  fruitful 
district  that  lies  between  the  Danube  and 
the  Alps,  towards  southern  Gaul,  which 
appears  originally  to  have  been  the  aim  of 
their  exertions,  and  many  tribes  from  Ger- 
many, Gaul,  and  Switzerland,  strength- 
ened their  numbers,  particularly  the  Am- 
broni  from  the  Emmegau,  and  the  Tigu- 
rini,  (Zurichers,)  a  valiant  tribe  at  the 
foot  of  the  Alps.  They  demanded  a 
country  from  the  Romans,  for  which  Jiey 
promised  military  assistance  for  every  war. 
The  Romans,  however,  refused  their  re- 


quest, when  they  determined  to  obtain  by 
valor  and  the  sword  what  they  could  not 
acquire  by  treaty.  Four  Roman  armies, 
one  after  the  other,  were  defeated  and  al- 
most annihilated  by  them  and  their  confed- 
erates— the  first  under  the  consul  Juriiua 
Silanus,  the  second  under  the  consul  Cas- 
sius  Longinus,  who  fell  in  the  battle,  the 
third  under  the  legate  Aurelius  Scaurus, 
who  was  taken  prisoner.  When  he  was 
brought  before  the  council  of  the  Germans, 
in  order  to  give  them  intelligence  respect- 
ing the  passage  over  the  Alps,  he  advised 
them  to  forego  their  intention,  calling  the 
Romans  unconquerable.  Angered  at  this, 
a  young  German  prince,  Bojorix,  stood 
forth  and  struck  Scaurus  to  the  ground 
with  his  sword. 

?  The  Romans,  who  already  thought  of 
conquering  the  whole  earth,  but  saw  them- 
selves now  defeated  by  a  horde  whose 
name  they  scarcely  knew,  collected  to- 
gether another  large  army,  under  the  con- 
sul Marcus  Manlius,  and  sent  it  to  the 
assistance  of  the  consul  Scipio,  whose 
legate,  Scaurus,  had  just  been  vanquished. 
But  envy  and  dissension  existed  between 
the  generals,  and  the  Germans  taking  ad- 
vantage of  this,  gave  such  battle  to  this 
large  army,  that  80,000  of  the  Romans 
and  their  allies  were  left  dead  upon  the 
field,  with  40,000  of  their  slaves.  Man- 
lius fell  with  his  two  sons,  but  Scipio  es- 
caped, with,  it  is  said,  but  ten  men.  This 
day  was,  henceforth,  considered  by  the 
Romans  as  one  of  the  most  unlucky  in 
their  calendar,  and  the  city  of  Rome,  as 
well  as  the  whole  country,  were  seized 
with  such  a  panic,  that  in  Rome  for  a  very 
long  time  after,  any  uncommon  alarm  was 
called  a  "  Cimbrian  panic."  The  enemy, 
however,  did  not  take  advantage  of  this 
opportunity,  the  reason  for  which  neglect 
is  not  known  ;  but,  instead  of  advancing 
upon  Italy,  they  turned  aside  towards  the 
south  of  France  and  Spain,  and  gave  the 
Romans  time  to  recover  themselves. 

The  Romans  possessed  but  one  man 
who  still  sustained  their  hopes  ;  this  was 
Caius  Marius,  a  rude,  proud  man,  but  a 
valiant  warrior.  He  was  of  low  origin, 
and  had  raised  himself  by  his  talents 
alone  ;  he  was,  therefore,  hated  by  the 
patricians,  but  they  were  obliged,  in  oppo- 
sition to  all  hitherto  followed  rules  and 
against  the  laws,  to  make  him  consul  sev. 
eral  years  in  succession,  in  order  that  hf 


THE  CIMBRI  AND  TEUTONI. 


might  free  them  from  their  terrific  German 
/oes- 

Marius  collected  his  army  and  conduct- 
ed it  over  the  Alps  towards  Gaul,  as  far 
as  the  river  Rhodanus,  (the  Rhone,)  and 
formed  there  a  defensive  camp.  He  re- 
established the  ancient  discipline  and  order 
in  his  army,  which  had  been  long  neg- 
lected, and  to  which  was  to  be  attributed 
the  mischances  that  had  befallen  them. 
He,  therefore,  kept  himself  for  a  long  time 
quiet  in  his  camp,  that  he  might  accustom 
his  warriors  to  the  view  of  the  large  gi- 
gantic forms  of  these  strangers,  and  to  the 
tone  of  their  fearful  voices.  And  when- 
ever he  observed  tha,v  a  small  troop  of  his 
enemies  were  alone,  he  quickly  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  favorable  opportunity,  and 
made  a  sortie  upon  them  with  great 
strength  and  superiority,  that  his  troops 
might  learn  to  conquer  them  by  degrees. 
This  delay  was  irksome  to  the  war-hunt- 
ing Germans,  and  they  often  came  to  the 
very  walls  of  the  camp,  mocked  at  the 
Roman  army,  and  called  them  out  to  bat- 
tle, but  Marius  was  not  to  be  diverted  from 
his  plan. 

The  Germans  had  now  divided  them- 
selves into  two  bodies.  The  Cimbri  had 
passed  up  the  Rhodanus  through  Switzer- 
land and  the  Tyrol  towards  Italy,  but  the 
Teutoni  remained  opposed  to  Marius.  When 
these  latter  perceived  that  their  challenge 
was  not  accepted  by  their  opponents,  they 
also  broke  up,  marched  past  his  camp  on 
the  road  to  Italy,  and  called  out  jeeringly 
to  the  Roman  soldiers,  asking  them  "if 
they  had  any  commissions  to  send  to  their 
wives  ?"  The  multitude  was  so  great  that 
they  were  six  days  passing  the  camp  in 
uninterrupted  ranks. 

Marius  followed  at  their  side,  continuing 
always  upon  the  heights,  that  they  might 
not  unexpectedly  attack  him ;  he  then  re- 
encamped  himself  opposite  to  them  near 
Aquse  Sextioe,  or  which  is  the  present  town 
of  Aix,  in  the  South  of  France.  In  the 
spot  he  had  selected  there  was  but  little 
water,  and  when  his  warriors  complained 
ot  thirst,  he  pointed  with  his  hand  to  a  river 
that  ran  close  by  the  enemy's  camp,  and 
said,  "Behold,  yonder  is  drink  offered 
you — but  only  to  be  purchased  with  blood." 
They  replied,  "  Why  do  you  not  then  lead 
us  at  once  against  them  while  our  blood 
still  flows  ?"  He  however  returned,  in  a 
steady  voice,  <-  The  camp  must  first  be 


secured."  And  the  warriors,  although  un. 
willingly,  obeyed  his  orders ;  to  such  an 
extent  had  this  strict  leader  been  able  1o 
re-establish  military  discipline.  Of  the 
baggage  men,  however,  many  hastened  in 
a  multitude  to  the  river  to  procure  water 
for  themselves  and  the  beasts  of  burden, 
when,  meeting  with  a  few  of  the  enemy 
who  were  indulging  in  bathing,  they 
speedily  came  to  blows  with  them,  and  as 
the  cries  of  the  combatants  drew  to  their 
aid  more  from  both  sides,  there  arose  a 
sharp  skirmish  with  the  Ambroni,  whose 
camp  lay  on  the  Roman  side  of  the.  river. 
The  Ambroni  were  driven  back  into  their 
camp  of  wagons,  and  then  a  severe  battle 
took  place  with  the  women,  who  burst  forth 
with  swords  and  axes,  attacking  as  well 
their  own  countrymen  who  retreated,  as 
the  pursuing  Romans.  Night  separated 
the  combatants.  But  this  night  was  in 
many  ways  terrific  and  dreadful.  There 
arose  from  the  camp  of  the  Germans  a 
strange  mixture  of  voices,  not  like  lamen- 
tation and  sorrow — although  it  might  have 
meant  a  mourning-cry  for  the  dead — but 
resembling  a  deadened  roar,  as  of  wild 
beasts,  which  was  re-echoed  by  the  moun- 
tains around,  and  by  the  shores  of  the 
stream.  Terror  seized  the  Romans  ;  they 
feared  the  enemy  might  make  a  night  at- 
tack, which  would  easily  have  thrown  all 
into  confusion ;  for  their  camp,  owing  to 
the  battle,  was  still  without  walls  and 
ditches.  But  the  enemy  stirred  not;  they 
remained  quiet,  and  continued  so  up  to 
daybreak.  Marius  now  laid  down  his 
plans  for  battle.  He  placed  the  infantry 
before  the  camp,  but  the  cavalry  he  sent 
down  into  the  plain,  and  he  dispatched  his 
lieutenant-general,  Claudius  Marcellus, 
with  3000  heavy  armed  soldiers  forward 
to  occupy  the  wooded  heights  behind  the 
enemy,  with  the  command  to  advance  from 
his  ambush  at  the  commencement  of  the 
fray. 

When  the  Teutoni  observed  the  Romans 
place  themselves  in  order  of  battle,  they 
were  seized  with  such  a  desire  for  the  fight 
that  they  did  not  await  them  in  the  plain, 
but  clambered  the  heights  against  them. 
But  as  they  arrived,  breathless  and  pant- 
ing,  the  Romans  received  them  courage- 
ously and  with  closed  ranks,  and  drovr 
them  back  again  into  the  plain.  Marcel 
lus  did  not  waste  this  decisive  moment,  bui 
broke  forth  in  full  gallop,  and  shouting 


THE  CIMBRI  AND  TEUTON  I. 


from  the  woods  with  his  three  thousand 
horsemen,  fell  upon  the  rear  of  the  enemy, 
who,  pressed  on  both  sides,  soon  got  into 
disorder,  and  took  to  flight.  The  Romans 
pursued  them,  and  either  killed  or  took 
prisoners  more  than  one  hundred  thousand. 
Shortly  afterwards,  the  prince  of  the  Teu- 
toni,  Teutobod,  was  also  taken  prisoner  in 
his  flight  across  the  mountains,  and  was 
subsequently  forced  to  form  in  Rome  the 
chief  ornament  in  the  triumphant  train  of 
Marius ;  and  according  to  the  account  of 
the  Romans,  he  was  so  tall  and  lofty  that 
his  figure  rose  above  all  the  trophies,  and 
so  active,  that  he  could  leap  over  frorr.  four 
to  six  horses.  But  Marius  burnt  the  arms 
and  entire  booty  as  a  great  and  splendid 
sacrifice  to  the-  gods,  excepting  only  what 
he  selected  and  preserved  of  the  most 
costly  and  rare.  This  battle,  near  Aquae 
Sextise,  took  place  in  the  year  102  B.  c., 
and  eleven  years  after  the  battle  of  No- 
reja. 

The  exultation  of  Marius  and  his  troops 
was  speedily  damped  by  the  intelligence 
that  the  consul  Catulus  had  been  repulsed 
by  the  Cimbri  in  Upper  Italy.  These 
latter  had,  although  late  in  the  year, 
crossed  the  Alps,  and  drove  before  them 
the  enemy,  who  guarded  the  mountain 
passes.  The  latter  looked  with  astonish- 
nent  upon  these  powerful  strange  -s,  who, 
m  their  delight  at  their  native  snow  and 
ice,  as  well  as  in  the  consciousness  of  their 
hardy  powers  of  endurance,  revelled  naked 
in  the  snow,  ascended  over  ice  and  deep 
snow  to  the  summits  of  the  mountains,  and 
then,  sitting  upon  their  broad  shields,  slid 
down  from  the  peaks  of  the  most  precipi- 
tous declivities.  The  consul  was  obliged 
to  retreat  behind  the  river  Athesis,  (the 
Etsch,)  but  erected  defences  on  each  side 
of  the  bridge  he  had  built.  When  the 
Cimbri,  advancing  closer,  had  surveyed 
the  river,  they  commenced,  giant-like,  to 
break  rocks  from  the  surrounding  sum- 
mits, and  cast  them,  with  stones  and  earth, 
into  the  stream,  in  order  to  check  its 
course ;  they  loosened  the  piles  of  the 
Roman  bridge  with  great  weights,  which 
were  driven  crashing  against  them  by  the 
floods,  so  that  the  Romans,  in  their  terror, 
deserted  their  defences  and  their  camp, 
and  took  to  flight ;  and  not  until  they  had 
crossed  the  river  Po  did  they  again  take  up 
B  position. 

The  Cimbri  now  spread  themselves  over 


the  rich  and  beautiful  plains  of  Upper  Italy, 
and  delayed  going  at  once  and  direct,  as 
they  should  have  done,  upon  Rome  ;  thn 
charms  of  the  country  completely  enchant 
ing  them.  Instead  of  their  rude  camp  be. 
neath  the  open  sky.  they ,  now  accustomec 
themselves  to  the  shelter  of  a  roof  and  its 
comforts  ;  instead  of  their  cold  baths,  they 
now  took  warm  ;  instead  of  plain  meat, 
they  indulged  in  choice  dishes  ;  but,  above 
all,  they  sank  into  intemperance  by  wine 
drinking.  Catulus,  in  the  mean  time,  wait- 
ed beyond  the  Po  until  Marius  returned 
from  Gaul  with  his  victorious  army  and 
joined  him  ;  when  they  both  advanced  for- 
ward over  the  river.  As  soon  as  the  Cim- 
bri were  apprized  of  this,  they  collected 
their  troops,  and,  in  expectation  of  the  Teu- 
toni,  whose  misfortune  they  were  either  ig- 
norant of  or  did  not  believe,  they  sent  to 
Marius  once  more  to  demand  of  the  Ro- 
mans a  country  for  themselves  and  their 
brethren.  When  they  named  their  breth- 
ren, the  Teutoni,  Marius  ridiculed  them, 
and  said,  "  Think  no  more  of  your  breth- 
ren ;  they  have  their  land  already,  and 
you  likewise  shall  receive  quite  sufficient 
from  us."  The  ambassadors  censured  hirr 
for  his  ridicule,  and  said  he  would  speedi 
ly  receive  his  punishment  from  the  Cimbri 
on  that  very  spot,  as  also  from  the  Teuto- 
ni the  moment  they  arrived.  "  They  are 
here  already,"  said  Marius  ;  "  and  it  would 
not  be  right  to  allow  you  to  retire  without 
having  greeted  your  brethren."  And  with 
that  he  ordered  the  captive  princes  of  the 
Teutoni  to  be  brought  forward  in  then 
fetters. 

•Struck  with  amazement,  the  ambassa- 
dors returned  to  their  camp,  and  the  Cim- 
bri immediately  broke  up  ;  Bojorix,  their 
prince,  rode  to  the  Roman  camp,  and  chal- 
lenged Marius,  with  the  Romans,  to  battle, 
at  any  place  which  he  might  appoint.  Ma- 
rius replied,  "  It  was  not  usual  for  the  Ro- 
mans to  make  their  enemies  acquainted 
beforehand  with  the  day  of  battle,  yet  even 
in  that  he  would  show  himself  agreeable 
to  the  Cimbri ;"  and  he  accordingly  ap- 
pointed the  Raudian  plain,  between  Ver- 
cellse  and  Verona,  as  the  place  of  battle, 
and  fixed  the  time  for  the  third  day  fol 
lowing. 

After  the  lapse  of  this  interval,  the  Cim 
bri  quitted  their  camp  in  good  order ;  the) 
placed  their  infantry  in  a  square,  but  th« 
cavalry,  15,000  men  strong,  turned  to  the 


THE  CIMBRI  AND  TEUTON*. 


right,  and  endeavored,  by  this  manoeuvre, 
to  bring  the  Romans  between  themselves 
and  the  infantry.  Their  cavalry,  for  the 
greater  portion,  was  equipped  in  the  most 
sumptuous  manner  possible ;  they  wore 
helmets  which  were  made  to  resemble 
the  throats  of  terrific  animals,  or  other 
frightful  objects,  with  a  full  waving  crest, 
which  increased  the  size  of  their  gigantic 
figures,  and  their  iron  armor  and  shining 
shields  glittered  afar.  Every  rider  had  a 
double  javelin,  and  for  close  combat  a  large 
heavy  sword.  They  had  obtained  these 
choice  arms  very  probably  in  victorious 
battles  during  their  long  incursions.  The 
infantry,  however,  poured  itself  forth  upon 
the  plain  like  an  immeasurable  and  moving 
sea.  Marius,  at  this  moment,  washed  his 
hands,  raised  them  to  the  gods,  and  vowed 
to  them  a  great  sacrifice,  should  he  con- 
quer: Catulus  also,  with  raised  hands, 
made  a  vow  for  the  success  of  this  day. 
And  when  the  entrails  of  the  slaughtered 
animal  were  shown  to  Marius  by  the  priests, 
he  exclaimed  with  a  loud  voice,  so  that  the 
multitude  might  hear  him,  "  Mine  is  the 
victory  /" 

A  severe  and  bloody  battle  now  began. 
The  heat,  and  the  sun  which  shone  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Germans,  aided  the  Romans. 
For  the  former,  brought  up  in  cold  and 
shady  parts,  could  endure  the  cold,  but  not 
the  heat ;  profuse  perspiration  enervated 
their  bodies,  and  they  held  up  their  shields 
to  shelter  their  eyes  from  the  sun.  It  was 
precisely  in  the  month  of  July,  when  the 
summer's  heat  is  most  intense,  that  the 
battle  was  fought.  The  dust  also  was  op- 
posed to  them,  for  it  completely  enveloped 
them,  and  concealed  from  the  Romans  both 
their  numbers  and  their  terrific  aspect,  so 
that  the  latter,  not  being  previously  alarmed 
by  their  appearance,  fell  at  once  upon  the 
ranks  of  their  enemies.  The  most  dread- 
ful close  conflict  ensued,  wherein  the  Ro- 
mans derived  a  vast  advantage  over  their 
enemies  from  their  short  broad-swords. 
They  had  also  so  accustomed  their  bodies 
to  the  labors  and  discipline  of  war,  that 
not  a  single  Roman  was  observed  to  per- 
spire or  to  lose  his  breath,  even  in  the  most 
suffocating  heat.  Besides,  Marius  had  in- 
vented a  new  weapon,  a  kind  of  long  barbed 
spear,  which  the  Romans  hurled  against 
the  shields  of  their  enemies,  and  with  which 
they  forced  these  down,  so  that  the  indivi- 
dual remained  exposed. 


Thus  it  happened  that  the  largest  and 
most  warlike  portion  of  the  Cimbri  were 
killed.  The  foremost  rank  had  bound  them, 
selves  together  with  long  chains  or  cords, 
fixed  to  their  girdles,  that  they  might  not 
be  forcibly  separated  ;  and  they  now  lay 
on  the  field  as  it  were  strung  together. 
When  the  Romans,  pursuing  those  who 
fled,  arrived  at  their  wagon-camp,  their 
eyes  beheld  a  sad  and  mournful  scene. 
The  wives  of  the  Germans  stood,  dressed 
in  black,  upon  their  wagons,  and  them- 
selves destroyed  the  fugitives  as  they  ar- 
rived, nay,  even  their  own  little  children 
they  cast  beneath  the  wheels  of  the  wa- 
gons, and  under  the  feet  of  the  beasts  of 
burden,  that  they  might  not  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  Romans;  and  they  then  killed 
themselves.  Many  of  the  men  also  slew 
themselves,  for  they  feared  slavery  more 
than  death.  Sixty  thousand  were,  however, 
taken  prisoners,  and  as  many  more  upon 
this  fatal  day  were  exterminated. 

Thus  was  concluded  this  severe  and  bit- 
ter war,  which  the  Romans  considered 
equally  as  critical  as  the  earlier  one,  near- 
ly three  hundred  years  before,  when  the 
Gauls  under  Brennus  burnt  Rome ;  and 
thence  they  called  Marius  the  third  found- 
er of  the  city.  But  the  boys  and  youths 
of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutoni,  who  were  made 
prisoners  in  these  battles,  and  conveyed 
away  as  slaves,  amply  revenged  hereafter 
the  blood  of  their  fathers  and  their  broth- 
ers in  that  of  thousands  of  Romans,  whom 
they  slew  in  the  servile  war  under  their 
leader,  Spartacus. 

Not  quite  fifty  years  had  passed  after 
this  first  essay  at  arms  of  the  Germans 
with  the  Romans,  when  the  former  again 
advanced  towards  the  Roman  frontiers,  in 
smaller  numbers,  certainly,  than  at  the 
first  time,  and  perhaps  not  with  the  clearly 
defined  purpose  of  invading  Italy  ;  but  con- 
quest and  the  prospect  of  booty  probably 
would  speedily  have  increased  their  forces, 
and  the  fruitful  pastures,  as  well  as  the 
full  granaries,  of  the  natives,  would  have 
allured  them  from  province  to  province, 
until  the  fame  of  the  smiling  country  be- 
yond the  Alps  might  have  suggested  to 
them  the  path  over  these  towering  frontier 
walls,  had  they  not  found  an  opponent  who 
knew  at  leas*,  the  art  of  war  as  well  as  Ma. 
rius. 

Ariovistus,  a  king  of  the  Marcomannio 
Suevi,  between  the  Danube  and  the  Neck- 


48 


JULIUS  CLESAR  AND 


cr,  Wcis  appealed  to  for  assistance  by  a 
Gallic  tribe,  the  Sequani,  against  another 
tribe,  the  JEdui;  in  the  year  72  B.  c.,  he 
passed  over  the  Rhine  at  the  head  of  an 
army,  and  obtained  a  victory  for  the  Se- 
quani ;  but  the  beautiful  plains  of  the  pre- 
sent Burgundy  pleased  him  so  much,  that 
he  would  not  again  quit  them.  At  enmity 
equally  with  the  conquerors  and  conquered, 
he  seized  a  space  of  land,  and  when  the 
Gauls  had  united  against  him  he  put  them 
to  flight  near  Magetobria,  (now  Mumpel- 
gard.)  He,  perhaps,  originally  went  forth 
upon  this  adventure  as  a  duke  with  his  war- 
like train,  but  more  and  more  Germans 
flocked  to  him,  attracted  by  the  celebrity 
of  this  beautiful  country,  so  that  he  speedily 
had  under  him  an  army  of  120,000  men. 
The  whole  of  Gaul  trembled  before  him  ; 
the  tribes  believed  themselves  already  van- 
quished or  driven  from  their  ancient  seats. 
The  Romans,  however,  who  possessed  al- 
eady  in  Southern  Gaul  a  subjected  prov- 
ince, acknowledged  Ariovistus  as  king  in 
his  conquered  territory,  and  called  him 
friend. 

But  speedily  afterwards  Julius  Caesar, 
one  of  the  greatest  and  boldest  of  Roman 
leaders,  appeared  in  Gaul.  Burning  am- 
bition excited  him  to  great  warlike  under- 
takings, and  he  had  arrived  in  these  districts 
with  no  other  view  than  to  subject  the  whole 
of  Gaul  to  the  Romans.  The  ^Edui  and 
other  Gallic  tribes,  now  turned  to  him  and 
demanded  aid  of  him  against  the  Germans. 
Csesar  gladly  profited  by  this  opportunity 
of  advancing  further  into  Gaul,  promised 
them  help,  and  demanded  an  interview  with 
Ariovistus. 

Ariovistus  answered  proudly  and  boldly, 
that,  "  If  he  himself  desired  aught  of  Csesar 
he  should  come  to  him,  and  if  Csesar  desired 
aught  of  him  he  must  do  the  same.  Besides, 
he  could  not  understand  what  Caesar  or  the 
Roman  people  in  general  had  to  do  in  his 
Gaul,  which  he  had  conquered  by  the  force 
cf  arms." 

Caesar  replied  to  him :  "  As  he  had  refused 
his  invitation  to  an  interview,  he  at  once 
would  briefly  state  what  he  desired  of  him, 
viz.,  in  the  first  place,  that  he  should  not 
bring  any  more  Germans  across  the  Rhine ; 
and,  secondly,  that  he  should  return  to  the 
Gallic  tribes  their  hostages,  and  treat  them 
no  longer  as  enemies.  If  he  fulfilled  these 
conditions,  the  Roman  people  would  hold 
constant  peace  and  friendship  with  him  ;  if 


not,  Csesar  would  not  behold  the  injuries  of 
the  Mdui  with  indifference." 

Ariovistus,  in  his  reply  to  this,  referred 
boldly  and  candidly  to  the  right  of  arms, 
according  to  which  the  conqueror  might 
treat  the  conquered  as  he  pleased.  It  was 
thus  the  Romans  themselves  were  likewise 
accustomed  to  act,  who  well  knew  too  how 
to  make  use  of  their  rights ;  he  only  required 
therefore  to  be  left  to  do  the  same.  And, 
with  regard  to  Caesar's  announcement,  that 
he  would  not  let  the  injuries  of  the  ^Edui 
remain  unrevenged,  Ariovistus  replied: 
"  No  one  had  hitherto  contended  with  him 
but  to  their  ruin.  If  Caesar  wished,  he 
might  begin  the  contest ;  he  would  then 
learn  to  know  what  unconquered  Germans, 
perfectly  practised  in  the  use  of  arms,  and 
whom  no  roof  had  sheltered  for  fourteen 
years,  could  perform."  Truly,  the  Ian- 
guage  of  a  hero  of  the  great  tribes-migra- 
tion ;  to  whom  his  sword  stood  in  lieu  of 
hereditary  right  and  title-deeds,  and  who, 
with  his  brethren  in  arms,  was  determined 
to  repose  under  no  roof  until  he  had  con- 
quered  the  sought-for  country  of  his  new 
home ! 

With  any  other  opponent  this  bold  de- 
claration might  have  produced  its  influ- 
ence, and  been  effective ;  but  Csesar,  who 
even  in  Rome  itself  could  not  endure  to  be 
the  second,  felt  thereby  the  more  excited 
to  measure  himself  with  such  an  enemy. 
He  advanced  against  him  and  occupied 
Vesontio,  (Besan^on,)  the  chief  city  of  the 
Sequani,  which  was  very  strong  and  richly 
provided  with  all  the  munitions  of  war. 
While  he  remained  here  a  few  days,  a  very 
dangerous  despondency  suddenly  over- 
powered his  army.  The  statements  of  the 
Gauls  who  had  been  so  often  beaten  by  the 
Germans,  the  descriptions  given  by  the  tra- 
ders who  had  travelled  through  their  coun- 
try, the  close  proximity  of  the  terrific  ene- 
my himself,  tended,  combined  altogether, 
to  present  before  the  soul  of  the  Romans  so 
fearful  a  picture  of  the  strength,  the  valor, 
and  ferocity  of  the  Germans,  within  whose 
annihilating  glance  it  was  impossible  to 
stand,  that  many  who  had  thus  far  volun- 
tarily followed  Coesar,  did  not  hesitate  in- 
venting any  excuse  to  enable  them  to  re- 
turn home.  Others  whom  shame  retained, 
could  however  so  little  govern  themselves, 
that  they  frequently  broke  forth  in  tears, 
and  in  their  tents  sorrowfully  mourned  their 
ill-fortune.  Throughout  the  whole  camp 


JULIUS  C^SAR  ON  THE  RHINE. 


4J 


all  were  engaged  making  their  wills  pub- 
licly ;  and,  at  last,  even  those  became  taint- 
ed by  the  panic,  to  whom  the  dangers  of  war 
were  by  no  means  strange.  And,  in  fact, 
there  was  a  general  murmur  against  their 
rash  leader,  for  thus  unnecessarily  seeking 
so  perilous  a  battle. 

Caesar,  in  order  to  subdue  this  impression 
in  his  army,  summoned  forth  the  whole 
force  of  his  eloquence.  He  collected  to- 
gether the  leaders  of  his  host,  and  represent- 
ed to  them  that  a  war  with  Ariovistus  was 
as  yet  by  no  means  certain  ;  he  much  more 
expected  that  the  latter  would  listen  to  the 
voice  of  justice  and  of  peace.  But  should 
he,  from  a  mad  love  of  battle,  absolutely  de- 
sire it,  they  had  only  to  remember  the  defeat 
of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutoni,  and  the  servile 
war  just  ended,  wherein  the  Germans  also 
were  conquered  as  well  as  the  Helvetians, 
not  being  able  to  resist  the  Roman  arms. 
But  if,  notwithstanding,  all  these  reasons 
could  not  serve  to  tranquillize  them,  and 
none  would  follow  him,  he  would  at  once 
advance  against  the  foe  with  the  tenth  le- 
gion alone,  for  on  their  fidelity  he  could 
depend . 

This  address  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  their  minds.  The  tenth  legion  thank- 
ed him  immediately  for  his  confidence,  and 
all  the  rest  emulated  each  other  in  display- 
ing their  readiness.  Caesar  broke  up  forth- 
with, and  advanced  nearer  to  the  German 
army.  An  interview  which  he  held  with 
Ariovistus  at  his  desire,  was  as  fruitless  as 
the  previous  negotiations,  and  Coesar  now 
wished  for  nothing  but  a  battle.  But  Ario- 
vistus took  up  a  position  in  which  he  cut 
off  from  the  Romans  all  the  supplies,  and 
caused  his  cavalry,  which,  by  its  mixture 
with  the  light  infantry,  was  superior  to  that 
t  f  the  Romans,  to  make  skirmishes.  But 
the  battle,  although  daily  offered  by  Caesar, 
he  did  not  accept. 

Caesar  then  learned  from  some  prisoners 
the  cause  of  this  delay,  which  otherwise  was 
not  in  accordance  with  German  custom. 
The  prophetic  women,  according  to  whose  or- 
acles the  army  acted,  had  announced  mis- 
fortune should  they  fight  before  the  new 
moon.  Caesar  now  sought  a  battle  more 
zealously  than  ever,  and  advanced  close 
up  to  the  German  camp.  They  then  at 
last  drew  forth  their  troops,  and  each  tribe 
took  up  its  position — the  Harudi,  Marco- 
manni,  Tribocki,  Vangioni,  Nemeti,  Sedu- 
si,  and  Sucvi ;  they  surrounded  their  battle 


array  with  wagons  and  chariots,  whereon 
sat  the  women  with  wild  and  loosely  flow- 
ing hair,  supplicating  all  the  ranks  as  they 
passed  by,  not  to  allow  them  to  fall  into 
the  bondage  of  the  Romans.  The  battle 
commenced,  and  they  were  soon  furiously 
engaged  on  all  sides.  The  Germans  rushed 
forward  with  so  much  speed,  that  the  Ro- 
mans had  not  time  to  cast  their  javelins, 
and  their  left  wing  was  driven  to  flight ; 
but  their  right  wing  conquered  on  its  side, 
and  now  were  displayed  the  advantage  and 
superiority  of  perfect  warlike  order  and  dis- 
cipline. The  broken  wing  of  the  Romans 
was  re-formed,  when  the  third  division  ad- 
vanced to  its  aid  ;  the  ranks  of  the  Ger- 
mans, however,  remained  in  confusion,  for 
their  army,  although  extremely  valiant, 
was  deficient  in  strict  discipline  and  order. 
They  were  therefore  at  last  driven  to  flight 
on  all  sides,  and  hastened  towards  the 
Rhine.  But  the  Roman  cavalry  overtook 
the  greater  part,  and  but  few,  among  whom 
was  Ariovistus,  saved  themselves  by  swim- 
ming or  by  traversing  the  river  in  small 
boats.  His  two  wives  were  killed  in  the 
flight,  and  of  his  two  daughters  one  was 
likewise  slain,  and  the  other  taken  prisoner. 
Of  Ariovistus  himself  history  says  nothing 
further. 

When  Caesar  had  driven  Ariovistus 
across  the  Rhine  he  began  the  subjection 
of  the  Gallic  tribes,  who  were  not  equal  to 
the  Germans  in  valor.  He  conquered  one 
after  the  other,  and  kept  constantly  ad- 
vancing to  the  Lower  Rhine.  Intelligence 
then  came  to  him  that  two  German  tribes 
of  the  Lower  Rhine,  the  Usipeli  and  Tench- 
teri,  pressed  by  the  Suevi,  had  passed  over 
the  Rhine  to  seek  a  new  settlement  in  Gaul. 
They  had  with  them  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, their  slaves  and  herds,  as  well  as  the 
rest  of  their  property,  and  were  upwards  of 
430,000  strong.  As  Caesar  now,  however, 
considered  Gaul  to  belong  to  him,  he  de- 
sired them  to  retrace  their  steps.  They, 
however,  replied,  "  That  they  had  been 
forced  by  the  Suevi  to  wander  from  their 
homes  ;  they  desired  nothing  but  a  land  to 
dwell  in  ;  he  ought  therefore  to  leave  them 
the  fields  they  had  conquered  with  their 
arms,  or  give  them  others  instead.  Be- 
sides,  it  was  not  German  fashion  to  avert  a 
battle  by  entreaties,  but  to  make  a  stand 
against  those  who  desired  the  contest ;  he 
was  therefore  free  to  choose  their  friend- 
ship or  war.  They  yielded  to  none  but  the 


M) 


DEATH  OF  JULIUS  CAESAR. 


Suevi,  to  whom  in  battle  even  the  immor- 
tal gods  themselves  were  not  equal ;  but 
excepting  those  there  dwelt  none  on  earth 
whom  they  could  not  conquer." 

They  nevertheless  were  conquered  by 
Coesar,  but  only  by  Italian  cunning,  for  as 
their  princes  and  chieftains  came  to  an  ar- 
ranged interview  with  him,  he  suddenly 
seized  them  as  prisoners,  fell  immediately 
upon  their  camps,  and  beat  and  scattered 
the  whole  tribe,  which  was  now  without  a 
leader.  Some  of  them  fled  back  across  the 
Rhine  to  the  Sigambri.  Csesar  required 
them  to  be  delivered  up.  The  Sigambri 
answered  :  "  The  Rhine  at  least  was  the 
limits  of  the  Roman  empire ;  if  he  did  not 
wish  the  Germans  to  cross  the  Rhine 
against  his  will,  why  did  he  presume  to 
give  orders  on  their  side  of  the  river  ?" 

Such  language  vexed  the  proud  Roman. 
He  likewise  still  bore  fresh  in  mind,  that 
fhe  Suevi  under  Ariovistus  had  already 
"alien  upon  Gaul ;  therefore,  he  determined 
.o  build  a  bridge  over  the  Rhine,  and  make 
.'he  German  tribes  feel  in  their  own  coun- 
try the  power  of  the  Romans.  In  ten  days 
he  constructed  with  much  ingenuity,  in  the 
country  of  the  Ubi,  below  the  place  where 
the  Moselle  falls  into  the  Rhine,  (according 
to  some  near  Bonn,  according  to  others 
near  Andernach,)  a  large  wooden  bridge, 
and  passed  with  his  army  over  Germany's 
noble  stream.  This  was  in  the  year  55 
e.  c.  He  wished  to  attack  the  powerful 
confederation  of  the  Suevi ;  these,  how- 
ever, removed  their  whole  property  and 
their  wives  and  children  far  back  into  the 
interior  of  the  forests,  and  collected  all  their 
warlike  forces  in  the  middle  of  their  do- 
main, there  to  await  their  enemy.  It  ap- 
pears they  had  selected  their  ground  with 
great  prudence,  for  Ceesar  did  not  consider 
it  even  advisable  to  follow  them  thus  far. 
Me  halted  only  eighteen  days  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  Rhine,  devastated  with  fire  and 
sword  the  vicinity  of  the  Sieg,  where  the 
Sigambri  then  dwelt,  and  then  returned 
across  the  river.  To  the  Ubi,  who  upon 
this  occasion  had  been  his  faithful  adhe- 
rents, he  gave  the  name  of  Roman  allies. 

But  the  Suevi  had  so  little  fear  of  the 
Romans,  that  they  shortly  afterwards  sent 
assistance  to  the  Treviri  against  them. 
C;esar  then  determined  to  cross  the  Rhine 
a  second  time.  He  built  a  second  bridge 
a,  little  above  the  former  place,  (according 
tt  the  opinion  of  some  near  Neuwied,)  but 


scarcely  placed  a  foot  in  Germany,  for  the 
Suevi  had  made  their  arrangements  this 
time  as  prudently  as  before. 

According  to  ihe  connection  of  events, 
and  of  the  locality  where  Ca?sar  crossed 
the  Rhine,  those  whom  he  called  Suevi 
must  have  been  the  Chatti,  and  these  either 
then  have  belonged  to  the  Suevic  confede- 
ration, or  Coesar,  in  his  ignorance  of  the 
German  relations,  has  included  them  as 
such. 

After  this  period  Ccesar  did  not  again 
pass  into  Germany,  but  he  had  become  so 
well  acquainted  with  the  Germans,  as  be- 
ing such  strong  and  valiant  men,  that  he 
endeavored  to  raise  troops  from  among  them 
to  serve  in  his  legions.  This  was  easy  to 
him  among  such  a  brave  people,  where 
there  were  always  bold  men  ready  to  gc 
forth  for  pay,  booty,  and  the  love  of  war. 
Caesar  was  likewise  a  hero  who  well  un- 
derstood how  to  win  the  hearts  of  his  war- 
riors ;  he  led  them  always  to  victory. 
German  subsidies  helped  him  henceforth  to 
win  his  battles,  and  at  Pharsalus,  where 
he  fought  the  last  battle  against  Pompey, 
and  where  it  was  decided  which  of  the  two 
should  rule  the  world,  they  afforded  him 
important  aid.  After  the  battle  had  been 
hard  fought,  Pompey  dispatched  his  cav- 
alry against  the  enemy,  that  they  might 
give  decision  to  the  battle  ;  but  these  horse- 
men were  chiefly  proud  Roman  youths,  of 
the  superior  classes,  who  idly  thought  they 
could  not  be  defeated.  Csesar  then  gave 
command  to  his  German  infantry  to  drive 
back  the  cavalry,  and  called  out  to  them : 
"  Comrades,  strike  only  at  the  face !"  He 
well  knew  that  the  vain  youths  of  the  me- 
tropolis preferred  their  smooth  faces  to 
scars.  And  the  Germans,  who  were  suf- 
ficiently tall  and  strong,  rushed  against  the 
cavaliers  as  if  they  were  themselves  mount- 
ed, and  not  on  foot,  and  frightened  them  so 
much  that  they  speedily  took  to  flight. 
Thus  the  day  was  by  them  won  for  Ccesar. 
Henceforward,  there  were  constantly  Ger- 
man soldiers  in  the  Roman  service,  and  the 
succeeding  emperors  even  formed  of  them 
their  body-guard. 

Julius  Caesar  was  murdered  as  he  was 
about  to  make  himself  sole  master  of  Rome ; 
but  the  Romans  were  no  longer  worthy  of 
being  a  free  people ;  they  therefore  speed- 
ily  fell  into  the  hands  of  masters  who  were 
worse  than  Coesar.  The  first  among  them 
was  the  emperor  Augustus,  whose  reign 


DRUSUS 


51 


.asted  from  .he  year  30  B.  c.  to  the  year 

14  A.  D. 

During  this  time  the  Romans  had  sub- 
jected a  greater  portion  of  the  then  known 
earth.  Of  Europe,  besides  Italy,  Greece 
and  Macedonia,  Hispania,  and  Gaul  were 
also  subject  to  them ;  with  that  they  were 
not  however  satisfied,  but  coveted  other 
countries  which  lay  beyond  the  Alps  and 
the  Rhine  j  for  the  ambition  and  avarice 
of  the  Romans  knew  no  limits,  and  no 
doubt  it  appeared  very  desirable  to  them  to 
gain  dominion  over  the  powerful  men  of 
the  German  race,  according  to  their  own 
will,  and  to  form  the  flower  of  their  armies 
from  their  ranks,  and  by  their  aid  to  hold 
the  rest  of  the  world  in  obedience.  They 
at  first  attacked  those  tribes  which  dwelt 
upon  the  sides  of  the  Alps  towards  Ger- 
many, in  the  mountains  of  Graubiinden, 
the  Tyrol,  Saltzburg,  and  Austria :  wild 
tribes,  partly  of  Gallic  and  partly  of  un- 
known origin,  who  could  not  resist  the  su- 
periority of  the  Romans,  and  who  were 
not  only  conquered,  but  exterminated  or 
sold  as  slaves.  This  contest  was  concluded 
in  the  year  15  B.  c.  Henceforward  the 
river  Danube  was  on  this  side  the  boundary 
between  the  Romans  and  the  Germans. 
From  the  other  side,  however,  the  river 
Rhine  was  no  longer  to  remain  so,  and 
Augustus,  therefore,  sent  his  step-son, 
Claudius  Drusus,  to  Gaul,  to  attack  the 
Germans  in  their  own  country,  and  he  was 
certainly  a  hero  competent  to  accomplish 
what  was  great. 

Diusus  undertook  four  campaigns  in 
Germany,  in  the  years  12-9  B.  c.  He 
warred  with  the  Suevi,  Chatti,  Sigambri, 
Usipeti,  Tenchteri,  Brukteri,  and  Cherus- 
ci.  He  passed  on  from  the  Lower  Rhine 
to  the  rivers  Lippe  and  Ems,  as  far  as  the 
Weser,  and  in  his  fourth  incursion  ad- 
vanced even  to  the  Elbe.  But  his  irrup- 
tions were  no  conquests.  The  Germans 
well  understood  "how  to  conduct  war 
against  such  an  enemy.  They  retreated 
from  their  isolated  dwellings  into  the  for- 
ests on  both  sides  of  the  road  he  took,  de- 
stroyed the  supplies  they  could  not  take 
with  them,  placed  their  families  in  safety, 
and  stayed  there  until  the  autumn.  The 
Romans  were  then  obliged  once  again  to 
eturn,  as  they  could  not  winter  in  the 
desert  country,  from  the  deficiency  of  pro- 
visions; and  that  was  the  moment  the 
Germans  had  awaited  with  impatience. 


They  now  annoyed  the  enemy  at  every 
step  he  took ;  attacked  solitary  troops, 
rushing  upon  them  suddenly  from  the  for- 
ests, in  the  most  dangerous  places,  destroy- 
ed the  wearied  stragglers,  seized  upon 
their  baggage,  and  allowed  them  no  rest 
either  by  night  or  day ;  and  thus  the  Ro- 
mans never  returned  to  the  Rhine  without 
considerable  loss. 

The  rapid  and  extensive  incursions  of 
Drusus  into  Germany  gave  him,  therefore, 
great  fame  among  the  Romans,  but  did 
little  harm  to  the  Germans.  In  the  autumn, 
winter,  and  spring,  they  dwelt  quietly  in 
the  places  which  the  enemy  had  again 
quitted.  But  Drusus  would  certainly  have 
found  at  last  the  means  of  establishing  his 
dominion  in  Lower  Germany  had  he  lived 
longer.  He  had  made  one  commencement 
towards  it  already.  He  built  strong  forts 
at  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  which  flowed 
into  the  Rhine  and  the  North  Sea,  that  he 
might  retain  in  his  power  all  their  naviga- 
tion ;  thus  being  enabled  to  convey  into 
the  country  a  portion  of  his  army  with 
greater  security  upon  a  fleet  of  small  ves- 
sels, and  to  transport  their  provisions  con- 
veniently after.  For  this  purpose  he  also 
commenced  a  canal,  which  was  called  after 
him  the  Drusus  ditch,  (and  is  still  called 
the  Drusus  Vaart,)  and  united  the  Rhine 
between  Doesberg  and  Isselort  with  the 
Issel.  By  means  of  this  canal  the  Rhine 
was  brought  into  connection  with  the  Zuider 
Zee,  the  Flevum  ostium  of  the  ancients,  and 
the  Romans  henceforth,  by  means  of  this 
outlet,  were  enabled  to  have  communica- 
tion with  the  North  Sea  from  all  their  holds 
upon  the  Rhine.  Drusus  himself  took  this 
mode  of  uniting  himself  with  the  Friesi. 
and  of  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Ems  by 
sea,  and  where  he  likewise  built  a  'brt, 
probably  opposite  to  the  present  Emden. 
On  the  Rhine  he  built  as  many  as  fifty  of 
these  forts,  strongly  fortified,  especially 
Bonn  and  Mentz,  the  last  upon  the  border- 
limits  against  the  Suevi,  and  provided  them 
with  bridges  and  flotillas  for  their  defence  ; 
and  upon  the  Taunus  mountains,  on  the 
heights  near  the  present  Homburg,  he  built 
the  fort  Arctaunum,  intended  against  the 
Chatti.  Had  he,  there  fere,  from  year  to 
year  advanced  more  and  more  with  such 
fortresses  into  Germany,  and  so  at  last 
prevented  his  being  obliged  to  quit  the 
land  again  ir.  autumn,  the  dominion  of 
the  Romans,  together  with  the  adoption  of 


TIBERIUS. 


their  language  and  manners  might,  perhaps, 
have  maintained  a  firm  ground  in  Germany. 
But  his  course  was  already  stopped  in  the 
fourth  year  of  his  impellent  irruptions. 

We  will  here  give  a  brief  sketch  of 
these  incursions.  The  first  he  made  was 
after  his  legate  had  revenged  himself  upon 
the  Sigambri  for  the  defeat  of  Lollius,  with 
his  fleet  down  the  Rhine,  through  his  canal 
and  the  Zuider  Zee  into  the  Northern  Sea, 
entering  the  mouth  of  the  Ems.  The 
Fries!  were  allies;  however,  the  Brukteri 
had  collected  a  fleet  in  the  Ems  and  op- 
posed him,  but  they  were  beaten.  Here 
Drusus  built  his  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  then  continued  his  course  along 
the  Oldenburg  coast,  as  far  as  the  afflux 
of  the  Yade,  where  his  ships  got  stranded, 
but  by  the  aifl  of  the  Friesi  and  the  flood 
were  set  afloat  again.  The  winter,  how- 
ever, obliged  him  to  return. 

In  the  second  campaign  Drusus  gained 
the  shore  across  the  Lippe,  as  far  as  the 
Weser,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hoxter ;  but  a 
revolt  of  the  tribes  in  his  rear  forced  him 
to  make  a  retreat,  when  he  found  himself 
suddenly  surrounded  near  Arbalo  by  the 
Germans.  Their  too  great  confidence  in 
gaining  a  victory,  which  misled  them  to 
make  an  irregular  attack,  as  well  as  their 
thirst  for  booty,  were  the  means  of  his  res- 
cue. He  built  here,  at  the  junction  of  the 
Aliso  and  Lippe,  the  fort  or  castle  Aliso* 
in  order  to  have  a  point  d'appui  for  his  in- 
cursions against  the  tribes  on  the  Weser. 

The  third  campaign  he  made  was  against 
the  Chatti,  who,  previously  peaceable,  had 
now  united  with  the  Sigambri  against  him, 
because  he  had  built  opposite  to  them  the 
fort  upon  the  Taunus  mountains ;  they 
were  beaten  but  not  subdued. 

In  the  fourth  campaign  Drusus  advanced 
from  the  fort  on  the  Taunus  mountains  into 
the  land  of  the  Chatti,  beat  them,  as  well 
as  the  Marcomanni  under  Marbodius,  and 
forced  the  latter  to  retreat  further  east- 
ward. These  attacked  the  Bojians  and 
forced  them  to  yield.  Thus  did  Drusus 
himself  assist  in  causing  the  Germans  to 
completely  drive  before  them  the  Gallic 
tribes,  and  to  extend  their  own  settlements. 
Upon  this  Drusus  turned  again  to  the  left 
against  the  Cherusci,  marched  on  across 
the  mountains  to  the  Saale,  and  along  this 
river  downward  as  far  as  the  Elbe,  (per- 

*  Respecting  the  locality  of  Arbalo  and  Aliso,  see 
iho  Introduction 


haps  in  the  vicinity  of  Barby.)  It  was 
while  one  day  he  was  here  standing  alone 
on  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  which  in  his 
mind  was  not  yet  to  be  the  limits  of  his 
progress,  that,  as  it  is  related,  a  supernatu- 
ral  figure  in  the  form  of  a  female  appeared 
before  him,  and  with  a  lofty,  threatening 
air,  addressed  him  thus :  "  How  much  fur- 
ther wilt  thou  advance,  insatiable  Drusus  ? 
It  is  not  appointed  for  thee  to  behold  all 
these  countries.  Depart  hence  !  the  term 
of  thy  deeds  and  of  thy  life  is  at  hand  !" 

Whether  this  was  the  creation  of  his 
imagination,  or  was  devised  by  the  craft 
of  one  of  the  prophetic  women  among  the 
Germans,  inwardly  bemoaning  the  fate  of 
her  country,  is  uncertain  ; — suffice  it,  that 
Drusus,  on  his  return,  fell  from  his  horse, 
and  died  a  few  weeks  afterwards  in  con- 
sequence. 

After  him  his  brother  Tiberius  com- 
manded the  legions  which  were  opposed  to 
the  Germans.  He  was  of  an  artful  and 
deceptive  disposition  ;  and  besides  arms,  he 
employed  other  and  worse  means  against 
them.  By  craft  he  caused  disputes  among 
the  tribes,  and  by  want  of  faith  he  led  them 
into  ruin.  The  Sigambri,  who  were  one 
of  the  strongest  and  most  valiant  tribes 
upon  the  Rhine,  he  could  not  conquer  with 
arms.  He,  therefore,  demanded  an  em- 
bassy from  them  to  him  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  as  he  said ;  and  as  the  princes  and 
leaders  came  in  great  numbers,  he  caused 
them  to  be  taken  prisoners  and  dispersed 
among  the  Gallic  cities,  transplanting  also 
of  the  tribe,  which  was  thus  robbed  of  its 
chieftains,  40,000  towards  the  estuarie$*of 
the  Rhine  and  the  Issel.*  The  princes, 
however,  to  whom  life  among  a  strange 
people  was  an  insupportable  burden,  and 
who  would  not  that  on  their  account  their 
people  should  be  withheld  from  a  retribu- 
tive war  against  the  Romans,  killed  them- 
selves. 

By  such  means,  indeed,  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  hold  in  trammels  those  districts 
which  bordered  on  the  Rhine,  or  on  the 
rivers  which  flowed  into  it ;  and  by  the  aid 
of  the  strong  forts  placed  there,  and  of  the 
frontier  walls  or  land  defences,  (limits  s,} 
which  enclosed  the  occupied  country,  the 
northwestern  portion  of  Germany,  as  far 

*  This  transplantation  of  the  Sigambri,  by  which 
Tiberius  thought  to  exterminate  the  tribe,  only  pro- 
duced their  salvation  ;  for  from  these  new  settlements 
arose  afterwards  the  Issel -Franks,  who  laid  the  founda- 
tion for  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks. 


MARBODIUS,  KING  OF  THE  MARCOMANM. 


53 


nearly  as  the  Weser,  appeared  even  al- 
ready subdued,  and,  as  it  were,  a  Roman 
province.  Domitius  JEnobarbus,  the  grand- 
father of  the  subsequent  emperor  Nero, 
who  held  the  command  in  the  years  imme- 
diately^preceding  the  birth  of  Christ,  pressed 
forward,  even  across  the  Elbe.  No  one 
hitherto  had  been  so  far.  He  also  built  a 
road  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Ems,  call- 
ed pontcs  longi,  namely  dikes  and  morass 
bridges,  which  led  from  vetera  castra,  near 
Wesel,  onward  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Ems, 
over  moors  and  marshes. 

When  Tiberius  came  a  second  time  to 
Germany,  about  the  year  3  A.  D.,  he  com- 
pletely subdued  a  recent  rebellion  among 
the  Lower  German  tribes,  embarked  upon 
the  ocean,  and  sailing  as  far  as  the  mouth 
of  the  Elbe,  fought  with  the  Longobardi, 
and  took  up  his  winter-quarters  among  the 
quieted  tribes  near  the  sources  of  the  Lippe, 
probably  near  the  fort  Aliso.  Henceforth 
this  place  was  the  point  whence  the  Ro- 
mans directed  all  their  undertakings  against 
.niddle  of  Germany,  upon  the  frontiers 
of  which  they  had  now  arrived ;  and  with 
the  nearest  tribe  therein,  the  Cherusci,  they 
had  just  formed  an  alliance  under  the  name 
of  friendship  and  confederation  ;  which  kind 
of  union  had,  more  safely  than  the  force  of 
arms,  led  to  the  subjection  of  the  tribes. 
The  internal  organization  of  this  province 
appeared  to  be  a  task  possible  now  to  be 
put  into  operation.  But  under  this  great 
oppression  of  their  country,  the  courage 
of  the  Germans  did  not  sleep ;  for,  the 
same  as  in  all  times,  although  it  was  pos- 
sible to  bend  their  proud  spirit,  still  it  had 
never  yet  been  broken.  The  sources  of 
their  aid  sprung  from  among  themselves. 

A  multitude  of  noble  German  youths 
had  by  a  variety  of  events  arrived  at 
Rome  ;  some  in  the  Roman  service,  others 
as  deputies,  or  as  hostages ;  some  again 
perhaps  from  ambition.  But  in  the  me- 
tropolis of  the  world  they  beheld  neither 
greatness  nor  freedom,  on  the  contrary, 
only  slavery,  which  carries  with  it  these 
sins  : — meanness  by  the  side  of  arrogance, 
flattery,  dissipation,  enervation,  and  idle- 
ness. To  be  ruled  by  such  masters  as  the 
Romans  then  were,  seemed  to  them  the 
most  disgraceful  of  all  things.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  they  became  ac- 
quainted with  Roman  military  affairs,  their 
art  of  government,  and  their  craft ;  and 
what  the  former  had  applied  to  the  oppres- 


sion of  their  country,  they  dele:  mined  to 
employ  for  its  redemption. 

Marbodius,  a  noble  Suevian  of  the  fron. 
tier  tribe  of  the  Marcomanni,  was  a  youth 
of  this  stamp.  The  Romans  describe  him 
as  tall  and  stately,  self-willed  in  disposi- 
tion, and  more  by  birth  than  intellect  a 
barbarian,  which  name  they  in  their  pride 
gave  to  all  who  were  not  Romans  or 
Greeks.  He  had  been  sent  young  to 
Rome,  and  at  the  court  of  the  Emperor 
Augustus  he  was  particularly  honored. 
When,  however,  he  had  seen  sufficient  of 
Rome,  he  returned  to  his  own  country,  and 
as  he  saw  that  they  could  not,  in  their 
present  settlements  upon  the  Necker  and 
the  Rhine,  well  maintain  themselves  against 
the  great  power  of  the  Romans,  which 
threatened  them  after  the  conquest  of  the 
Alps  from  the  side  of  the  Danube,  and, 
since  the  almost  completed  subjection  of 
the  north  of  Germany,  menaced  them  also 
from  the  Maine,  he  persuaded  his  people 
to  quit  their  districts,  and  to  withdraw  to 
other  settlements  towards  the  east.  The 
Marcomanni,  who,  by  their  warlike  con- 
stitution, were  speedily  ready  and  resolved 
for  any  movement,  broko  up,  and  Marbo- 
dius led  them  to  Bohemia,  a  country  well 
defended  on  all  sides  by  mountains ;  they 
drove  hence  the  Gallic  tribe  of  the  Boji, 
which  had  for  generations  past  wandered 
thither,  subjected  many  tribes  around,  and 
founded  a  great,  well-regulated  Marco- 
mannic  kingdom.  His  capital  was  Bu- 
bienum,  called  also  Marobudum,  according 
to  some  the  present  Prague,  according  to- 
others Budweis.  The  Hermuriduri,  Longo- 
bardi, and  Senoni,  the  flower  of  the  Suevi, 
became  dependent,  and  thus  his  power  ex- 
tended from  the  Danube  across  the  centro 
of  Germany  to  the  Elbe.  Henceforward 
he  addressed  the  Roman  emperors  not 
humbly,  as  one  subordinate  and  weak,  but 
as  their  equal. 

He  had  thus  far  conducted  his  affairs 
laudably,  and  he  might  now  have  become, 
as  it  were,  a  frontier  defence  for  the  free- 
dom of  the  whole  of  Germany  ;  but  it  al- 
most appears  as  if  he  had  learned  too  much 
in  Rome.  He  had  acquired  the  love  of 
dominion  also  from  the  Roman  emperors, 
and  had  at  the  same  time  perceived  the 
art  whereby  the  exercise  of  power  over 
men  otherwise  free  born,  may  be  confirmed. 
He  maintained  a  body-guard,  introduced 
all  other  Roman  regulations,  and  hithcrtc 


54 


THE  ROMANS  IN  GERMANY. 


no  single  individual  had  ever  practised  so 
much  authority  among  the  German  tribes. 
His  army  consisted  of  70,000  infantry  and 
4000  cavalry,  and  he  kept  it  in  constant 
practice  by  his  continual  wars  with  his 
neighbors,  so  that  it  could  be  well  seen 
that  he  was  preparing  it  for  still  greater 
purposes.  This,  however,  constituted  the 
oondemnable  and  distinctive  feature  in  his 
character,  whence,  in  truth,  he  cannot  be 
called  a  great  man  ;  inasmuch  as  all  this 
was  accomplished,  not  for  the  freedom  and 
happiness  of  his  people,  but  solely  for 
himself,  and  in  order  that  lie  might  alone 
be  called  great  and  powerful,  and  become 
honored  and  feared. 

He  had  already  appeared  so  dangerous 
to  the  Romans,  that  Tiberius,  the  son  of 
the  emperor,  in  the  year  7  A.  D.,  advanced 
against  him  with  a  large  army.  He  in- 
tended to  attack  him  from  two  sides  with 
twenty-two  legions,  and  he  was  already  in 
fall  march,  when  intelligence  reached  him 
that  a  great  rebellion  had  broken  out  in 
Hungary,  Dalmatia,  and  Illyria,  and  that 
all  the  tribes  from  the  Adriatic  to  the 
Black  Sea,  who  dwelt  upon  the  Danube 
and  among  the  mountains,  had  conspired 
against  the  Romans,  and  had  collected  an 
army  of  200,000  infantry  and  9000  caval- 
ry, with  which  they  were  determined  to 
invade  Italy.  Fright  and  terror  seized 
upon  all  in  Rome,  and  the  Emperor  Au- 
gustus exclaimed  in  the  senate,  "  Ten 
clays  hence  the  enemy  may  be  within  sight 
of  Rome  !"  • 

Tiberius  immediately  concluded  a  peace 
with  Marbodius,  which  was  favorable  to 
the  latter,  and  hastened  with  his  whole 
army  against  the  Pannonian  tribes ;  and, 
after  three  years  of  the  most  obdurate  war, 
he  succeeded  in  diverting  the  great  danger, 
and  brought  these  tribes  again  under  the 
dominion  of  his  father.  The  latter  re- 
joiced, however,  but  little  in  this  good 
fortune  ;  for,  on  another  side  of  his  em- 
pire, the  Germans  had  caused  him  the 
greatest  loss,  and  had  involved  him  in 
calamities  the  most  serious  he  had  ever 
experienced  during  his  whole  life. 


CHAPTER    II. 
7—374. 

1 1  mini  us.  or  Hermann— Arminius  and  Varus— Armi- 
UHV?  am)  Germanicus— The  death  of  Arminius,  21 


A.  D.— Further  Wars  between  the  Germans  and  Ro- 
mans—War  with  the  Marcomanni,  167-180 — The 
Germanic  Confederations— The  Alemanni  — The 
Franks — The  Saxon  Confederation — The  Goth*1— 
The  Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire 

THE  campaigns  and  forts  of  Drusus, 
and  the  crafty,  cunningly-devised  arts  of 
Tiberius,  had  effected  so  much  in  Lower 
Germany,  as  we  have  above  seen,  that  aa 
far  as  the  Weser,  no  armed  tribe  any 
longer  openly  opposed  the  Romans.  All 
was  bowed  down,  the  unions  of  the  tribes 
were  sundered,  and  the  minds  of  many  of 
the  leading  men  had  been  poisoned  by  the 
seductions  of  the  Romans.  They  already 
began  to  appear  a  different  race  of  men ; 
habit  and  intercourse  with  the  strangers 
commenced  already  to  obliterate  their  na- 
tional manners.  Markets  sprang  up  and 
were  established  around  the  Roman  camps, 
and  enticed  the  Germans  to  purchase  and 
barter.  Even  the  earth  and  heavens, 
says  a  Roman  writer,  appeared  to  be  more 
gentle  and  mild,  for  the  forests  had  become 
penetrated  and  passable,  and  bridges  and 
dikes  were  built  across  the  morasses. 
Three  complete  legions,  the  best  of  the  Ro- 
man army,  kept  guard  in  trie  numerous 
forts  and  camps,  and  in  the  midst  of  our 
lofty  forests  of  oak,  a  Roman  Prsetorship 
was  established,  together  with  Roman  laws, 
legal  institutions,  and  appointed  functiona- 
ries. The  Roman  governor,  Sentius  Satur- 
ninus,  who  was  in  Germany  in  the  year  5 
or  6  A.  D.,  contributed  much  to  these 
changes ;  he  was  a  man  who  united  old 
Roman  honesty  with  affability.  He  took 
pleasure  in  feats  and  enjoyments,  and  im- 
parted to  the  Germans  a  greater  love  for 
the  refined  mode  of  life  among  the  Ro- 
mans. Quintilius  Varus  succeeded  him 
in  the  autumn  of  the  year  6  ;  a  man  of  a 
weak  mind,  who  was  more  adapted  for  the 
occupations  of  peace  than  of  war,  and  be- 
sides which,  was  addicted  to  avarice.  For 
it  was  said  of  him,  that  he  entered  the  rich 
province  of  Syria,  where  he  had  just  been 
governor,  a  poor  man  ;  but  when  he  quitted 
it,  he  himself  had  become  rich  and  left  the 
province  itself  poor.  The  Germans,  to 
this  weak-minded  man,  appeared  thorough- 
ly subjected,  because  they  were  tranquil, 
and  he  endeavored  to  fix  slavery  among 
them  by  those  gentle  but  effective  means, 
which  are  more  pernicious  and  destructive 
than  the  power  of  the  sword,  because  they 
assume  an  innocent  garb.  He  sat  in 
judgment  upon  the  Germans,  as  among 


VARUS  AND  ARMINIUS 


Romans  ;  decided  upon  the  Ire.edom  and 
property  of  Germans,  and  the  Roman 
lawyers,  instead  of  the  straightforward 
and  simple  German  custom,  sought  to  in. 
troduce  the  subtle  .and  perplexing  arts  of 
Roman  jurisprudence.  If  it  be  desired  to 
fix  within  the  heart  of  a  nation,  a  secretly 
devouring  and  destructive  worm,  which 
shall  gradually  reduce  it  to  that  state  of 
degradation  that  it  becomes  careless  to  all 
magnanimous  ideas,  the  love  of  country 
and  compatriots — substituting  instead,  the 
more  debasing,  petty,  selfish  considerations 
— it  is  only  necessary  to  imbue  it  with  a 
love  of  law  and  disputation,  that  all  may 
become  embittered  against  each  other,  and 
that  every  one  shall  know  nothing  greater 
than  his  own  advantage.  And  as  all  ju- 
dicial proceedings  were  conducted  in  the 
Roman  language,  it  was  likewise  intended 
thus  to  introduce  and  establish  that  tongue 
among  the  Germans.  For,  in  order  to 
thoroughly  annihilate  the  idiocracy,  free- 
dom, and  independent  feelings  of  a  people, 
and  to  mould  it  into  an  entirely  new  form, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  deprive  it  likewise 
of  its  peculiar  hereditary  possession — its 
mother  tongue. 

Varus,  however,  had  much  miscalculated 
when  he  supposed  the  rude  Germans  were 
insensible  to  these  cunning  arts.  The  un- 
derstanding of  uncultivated  nations  is  keen- 
ly alive  to  those  who  wish  to  enclose  them 
within  nets,  and  the  Germans  were  supplied 
by  nature  with  a  healthy  mind  and  good 
discernment.  They  quickly  perceived  the 
source  and  central  point  of  ruin,  and  they 
were  beyond  all  things  filled  with  inward 
rage  at  the  view  of  the  lictors'  rods  or  fasces 
of  the  Roman  governor,  which  were  the 
attributes  of  his  power  of  awarding  corpo- 
real punishment,  or  even  death  itself.  No- 
thing was  more  degrading  to  the  free  Ger- 
man than  corporeal  punishment,  the  dis- 
grace of  the  most  abject  slavery ;  and  the 
power  of  punishing  with  death,  they  did  not 
even  allow  to  their  own  princes,  but  con- 
ceded it  to  the  divinity  alone,  who  pro- 
claimed the  sentence  through  the  voice  of 
his  priests. 

Their  wrath,  however,  durst  not  give  it- 
self utterance,  but  it  remained  long  con- 
eealed  in  the  breasts  of  individuals,  for 
there  was  no  one  near,  who  with  a  bold 
mind  could  collect  and  fan  the  shimmering 
sparks  into  a  broad  flame.  But  it  was 
Rome  itself  that  was  chosen  to  nurture  and 


hrinj;  up  to  maturity  the  saviour  of  Germar 
freedom.  This  was  Armimus,  (whom  we 
are  accustomed  to  call  Hermann,)  the  son 
of  Segimer,  prince  of  the  Cherusci ;  a  youth 
of  valiant  heart  and  arm,  of  a  clear,  quick 
mind,  whose  eyes  proclaimed  the  fire  of  hi-, 
soul.  By  distinguished  military  service;  he 
had  acquired  the  right  and  dignity  of  a  Ro 
man  citizen  and  knight,  and  had  returnf! 
to  his  country  well  instructed  and  practiso-1 
in  all  the  arts  of  war  and  peace.  He  here 
perceived  the  disgrace  and  ruin  which  was 
being  prepared  for  his  native  country  ;  and 
his  mind  pondered  upon  the  great  means 
of  K.noedy.  He  speedily  discovered  a  simi- 
lar feeling  to  reign  among  the  noblest  of 
the  Cherusci  and  the  neighboring  tribes  : 
his  inflaming  word  inspired  their  courage  : 
they  prepared  the  grand  blow  of  deliver- 
ance, and  in  order  to  destroy  the  Romans 
the  more  securely,  they  enticed  Varus  by 
a  planned  rebellion  to  the  frontiers — as  it 
is  related  by  the  Roman  writers — still  far- 
ther away  from  the  Rhine,  into  the  depths 
of  the  Teutoburger  forest,  which  flanked 
the  districts  towards  the  Weser. 

Varus,  however,  might  still  have  escaped 
his  fate,  through  treachery :  the  traitor  be- 
ing found  among  the  Germans  themselves, 
in  the  person  of  Segestes,  a  prince  of  the 
Cherusci,  who  was  an  enemy  to  Segimer ; 
while  he  was  envious  also  of  Arminius's 
great  reputation,  and  jealous  because  this 
much  younger  man,  by  the  powers  of  his 
mind  and  his  heroic  virtues,  attracted  the 
eyes  of  all  the  tribes  upon  him.  Even  the 
day  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  conspi- 
racy, when  Varus  had  collected  the  princes 
at  a  banquet,  Segestes  entreated  him  most 
earnestly  to  take  Arminius  prisoner  on  the 
spot ;  but  a  blind  confidence  in  his  own 
power,  concealed  from  the  governor  the 
abyss  that  yawned  beneath  his  feet.  He 
advanced  still  deeper  into  the  forest  which 
covered  the  country  of  the  Weser,  and  the 
princes  quitted  him  with  the  promise  of  im- 
mediately joining  him  with  their  auxiliary 
troops.  They  came — their  plan  being  well 
and  happily  laid — and  in  the  midst  of  the 
Teutoburger  forest,  (in  the  present  princi- 
pality of  Lippe-Detmol,)  where  there  are 
on  all  sides  mountains  and  narrow  valleys, 
they  met  him.  Nowhere  around  was  a 
beaten  path  visible,  nothing  but  a  thickly 
grown  and  impenetrable  wood.  Trees 
were  obliged  to  be  hewn,  pits  and  morasses 
filled  up,  and  bridges  built.  It  was  in  the 


56 


VARUS  AND  ARMINIUS. 


stormy  autumn  season — the  month  of  Sep- 
tember ;  heavy  rains  had  made  the  ground 
slippery  and  every  step  unsafe,  while  the 
tempest  roared  at  the  summits  of  the  oaks, 
whence  the  tutelary  deities  of  the  country 
seemed  wrathfully  to  threaten.  Warriors, 
beasts  of  burden,  loaded  with  baggage  and 
munition,  all  passed  heed7essly  on,  as  in 
perfect  security. 

Amidst  these  terrors  of  nature,  appear- 
ed suddenly,  on  all  sides,  occupying  the 
heights,  the  Germans  as  foes,  hurling  forth 
their  destructive  weapons  against  the  com- 
pressed masses  of  Romans.  These  could 
ut  little  defend  themselves  in  their  heavy 
armor,  upon  a  slippery  ground,  and  with 
arms  which  were  spoiled  for  use  by  the  con- 
tinued rain.  They,  however,  continued 
their  course  under  continual  attacks,  and 
arrived  in  the  evening  at  a  spot  where  a 
camp  might  be  constructed.  Fatigued  as 
all  were,  they  nevertheless  exerted  their 
utmost  powers  to  raise  defences  which 
should  keep  the  enemy  off,  in  order  to  pro- 
vide themselves  with  at  least  one  quiet 
night,  were  it  even  to  bo  their  last.  Thus 
they  awaited  the  dawn.ol  Gay  between  hope 
and  fear.  In  the  morning  every  thing  un- 
necessary was  burnt ;  the  soldiers  were 
thereby  made  lighter  for  battle,  and  the 
baggage  was  also  diminished  ;  this,  toge- 
ther with  the  women  and  children,  of  whom 
there  was  a  great  number  with  the  expedi- 
tion, (as  no  war  had  been  anticipated,)  they 
placed  in  their  centre,  and  commenced  their 
retreat,  probably  in  the  direction  of  their 
fort  Aliso.  Their  fate  seemed  to  brighten  ; 
they  came  to  a  more  open  space,  where 
they  could  muster  and  regulate  their  ranks, 
and  where  the  Germans  did  not  venture  to 
attack  them  ;  but  this  was  to  be  no  resting- 
place  for  them,  they  were  to  resume  their 
march  forward,  and  the  terrific  forest  once 
more  received  them.  The  enemy  renewed 
and  increased  his  attacks  ;  the  tempest  still 
continued,  at  which  the  Germans  exclaimed 
as  they  pursued  the  Romans  :  "Behold  this 
is  done  by  our  God,  who  will  this  day  re- 
venge our  wrongs  upon  our  enemies." 
Many  of  the  most  valiant  Romans  sank 
beneath  their  wrathful,  and  unceasingly 
emboldened  attacks. 

In  this  desperate  position  night  appeared 
a  second  time,  and  they  again  endeavored 
to  construct  defences.  But  the  attacking 
gnemy,  with  his  cries  of  victory,  left  them 
no  Time,  and  then,  when  beaven  and  earth 


seemed  to  oppose  them,  and  there  was  na 
hope  of  salvation,  the  courage  of  the  bravest 
sank.  Varus,  seeing  now  that  all  was 
lost,  and  having  already  received  several 
wounds,  cast  himself  upon  his  sword  ;  ma- 
ny of  the  leaders  followed  his  example, 
while  the  whole  army  was  either  made 
prisoners  or  killed,  very  few  escaping. 
This  last  battle  took  place,  according  to 
the  most  recent  researches,  very  probably 
between  the  present  Horn  and  Lippe  spring, 
on  the  southern  borders  of  the  Lippe.* 
Thus  was  annihilated  the  finest  and  mosi 
valiant  of  all  the  Roman  armies,  with  the 
auxiliaries,  40,000  men  strong.  This  was 
the  hour  of  the  heavy  retaliation  that  was 
to  be  expected  upon  some  such  day,  from 
the  fury  of  a  severely  oppressed,  freedom 
loving,  but  still  savage  people.  Many  ol 
the  most  distinguished  prisoners  bled  as 
sacrifices  upon  the  altars  of  the  native  di- 
vinities, others,  who  retained  their  lives, 
were  used  for  the  most  degrading  services  ; 
and  as  the  Romans  themselves  inform  us, 
several  of  their  distinguished  countrymen, 
to  whom  at  home  the  gates  of  entrance  into 
the  senate  were  open,  concluded  their  mi- 
serable lives  as  the  herdsmen  of  German 
flocks,  or  as  the  keepers  or  porters  of  Ger- 
man gates.  It  is  also  related,  how  embit- 
tered the  Germans  showed  themselves  to- 
wards  the  Roman  judicial  functionaries, 
with  the  feeling,  as  it  were,  that  it  was  by 
their  arts  that  the  greatest  danger  was  pre- 
pared against  freedom  and  independence ; 
and  further,  that  a  German  tore  out  the 

igue  of  one  of  these  functionaries  with 
the  caustic  words,  "  Now  cease  hissing, 
adder  !"  Such  is  the  account  of  the  great 
German  battle  of  freedom,  according  to  the 
relation  of  our  enemies  themselves.  In 
what  a  different  light  should  we  not  behold 
it.  had  we  the  testimony  thereupon  of  even 
one  German  historian  ! 

But  the  opinion  of  all  is  unanimous  and 
fixed,  and  it  is  confirmed  by  the  confession  of 
the  Romans  themselves,  that  our  fatherland 
owes  its  freedom  to  this  great  victory  in  the 
Teutoburger  forest,  and  we,  the  descend- 
ants of  those  races,  are  indebted  to  it  for  the 
unmixed  German  blood  which  flows  in  our 
veins,  and  for  the  pure  German  sounds  pro- 
nounced  by  our  tongue.  But  in  Rome 
there  was  universal  alarm  and  mourning  ; 

*  The  three  days  of  battle  have  been  calculated  by 
M.  Schmidt,  not  without  ingenuity,  to  have  taken 
place  about  the  9th,  10th.  and  llth  of  September 


ARMINIUS  AND  GERMANICUS. 


while  the  Germans  were  full  of  rejoicing, 
and,  storming  the  forts  on  this  side  of  the 
Rhine,*  cleared  the  whole  country  of  the 
Romans.  The  Emperor  Augustus  was 
beside  himself ;  in  his  fury  he  struck 
his  head  against  the  wall,  and  constantly 
exclaimed :  "  Oh,  Varus,  Varus,  restore 
me  my  legions !"  For  some  months  he 
allowed  his  beard  and  hair  to  grow,  the 
guards  of  the  city  were  doubled,  and  that 
no  riot  might  occur,  the  Germans  were 
dispatched  from  Rome,  and  even  the  Ger- 
man body-guard  was  conveyed  across  the 
sea  into  the  islands.  At  last  Augustus 
vowed  great  festivals  to  his  god  Jupiter, 
"  should  his  empire  attain  a  more  flourish- 
ing state." — Thus  did  it  happen  in  the 
Cimbrian  war. 

In  order  to  meet  the  more  extensive  in- 
cursions of  the  Germans  which  were  now 
expected  as  certain,  consequent  upon  this 
victory,  Tiberius  was  hastily  dispatched  to 
the  Rhine  with  a  rapidly  collected  army ; 
to  his  astonishment,  however,  he  found 
every  thing  quiet.  The  Germans  did  not 
desire  conquest,  they  wished  only  to  protect 
their  freedom,  and  according  to  the  very 
nature  of  their  alliance,  after  the  danger 
was  removed  each  returned  to  his  home 
Tiberius  held  the  vacillating  Gaul  in  obe 
dience,  and  passed  again  across  the  Rhine, 
but  without  proceeding  very  far  into  the 
country  ;  and  as  in  a  few  years  afterwards 
he  succeeded  Augustus  in  the  empire,  he 
transferred  to  his  nephew,  Germanicus,  the 
son  of  Drusus,  the  management  of  the  war 
against  the  Germans. 

Germanicus,  a  young  and  ardent  hero, 
had  before  his  mind  the  great  example  of 
his  father,  and  he  resolved  to  revenge  the 
defeat  of  Varus.  He  undertook  three 
grand  campaigns  in  Lower  Germany,  in 
the  same  districts  where  war  had  previous- 
ly raged  on  the  Lippe,  and  from  the  sea 
up  the  Ems  towards  the  Weser  and  the 
Elbe.  Germany  was  now  again  menaced 
with  fresh  danger,  for  Germanicus  was  a 
warrior  worthy  of  the  best  ages  of  Rome. 
But  equally  as  Arminius  had  obtained  vic- 
tory over  bad  leaders,  so  did  he  now  with 


*  Aliso  held  out  the  longest.  It  was  so  strong,  that 
»he  Germans,  being  without  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of 
besieging  and  the  necessary  instruments,  could  not 
conquer  it  by  force.  They  had,  therefore,  recourse  to 
famine;  but  the  Roman  garrison  managed,  in  an  un- 
vvatched  moment,  by  a  ruse  de  guerre,  to  slip  out,  and, 
although  with  loss,  they  nevertheless  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  Rhine. 


so  much  craft  and  \  alor  resist  those  bettei 
chiefs  who  advanced  with  large  armies, 
that  although  he  was  not  always  victorious 
in  his  battles,  he  obliged  his  opponent,  a 
the  end  of  every  campaign,  to  withdraw 
to  his  fortresses  on  the  Rhine.  And  thuy 
on  these  occasions,  he  did  not  less  for  'lu 
freedom  of  his  fatherland  than  he  had  \  rc- 
viously  done  in  the  annihilation  of  the  IP- 
gions  of  Varus. 

Germanicus  made  his  first  campaign  in 
the  year  14  A.  D.,  with  12.000  Romans 
and  a  multitude  of  allies  from  the  Rhine, 
where  Biiderich  and  Wesel  now  lie, 
through  the  Ccesarean  forest  in  the  vicini- 
ty of  the  Marsi,  and  fell  craftily  from  sev- 
eral sides  upon  the  unprepared  enemy, 
(who,  thinking  themselves  in  the  midst  of 
peace,  were  at  the  time  celebrating  a  great 
festival,)  and  destroyed  the  country  for 
fifty  miles  around  with  fire  and  sword.  No 
age,  no  sex  was  spared,  and  a  widely 
celebrated  temple — that  of  Taufana — (ac- 
cording to  some,  in  Tecklenburg,  accord- 
ing to  others,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
present  Miinster) — was  destroyed.  He 
did  not  press  farther  into  Lower  Germany, 
for  now  the  Brukteri,  the  Tubanti,  and 
Usipeti,  speedily  collected  themselves  to 
revenge  the  misfortune  of  their  friends. 
The  retreat  of  the  Romans  was  not  unac- 
companied by  difficulties.  It  was  only  by 
prudence  and  strict  order  that  Germanicus 
led  his  legions  successfully  back  acir>?s 
the  Rhine. 

In  the  following  year,  after  he  had  first 
attacked  the  Chatti,  who  had  joined  the 
confederation  of  the  tribes  under  Armin- 
ius, he  rescued  Segestes,  who  was  hated 
by  his  own  tribe,  and  who  applied  to  him 
for  assistance  and  rescue  from  the  hands 
of  his  opponents.  The  feud  between  the 
two  hostile  houses  had  again  broke  out. 
Arminius,  who  loved  Thusnelda,  third 
daughter  of  Segestes,  and  whom  the  father 
refused  to  give  to  him  in  marriage,  had 
eloped  with,  and  made  her  his  wife.  Her 
father,  however,  recaptured  her,  and 
brought  her  back  to  his  castle.  Here  he 
was  besieged  by  Arminius,  in  order  to  re- 
cover his  wife  ;  but  Germanicus  meantime 
delivered  Segestes,  and  upon  this  occasion 
he  took  prisoner  Arminius's  consort,  Thus- 
nelda, and  conducted  her  to  Rome.  But 
she  never  forgot  her  husband  or  her  high 
rank,  and  in  her  sentiments  she  fortunately 
more  resembled  him  than  her  father.  Se- 


58 


ARMINIUS  AND  GERMANICUS 


gestes,  on  the  contrary,  who  had  now  found 
a  protector,  addressed  the  Romans  in  the 
same  sense  as  at  all  times  is  usual  from 
such  as  have  betrayed  their  country : 
"  This  is  not  the  first  day  of  my  fidelity 
and  constancy  towards  the  Roman  peo- 
ple !"  he  exclaimed.  "  Since  I  was  made 
a  Roman  citizen  by  the  divine  Augustus, 
1  have,  in  the  selection  of  my  friends  and 
enemies,  had  solely  your  advantage  in 
view ;  not  from  hatred  towards  my  coun- 
try— for  traitors  are  hateful  to  those  to 
whom  they  twin — but  from  the  conviction 
that  the  same  thing  is  beneficial  to  both 
Romans  and  Germans,  and  because  I  pre- 
fer peace  to  war,  the  old  order  of  things  to 
the  new,  and  tranquillity  to  turmoil.  And 
now  that  I  am  with  you,  I  can  become  to 
the  German  people  a  useful  advocate, 
should  they  choose  repentance  instead  of 
ruin." 

Thus  spoke  Segestes.  Augustus  prom- 
ised him  protection,  and  selected  a  dwell- 
ing for  him  on  the  Rhine.  Arminius, 
however,  felt  the  most  violent  rage  and  in- 
dignation, and  above  all,  it  pained  him 
most  deeply  to  think,  that  the  child  with 
which  his  consort  was  pregnant,  must  first 
behold  the  light  of  day  in  slavery  among 
the  Romans.  Acting  upon  these  feelings, 
he  forthwith  traversed  the  land  of  the 
Cherusci,  summoning  them  all  to  the  war 
against  Segestes,  and  against  the  Romans. 
His  words  are  rife  with  the  most  bitter  en- 
ergy :  "  The  noble  father  !  the  great  lead- 
er !  the  valiant  army !"  lit  exclaimed, 
ironically,  "  who  all  combined  together  to 
carry  off  a  weak  woman !  Before  me 
three  legions,  and  as  many  leaders,  have 
fallen ;  /  do  not  conduct  war  by  treach- 
ery, and  against  pregnant  women,  but 
openly  against  the  armed ;  and  in  our 
German  groves  are  now  to  be  seen  the 
Roman  banners  which  I  have  there  conse- 
crated to  our  native  divinities.  Let  Se- 
gestes continue  to  dwell  upon  the  subjected 
banks  of  the  Rhine.  Let  him  there  obtain 
the  priestly  dignity  for  his  son  ;  but  let 
him  know  that  the  Germans  will  never 
forgive  him,  or  forget  that  they  have  seen, 
between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  the  Ro- 
man fasces  and  the  Roman  toga.  If, 
therefore,  my  countrymen,  your  fatherland 
and  families,  and  our  ancient  German 
manners,  are  dearer  to  you  than  alien  ru- 
lers and  their  followers,  then  join  Armin- 
ius, who  will  lead  you  to  glory  and  free- 


dom, rather  than  obey  Segestes,  who  \vil 
only  conduct  you  to  disgrace  and  slave 
ry !" 

By  such  fiery  language  he  excited  and 
collected  together  the  Cherusci  and  allied 
tribes,  and  at  their  head  appeared  at  his 
side  his  uncle,  Inguiomar,  as  the  Romans 
call  him,  who  stood  in  great  respect  and 
esteem  among  the  people. 

Germanicus  had  already  retired  with 
his  legions  to  the  Rhine  :  upon  receiving 
intelligence,  however,  of  this  fresh  and 
great  rising  of  the  German  tribes,  he  re- 
solved upon  another  expedition  that  same 
year,  so  as  to  prevent  them  from  making 
an  attack  upon  the  Rhine.  In  order  to 
pass  more  rapidly,  and  from  several  sides, 
into  the  heart  of  the  country  of  the  enemy, 
he,  according  to  his  father's  example,  led 
a  portion  of  his  army  by  sea  to  the  estua- 
ry of  the  Ems  ;  two  other  divisions,  under 
Coecina  and  Pedo,  advanced  from  the 
Rhine  through  the  interior  of  the  country, 
and  thus  the  infantry,  cavalry,  and  the 
flotilla  met  together  in  Westphalia.  Un- 
fortunately the  Romans  were  not  without 
German  auxiliaries;  they  had  Batavian 
cavalry  with  them — and  besides  these, 
troops  from  the  Tyrol  and  Salzburg,  as 
also  from  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine. 
The  country  that  lay  between  the  Erns 
and  the  Lippe  was  devastated  ;  the  Bruk- 
teri  destroyed  their  own  country  them- 
selves, that  a  waste  might  lie  before  the 
Romans;  but  the  latter  pressed  onward, 
recaptured,  in  their  pursuit  of  the  Bruk- 
ten,  the  eagle  of  the  (19th)  legion,  which 
the  latter  had  taken  in  the  battle  with  Va- 
rus,  and  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Teutoburger  forest,  where  Varus  had 
been  destroyed.  Germanicus  glowed  with 
the  desire  to  show  the  last  honor  to  the 
fallen  leader  and  his  army.  He  sent 
Ccecina  forward  to  inspect  the  mountains 
and  passes,  and  to  lay  bridges  and  dams 
over  the  deceptive  morasses ;  and  then  he 
himself  advanced  and  marched  over  the 
melancholy  scene,  ghastly  and  terrific  in 
its  appearance  as  well  as  in  its  associa- 
tions. The  vestiges  of  the  first  camp  of 
Varus  might  still  be  recognised  by  the 
larger  circuit  of  ground,  capable  of  con-^ 
taining  three  complete  legions  ;  the  second 
encampment  was  smaller,  the  wall  half 
demolished,  and  the  trench  filled  up  and 
level.  It  was  perceptible  that  the  last 
remnant  of  the  army  had  encamped  itself 


GERMANICUS  AND  ARMINIUS. 


59 


Ihere,  until  they  were  at  length  overpow- 
ered. In  the  middle  of  the  plain  heaps  of 
whitening  bones,  the  remains  of  the  van- 
quished army,  lay  strewed  around,  and 
beside  them  were  scattered  about  the  frag- 
ments of  lances,  the  bones  of  horses,  and 
oven  heads  transfixed  to  the  trunks  of 
trees.  In  the  neighboring  groves  the  al- 
tars still  remained,  upon  which  the  com- 
manders and  most  distinguished  leaders 
had  been  sacrificed  to  the  gods.  And 
some  few,  who,  having  survived  the  battle 
and  escaped  from  slavery,  had  joined  the 
present  army,  pointed  out,  here  a  spot 
whore  a  leader  fell,  there  where  an  eagle 
was  seized,  yonder  where  Varus  received 
his  first  wound,  and  finally,  where,  further 
on,  he  gave  himself  his  death  blow. 

The  Roman  army  then,  in  the  sixth 
yc  ar  after  this  defeat,  buried  the  bones  of 
the  three  legions  without  any  one  of  them 
knowing  whether  he  covered  with  earth 
the  remains  of  his  friend  or  enemy ;  the 
commander  himself  planting  the  first  turf 
upon  the  mound.  The  army  now  advanced 
with  increased  fury  against  the  enemy. 
Arminius  had  well  understood  his  own  ad- 
vantage, and  retired  into  the  forests  and 
morasses ;  and  when  the  Romans  incau- 
tiously followed  him,  he  broke  forth,  re- 
pulsed the  cavalry,  and  drove  them  back 
upon  the  infantry.  But  when  Germanicus 
advanced  with  the  disciplined  legions,  he 
retired,  and  the  contest  remained  undecid- 
ed. The  results,  however,  were  neverthe- 
less those  of  a  victory  ;  the  Romans  com- 
menced their  retreat :  Coecina,  one  of  the 
before  mentioned  leaders,  serving  under 
Germanicus,  proceeded  with  four  legions 
across  the  country  towards  the  Rhine  ; 
Vitellius,  another  leader,  marched  with 
two  legions  towards  the  shores  of  the  sea  ; 
and  Germanicus  himself,  with  the  third 
body,  embarked  upon  the  ships. 

The  road  taken  by  Ccecina  was  that  of 
thf  formeily  noticed  ponies  longi,  or  long 
bridges,  a  narrow  dam  road  which  ran 
across  immense  morasses.  All  around 
were  gently  rising  wooded  heights  ;*  these 
heights  Arminius  now  occupied,  whence 
ne  courageously  attacked  the  Romans,  and 
out  little  was  wanting  for  Ccecina  to  suffer 
khe  same  fate  as  Varus.  The  dams  and 


*  Probably  the  forest  heights  of  Mons  CtEsius,  the 
BO-called  IJaumbcr^e,  between  Horstmar,Schapdetten, 
and  CaBsfeld,  where  the  sources  of  the  Aa,  8tewer, 
Bsrckel,  and  sc\  erul  rivulets  are  found. 


bridges  had  become  so  ruined  with  age. 
that  it  was  found  necessary  to  repair  them, 
while  at  the  same  time  a  camp  was  form 
ed,  and  efforts  made  to  keep  the  cneiin  oil. 
Many  of  the  Romans  sank  into  the  morass, 
for  the  Cherusci,  who  knew  the  locality 
well,  drove  them  to  the  most  dangerous 
parts,  and  as  these  people  were  accustomed 
to  fight  among  bogs,  they,  by  their  great 
length  of  body,  and  their  monstrous  jave- 
lins which  they  knew  well  how  to  cast 
from  a  distance,  brought  the  Romans  into 
great  difficulties.  Night  alone  saved  the 
already  wavering  legions  from  the  ruinous 
battle.  But  the  Germans  even  then  in- 
dulged in  no  repose,  for  they  guided  the 
courses  of  the  springs  which  rose  among 
those  hills,  direct  upon  the  Romans  en- 
camped below. 

This  was  the  40th  year  that  Ccecina  had 
either  served  or  commanded  as  a  Roman 
warrior ;  to  him  the  chances  of  war  were 
well  known,  and  his  mind,  therefore,  con- 
tinued unalarmed  in  all  situations.  He 
accordingly  gave  his  orders,  and  with 
presence  of  mind  commanded  what  was 
most  expedient  in  this  necessity.  The 
night  was  in  a  variety  of  ways  most  tu- 
multuous. The  Germans  with  their  re. 
joicings  and  shouts  made  the  very  valleys 
below  resound,  so  that  even  the  ravines  re- 
echoed with  them ;  among  the  Romans 
there  were  only  to  be  seen  isolated  small 
fires,  and  here  and  there  was  heard  an 
abrupt  voice,  they  themselves  lying  dis- 
persed along  the  walls,  or  gliding  about  the 
tents,  more  because  they  were  sleepless, 
than  that  they  were  watchful.  Coecina 
himself  was  alarmed  by  a  bad  dream.  He 
thought  he  saw  Varus  rise,  spotted  with 
blood,  from  the  morass,  and  beckon  to  him ; 
but  the  Roman  did  not  follow  him,  and 
when  the  former  extended  his  hand  to- 
wards him  he  struck  it  back. 

At  break  of  day  the  march  was  continu- 
ed as  Ccecina  had  arranged  it,  so  that  he 
was  covered  by  two  legions  on  each  side. 
They,  however,  quitted  their  position  upon 
the  Germans  attacking  them  with  renewed 
fury,  led  by  Arminius,  who  called  out  to 
them,  "  Here,  Varus  !  here  are  the  legions 
already  conquered  by  a  like  fate  !"  The 
battle  was  severe  and  animated.  Ccecina 
himself  fell  with  his  wounded  horse,  and 
must  have  been  destroyed  had  not  the  first 
legion  thrown  themselves  before  nim.  The 
baggage  and  munition  fell  into  the  hands 


60 


GERMANICUS  AND  ARMINIUS. 


of  the  enemy,  and  tne  loss  of  these  was  the 
salvation  of  the  Romans,  for  they  enticed 
the  booty-loving  Germans  from  slaughter 
to  pillage,  and  the  legions  thus  at  last  ar- 
rived on  the  open  plain,  where  they  en- 
camped.* Their  condition  was  neverthe- 
less deplorable,  and  the  soldiers  already 
began  to  complain  aloud,  that  only  one 
day  was  now  left  for  so  many  thousands  to 
live ;  and  so  great  was  their  terror,  that, 
when  a  horse  which  had  escaped,  ran  to- 
wards a  few  soldiers  standing  in  its  way, 
they  all  thought  the  Germans  had  now 
broken  into  the  camp,  and  they  fled  towards 
its  back  gates.  Coecina,  to  bring  them  to 
a  stand,  used  entreaties,  commands,  and 
threats  of  punishment,  but  in  vain  ;  and  as 
a  last  resource,  he  cast  himself  down  across 
the  gate,  so  that  the  fugitives  could  pass 
only  over  his  body,  and  this  desperate  state 
of  their  old  and  honored  leader,  brought 
them  at  once  to  their  senses  and  stopped 
their  flight. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Germans  had  sur- 
rounded the  camp.  Arminius,  who  knew 
the  firmness  of  a  Roman  encampment, 
would  not  venture  to  storm  it,  but  pre- 
ferred conquering  the  enemy  by  famine. 
His  uncle,  Inguiomar,  on  the  contrary,  in- 
sisted upon  a  speedy  attack,  and  his  advice, 
because  it  was  bolder,  pleased  the  Ger- 
mans better.  They  stormed  the  camp  ac- 
cordingly, but  just  in  the  decisive  moment 
Coecina  caused  his  troops  to  sally  out,  beat 
back  the  besiegers,  and  forced  them  to 
flight.  Arminius  left  the  battle  without  a 
wound,  but  Inguiomar,  his  uncle,  was  se- 
verely wounded,  and  the  legions,  as  many 
as  were  left  of  them,  arrived  safely  on  the 
Rhine. 

For  the  third  campaign,  in  the  16th 
year,  A.  D.,  Germanicus  made  still  greater 
preparations  than  he  had  for  the  former. 
A  fleet  of  a  thousand  vessels,  small  and 
large,  with  deep  and  broad  holds,  and  others 
with  flat  bottoms  for  landing,  was  collect- 
ed to  carry  the  whole  army,  without  expo- 
sing it  to  the  dangers  previously  experi- 
enced by  an  expedition  by  land,  into  the 
heart  of  northern  Germany,  and  if  neces- 
sary, so  fitted  as  to  bring  them  also  back 
again.  During  these  preparations  Ger- 
manicus made  a  rapid  expedition  with  six 
egions,  probably  upon  the  road  from  the 
Wesel  towards  Lippstadt,  on  the  northern 

*  Possibiy  between  Coesfeld  and  Velen. 


banks  of  the  Lippe,  as  far  as  Aliso,  to  raise 
the  siege  of  this  fort,  which  had  been  re- 
taken from  the  Germans  and  repaired,  and 
which  they  were  now  again  besieging.  It 
succeeded,  for  the  enemy  dispersed  on  his 
approach,  and  he  strengthened  the  high- 
way between  Aliso  and  the  Rhine  with 
new  defences  and  dams.  But  as  the  chief 
attack  was  to  be  made  from  a  different  side, 
he  marched  back  again  to  the  Rhine,  and 
thence  embarked  his  whole  army  of  not 
less  than  90,000  men,  and  passing  through 
the  fossa  Drusiana  into  the  North  Sea, 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ems.  The 
Chauci  were  obliged  to  supply  an  auxiliary 
army,  and  the  Angrivari  were  forced  into 
subjection  on  the  Lower  Weser.  The  Ro- 
man army  advanced  as  far  as  the  present 
Minden.  Arminius,  at  the  head  of  the  Che- 
rusci  confederation,  opposed  it,  and  a  battle 
ensued  at  Idistavisus,  on  the  Weser,  (prob- 
ably between  Prussian  Minden  and  Vlotho.) 
After  a  long  and  warm  contest,  the  Ger- 
mans were  obliged  to  yield  the  field  to  the 
Romans,  after  the  latter  had  gained  the  hills 
which  commanded  the  plain.  But  the 
Romans  could  only  attribute  their  victory 
chiefly  to  the  German  auxiliaries  who  were 
with  them,  from  the  North  Sea  and  from  the 
Danube  ;  and  thus,  even  at  the  very  com- 
mencement of  our  history,  it  appears  that 
Germans  aided  aliens  in  the  subjection  of 
their  compatriots.  But  in  those  rude  ages 
this  must  not  be  severely  censured,  for  these 
tribes  from  the  Danube  had  probably  never 
heard  of  the  name  of  the  Cherusci.  In  this 
battle  Arminius  himself  was  wounded,  and 
escaped  only  by  the  speed  of  his  horse  ; 
and  so  great  was  the  slaughter,  that  from 
mid-day  to  the  very  depth  of  night,  the 
work  of  murder  was  continued,  and  the 
land  was  covered  with  bodies  and  arms  to 
the  extent  of  fifty  thousand  feet. 

The  subjected  tribes  of  these  districts 
had  already  determined  to  quit  their  seat 
between  the  Weser  and  the  Elbe,  and  re- 
tire beyond  the  latter  river,  when  they  per- 
ceived the  trophies,  which  the  Romans  had 
raised  after  the  battle,  and  inscribed  with 
the  names  of  the  conquered  tribes ;  the 
sight  of  this  inflamed  their  wrath  more  than 
their  own  wounds  and  the  remembrance 
of  their  fallen  friends.  The  populace,  the 
nobles,  the  young  and  the  old,  all  seized 
arms,  and  again  advanced  against  the  Ro- 
mans. A  second  bloody  battle  took  place 
in  a  wooded  district  between  /lie  Wesei 


ARMINIUS  AND  MARBODIUS 


61 


and  the  Steinhuder  Lake,  which  proved 
that  the  nations'  force  was  not  yet  broken ; 
for  although  the  Romans  ascribed  the  vie- 
tory  to  themselves,  they  nevertheless  im- 
mediately afterwards  commenced  their  re- 
treat, and  Germany  was  saved.  Hence- 
forth th"  Weser  never  again  saw  a  Roman 
ariry. 

The  greatest  portion  of  his  warriors, 
Germanicus  led  back  by  water  down  the 
Ems  to  the  Nortn  Sea.  But  a  tremendous 
storm  overtook  his  fleet,  destroyed  a  multi- 
'ude  of  his  vessels,  and  dispersed  them  on 
the  coasts  of  Britain.  He,  himself,  was 
shortly  afterwards  recalled  from  the  com- 
mand of  the  armies  on  the  Rhine,  by  the 
emperor  Tiberius,  who  was  jealous  of  his 
military  fame,  and  he  was  sent  to  Asia, 
whore  he  was  destroyed  by  poison  in  the 
bloom  of  manhood. 

Thus  did  this  truly  German  hero,  Armi- 
nius,  who  was  equally  great  whether  in  vic- 
tory or  in  a  doubtful  battle,  behold  his  coun- 
try freed  from  the  danger  of  a  foreign  yoke. 
The  rapidity  and  strength  with  which  he 
roused  himself  in  misfortune,  and  instilled 
new  courage  into  his  people,  produced  its 
salvation.  And  be  it  remembered,  he  had 
not  to  contend  merely  with  the  rising  or 
sinking  power  of  the  Romans,  but  while  it 
stood  in  its  highest  perfection  and  extent. 
Such  an  army  as  fought  against  the  Ger- 
man forces  in  most  beautifully  regulated 
military  array  at  Idistavisus,  and  near  the 
Steinhuder  Lake,  even  the  most  powerful 
empires  of  the  earth  could  not,  up  to  that 
time,  have  resisted. 

After  he  knew  that  the  frontiers  were 
secured,  he  turned  against  an  internal 
enemy,  who  had  remained  indifferent  to 
the  contest  for  German  liberty,  and  whose 
manners,  aped  from  the  Romans,  together 
with  his  despotism,  made  him  doubly  hate- 
ful to  his  own  tribe,  as  well  as  to  his  neigh- 
bors. This  was  Marbodius,  the  king  of 
the  Marcomanni.  After  the  battle  of  the 
Teutoburger  Forest,  Arminius  had  sent 
the  head  of  Varus  to  Marbodius,  probably 
as  a  token  of  victory,  to  shame  him,  be- 
cause he  had  not  taken  part  in  the  league 
against  Rome  ;  perhaps,  also,  as  an  ap- 
peal to  his  patriotism  to  break  forth,  at  this 
decisive  moment,  from  his  position,  so  fa- 
vorable to  the  Germans,  from  its  being  so 
near  and  dangerous  to  the  best  Roman 
provinces.  But  Marbodius  remained  inert. 
The  emperor  Tiberius  may  likewise,  per- 


haps, have  employed  his  usual  ingenuity — 
in  order  to  conquer  the  Germans  more  by 
stratagem  than  arms — and  have  contrib- 
uted his  share  also  in  this  case,  to  produce  a 
division  between  the  two  German  princes. 

The  power  of  Arminius  was  no  w  strength- 
ened by  the  Senoni  and  Longobardi,  who, 
wearied  with  the  system  of  dominion  ex- 
ercised by  Marbodius,  at  once  renounced 
him,  and  joined  the  Cherusci ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  Arminius  was  forced  to  behold 
his  uncle,  Inguiomar,  desert  his  own  ranks, 
and  pass  over  to  those  of  the  enemy.  Hos- 
tilities appear  to  have  been  commenced  by 
Marbodius,  inasmuch  as  he  was  the  first  to 
advance  beyond  the  frontiers ;  very  prob- 
ably in  order  to  overtake  and  chastise  the 
renegade  Senoni  and  Longobardi.  A 
severe  and  sanguinary  battle  was  fought, 
in  which,  as  Tacitus  states,  they  did  not 
fight  in  irregular  array,  but  with  perfect 
military  order  and  discipline.  The  result 
of  the  action  was  against  Marbodius  ;  he 
was  forced  to  retire  back  to  his  country, 
and  thereby  lost  still  more  the  confidence 
of  his  people ;  and  finally,  driven  away 
by  the  Gothic  prince,  Katualda,  he  fled  to 
the  Romans.  The  latter  granted  him  a 
pension,  perhaps  as  a  reward  for  having 
remained  neutral  instead  of  joining  Armi- 
nius ;  and,  eighteen  years  afterwards,  he 
concluded  his  life — the  means  for  prolong- 
ing which  had  been  furnished  by  Roman 
charity — ingloriously  at  Ravenna. 

We  have  no  records  of  the  last  years  of 
Arminius,  except  what  Tacitus  relates  in 
a  few  words,  viz.  :  that  he  himself  having 
become  suspected  of  indulging  a  desire  to 
rule  despotically,  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
against  him,  in  which  his  relatives  (possibly 
Segestes  and  Inguiomar)  participated,  and 
he  was  murdered  in  the  year  21,  in  the 
thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  and  in  the 
twelfth  of  his  chief  command.  But  we  must 
not  forget  that  the  Romans  had  this  tale, 
probably,  from  the  assassins  of  Arminius, 
and,  perhaps,  from  their  old  friend,  Seges- 
tes, himself;  for  the  whole  spirit  and  tenor 
of  his  great  life  testify  that  he  certainly 
desired  nothing  more  for  himself  than  what 
was  justly  his  due.  He  may,  however, 
have  endeavored  to  have  given  to  the  nortS 
German  confederacy — whose  chief  in  wa 
he  was — a  permanency  and  stability  like 
wise  during  peace,  and  thus  have  drawn 
the  confederation  closer  together,  in  ordei 
;hat  a  new  enemy  should  not  take  them 


CLAUDIUS  CIVILIS 


unprepared ;  and  as  his  great  object  in  this 
\vas  misunderstood,  his  old  enemy,  Seges- 
tes,  and  his  uncle,  who  was  perhaps  en- 
vious of  the  great  fame  of  a  nephew  so 
much  his  junior  in  years,  may  have  avail- 
ed themselves  of  the  general  feeling  to 
promote  his  downfall.  The  testimony  of 
the  great  historian  of  his  enemies,  does 
especial  honor  to  the  memory  of  our  hero  ; 
for,  after  the  short  narrative  of  his  death, 
he  thus  speaks  of  him :  "  Arminius  was, 
without  disp.ute,  the  emancipator  of  Ger- 
many. In  battles  not  always  the  victor, 
he  nevertheless  remained  in  war  uncon- 
quered ;  and  he  is  still  celebrated  in  the 
heroic  songs  of  the  Germans.  He  is  un- 
known in  the  chronicles  of  the  Greeks,  for 
they  admire  themselves  alone ;  neither 
among  us  Romans  does  his  fame  stand  high 
enough,  for  we  elevate  and  dignify  only 
that  which  is  ancient,  and  have  but  too 
little  regard  for  that  which  is  modern." 

Henceforth,  the  Romans  thought  no  more 
of  subduing  Germany,  but  applied  them- 
selves solely  to  the  means  of  securing  their 
frontiers  from  the  incursions  of  the  German 
tribes.  They  therefore  continued  to  add 
to  the  strength  of  the  banks  of  the  Rhine 
and  the  Danube,  and  kept  a  considerable 
army,  consisting  of  their  best  legions,  as  a 
guard  upon  the  borders.  The  emperor 
Claudius  granted  to  the  chief  seat  of  the 
Ubi  the  distinction  of  a  colony  of  veterans, 
and,  subsequently,  in  honor  of  his  consort 
Agrippina,  born  in  that  spot,  it  was  called, 
Colonia  Agrippina,  (Cologne.)  The  strong 
camp  upon  the  Taunus  mountains,  which 
the  Romans  likewise  considered  as  one  of 
the  most  important  points  in  the  district  of 
the  Rhine,  was  re-established  also  by  Clau- 
dius. 

In  the  year  69,  another  serious  revolt 
again  broke  forth  in  the  Low  Rhine,  under 
Claudius  Civilis,  a  leader  of  the  Batavian 
auxiliary  tribes,  and  of  royal  birth.  Like 
Hannibal,  one-eyed,  and  of  independent, 
haughty  spirit,  he  nourished  the  greatest 
hatre'  towards  the  Romans,  and,  under 
Nero,  had  been  dragged  in  chains  to  Rome, 
wliL're  he  narrowly  escaped  death.  When, 
therefore,  now  a  tribute  was  demanded 
from  the  Batavians,  although  they  were 
only  bound  to  do  military  service,  Civilis 
invited  all  the  chiefs  to  a  festival  in  the 
sacred  grove,  where  he  communicated  to 
them  his  plans,  and,  by  his  eloquence, 
gained  over  the  whole  body  to  join  in  the 


revolt.  Messengers  were  dispatched  to  al. 
the  neighboring  tribes,  nay,  even  across 
to  Great  Britain  ;  and  Civilis,  without  fur- 
ther delay,  forthwith  attacked  and  defeated 
a  Roman  encampment,  and  conquered  the 
fleet  on  the  Rhine  ;  but  not  content  with 
small  results,  he  swore  not  to  cut  his  beard, 
or  the  hair  of  his  head,  before  he  had  gain- 
ed a  great  and  signal  victory.  He  was 
now  joined  by  the  Caninefati,  Friesi,  and 
several  tribes  of  the  Saxon  race ;  and  as 
soon  as  he  had  conquered  the  Castra  Vetera, 
and  had  destroyed  or  made  captives  several 
legions,  the  whole  body  of  Germans,  dwell- 
ing on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  rose 
up  and  joined  him,  as  well  as  the  Brukteri 
and  other  tribes  on  the  left  bank  ;  for  their 
prophetess,  Velleda,  a  Brukterian  virgin  of 
high  rank,  had  predicted  that  the  power  of 
Rome  was  now  approaching  its  end.  Civilis 
sent  her  the  most  valuable  portion  of  the 
booty  he  made ;  and  from  her  isolated 
tower,  in  the  forest  near  the  Lippe,  she 
herself  directed  the  war.  All  the  fortresses 
beyond  Mentz  were  taken,  Cologne  was 
made  to  pledge  itself  to  abolish  the  Rhenish 
dues,  at  the  decree  pronounced  by  Velleda. 
that  the  German  trade  should  be  open  and 
free  from  taxation.  Gallic  tribes,  also, 
joined  the  confederation.  The  emperor 
Vespasian,  who  had,  meantime,  succeeded 
to  the  imperial  throne,  now  dispatched 
Cerealis,  an  experienced  and  active  gene- 
ral, to  the  head-quarters,  where,  on  his  ar- 
rival, he  at  once  proceeded  to  sow  dissen- 
sion, and  produce  suspicion  among  the 
army  of  Civilis  against  their  leader ;  and 
the  Gauls,  in  accordance  with  their  usual 
changeable  character,  withdrew  them- 
selves;  while  Civilis,  twice  defeated,  was 
forced  to  retreat  among  the  marshes,  and 
wade  through  the  dikes.  Numbers  de- 
serted him  ;  Velleda  was  taken  prisoner ; 
and  Cerealis,  who  gained  over  to  him  the 
passions  of  the  majority,  partly  by  mildness, 
partly  by  cunning,  as  well  as  by  mysteri- 
ous promises,  offered  terms  of  peace.  Ci 
vilis  then  yielded  ;  the  generals  met  on  a 
river,  according  to  the  ancient  German 
custom,  and  peace  was  again  restored  undei 
the  old  conditions  of  furnishing  military 
service  only.  Of  the  subsequent  fate  ot 
Claudius  Civilis,  nothing  more  is  known. 

After  these  fresh  trials  at  superiority  ot 
arms,  it  was  but  occasionally  that  any 
emperor  essayed  to  obtain  military  fame 
against  his  unconquered  neighbors,  an<? 


THE  MARCOMANNIC  WAR. 


63 


Jiese  endeavors  were  generally  very  un- 
successful, but  in  order  to  conceal  the 
shame  thereof,  they  were  obliged  to  invent 
a  variety  of  plausible  excuses.  No  one, 
however,  had  conducted  himself  more 
shamelessly  and  ridiculously  than  the 
emperor  Domitianus,  who  reigned  between 
the  years  80  and  90.  He  commenced  a 
war  with  the  Chatti,  but  did  not  venture  to 
attack  them  seriously,  for  he  quickly  re- 
tired, leaving  his  purpose  unfinished,  and 
in  order  that  he  might  not  return  to  Rome 
with  disgrace  and  obloquy,  he  purchased 
tall  and  strong-grown  slaves  in  Gaul, 
sod  them  like  Germans,  caused  their 
hair  to  be  dyed  yellow  and  arranged  in  the 
German  fashion,  and  then  led  them  as  if 
they  had  been  German  captives  in  triumph 
into  Rome.  In  the  second  century  after 
the  birth  of  Christ,  the  Romans  had  to 
endure  a  very  severe  war  with  the  Ger- 
mans which  they  called  the  Marcomannic 
war,  because  the  Marcomanni  were  best 
known  to  them  from  time  immemorial,  and 
because  their  attack,  combined  with  that 
of  the  tribes  of  the  Danube,  most  imme- 
diately threatened  Italy.  But  a  yet  more 
extensive  alliance  of  the  tribes  seems  to 
have  taken  place,  for  also  on  the  Rhine, 
and  even  on  the  coasts  of  the  Baltic,  the 
Romans  had  to  endure  hard  contests.  But, 
unfortunately,  the  accounts  which  we  must 
collect  from  the  later  historians,  (Jul.  Cap- 
itolinus,  Arl.  Spartianus,  Dio  Cassius,  as 
xtracted  from  Xiphilinus,  Amm.  Marcel- 
Jinus,  Orosius  and  others,)  are  very  imper- 
fect. The  emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  well 
understood  the  greatness  of  the  danger ; 
lie  caused  the  priests  to  be  collected  from 
all  parts,  prayers  and  large  sacrifices  to  be 
made,  and  the  oracles  questioned  respect- 
ing the  issue  of  the  war.  It  is  also  related 
by  Lucian,  that  a  wise  man  from  Egypt, 
of  the  name  of  Alexander,  who  had  ac- 
quired great  fame,  was  questicaied  respect- 
ing the  Marcomannic  war.  He  replied 
that  two  lions,  well  anointed  with  fragrant 
herbs  and  spices,  should  be  made  to  swim 
across  the  Danube  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try, and  that  victory  would  not  then  fail. 
His  advice  was  followed.  The  Germans, 
however,  who  held  these  lions  to  be  for- 
eign dogs,  killed  them  with  clubs,  and 
immediately  afterwards  gained  a  great 
victory  over  the  Romans. 

The  war  now  became  so  desperate  that 
\he   empero     was   necessitated  to  receive 


toe 


into  his  army  slaves,  gladiators,  and  others, 
who  were  previously  considered  unworthy 
to  bear  arms.  Even  a  band  of  robbers 
from  Dalmatia  were  included  in  the  ser- 
vice ;  and  the  emperor,  that  he  might  find 
means  to  carry  on  this  severe  war,  sold 
every  thing  most  precious  in  his  treasury, 
together  with  his  pictures,  and  his  gold 
and  silver  vessels,  the  sale  of  which  lasted 
two  months. 

The  Marcomanni,  nevertheless,  pressed 
forward  as  far  as  Aquileja,  which  lies  on 
the  frontier  of  Italy,  causing  a  similar 
panic  and  confusion  in  Rome  as  at  the 
time  when  the  Cimbri  crossed  the  Alps. 

Had  a  weak  emperor  then  governed  the 
Roman  empire,  its  fate  would  probably 
have  been  decided.  But  Marcus  Aurelius 
was  a  wise  and  valiant  man,  and  saved 
Rome  once  more  from  great  danger.  He 
maintained  a  war  for  thirteen  years  against 
the  allied  tribes,  and  had  to  endure  several 
sanguinary  battles,  being  even  obliged  to 
maintain  a  warm  skirmish  with  the  Jazygi 
on  the  frozen  Danube  ;  and  although  he 
brought  many  of  the  tribes  individually  to 
peace  and  thereby  weakened  the  enemy, 
and  succeeded  in  irritating  German  tribes 
against  each  other,  he,  nevertheless,  did 
not  survive  the  end  of  the  war,  but  died 
from  his  exertions  during  the  campaign  at 
Windolona,  the  present  Vienna,  in  the 
year  180. 

It  now  fell  upon  his  son,  Commodus,  to 
lead  the  army  against  the  enemy,  and  he 
made  a  speech  to  the  soldiers,  even  over 
the  body  of  his  father,  of  what  great  things 
he  purposed  doing,  and  that  the  ocean 
alone  should  set  limits  to  his  conquests  ; 
but  his  heart  longed  for  the  pleasures  of 
Italy  and  for  the  sensualities  of  his  me- 
tropolis. This  was  well  known  to  his 
flatterers  and  courtiers,  and  as  they  them- 
selves were  weary  of  the  fatigues  of  the 
camp,  they  thus  addressed  him  :  "  How 
much  longer  will  you  exchange  Rome  foi 
the  rude  banks  of  the  Danube,  where  noth- 
ing is  to  be  met  with  but  cold,  rain,  and 
eternal  winter,  where  not  a  fruit-bearing 
tree  is  to  be  seen  and  nothing  to  be  met 
with  to  exhilarate  life  ?  When  will  you 
cease  to  drink  the  frozen  water  of  the 
Danube  while  others  indulge  in  the  warm 
wells  and  baths  of  Italy  ?"  To  such 
speeches  Commodus  listened  eagerly  and 
said,  "  It  is  true  what  you  say,  and  if  I 
preserve  my  life  I  can  assuredly  more 


G4 


CONFEDERATIONS  OF  THE  TRIBES. 


effectually  weaken  tho  enemy  than  if  I 
expose  it  to  the  dangers  of  war."  Some 
of  the  tribes  were  so  reduced  by  his  father 
that  they  willingly  concluded  a  peace  with 
him,  but  from  others  he  purchased  it  in  a 
disgraceful  manner  by  means  of  large 
presents,  and  then  he  hastened  back  to 
Rome.  So  valiantly,  however,  had  these 
tribes  fought,  that,  upon  peace  being  con- 
cluded, the  Quadi  alone  gave  back  50,000, 
and  the  Jazygi  100,000  Roman  prisoners; 
and  all  that  the  Romans  had  gained  by  the 
effusion  of  so  much  blood  was,  that  things 
now  remained  for  a  short  period  tranquil 
upon  these  frontiers  of  their  empire. 

The  proximity  of  the  Romans  on  the 
Rhine,  the  Danube,  and  the  Necker,  had 
by  degrees  effected  alterations  in  the  man- 
ners of  the  Germans.  They  had  become 
acquainted  with  many  new  things,  both 
good  and  bad.  By  means  of  the  former 
they  became  acquainted  with  money,  and 
many  luxuries.  The  Romans  had  planted 
the  vine  on  the  Rhine,  and  constructed 
roads,  cities,  manufactories,  theatres,  fort- 
resses, temples,  and  altars;  Roman  mer- 
chants brought  their  wares  to  Germany, 
and  fetched  thence  ambers,  feathers,*  furs, 
slaves,  and  the  very  hair  of  the  Germans, 
for  it  was  now  the  fashion  to  wear  light 
flaxen  wigs,  instead  of  natural  hair.  Of 
the  cities  which  the  Romans  built  there 
are  manv  yet  remaining,  as  Salzburg, 
Ratisbonhe,  Augsburg,  Basle,  Strasburg, 
Baden,  Spires,  Worms,  Mentz,  Treves, 
Cologne,  Bonn,  &c.  But  in  the  interior  of 
Germany,  neither  the  Romans  nor  their 
habits  and  manners  had  found  friends,  nor 
were  cities  built  there  according  to  the 
Roman  style. 

The  most  important  alteration  that  took 
place  among  the  Germans  at  this  period, 
was  their  concentration  into  several  exten- 
sive confederations  of  the  tribes.  The 
more  ancient  example  of  the  Suevi,  the 
later  combination  of  the  Marcomanni  and 
Cherusci,  and  perhaps  various  successful 
results  in  other  German  districts,  chiefly, 
however,  the  character  presented  by  the 
great  Roman  empire,  which,  notwithstand- 
ing its  great  corruption,  was  yet  strong  by 
its  union :  all  this,  as  well  as  the  predomi- 
nant power  of  individual  tribes,  and  per- 
haps many  other  unknown  causes,  pro- 

»  The  Romans  celebrated  the  white  German  goose, 
which  t.h<  y  even  called  by  its  German  name,  gans.— 
Pan.  Nat.  H.,  x.  27. 


duced  four  great  confederations  of  the 
tribes,  which  probably  arose  from  small 
beginnings,  and  had  existed  perhaps  for 
some  time,  but  had  only  become  known 
and  formidable  to  the  Romans  in  the  third 
century  after  Christ.  Their  origin  will 
probably  always  remain  obscure  to  us. 
The  Roman  writers  here  leave  us  entirely, 
or  are  so  scanty  and  uncertain  in  their  in- 
dications,  that  we  cannot  build  upon  them  : 
and  the  historians  who  afterwards  arose 
among  the  German  tribes  themselves,  were 
so  ignorant  of  their  earlier  history,  that 
they  were  only  able  to  produce  old  tradi- 
tions, and  often  placed  them  in  the  mos, 
wonderful  fashion  in  connection  with  the 
narratives  of  the  ancient  writers  ;  and  thus 
they  connected  the  origin  of  the  German 
tribes  with  the  Trojan  war,  the  expeditions 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  other  special- 
ly celebrated  events  of  the  ancient  world. 
The  confederations  of  the  tribes  as  they 
occur  in  history,  and  as  they  are  actually 
treated  therein,  are  as  follows  : 

1.  The  Alamanni,  afterwards  called  the 
Alemanni,  and  Allemanni,  between  the 
Danube  and  the  Maine  ;  and  subsequently, 
after  they  had  won  back  the  Roman  tithe- 
land,  also  upon  the  Upper  Rhine  and 
Necker.  They  spread  themselves  later 
northward  as  far  as  the  Lahn.  They 
were  a  confederation  of  Suevic  tribes, 
whose  formation  perhaps  emanated  from 
the  Hermunduri,  and,  according  to  the 
opinion,  erroneously  formed,  of  some  an- 
cients,  derived  their  name  from  their  being 
composed  of  all  kinds  of  men,  or  manni. 
But  it  is  perhaps  more  correct  to  consider 
the  name  Allemanni  as  a  warlike,  confed- 
erative  name,  equally  as  the  Marcomanni 
signifies  the  War-manni  on  the  frontiers. 
Germani,  the  army  or  Ger-manni  in  gene- 
ral ;  the  Allemanni  may  therefore  mean 
the  Manni,  who  formed  the  defence  for  the 
whole.  They  were  warlike,  wild,  and 
valiant,  and  gave  the  Romans  no  little  un- 
easiness. Dio  Cassius  first  mentions  them 
in  the  history  of  the  emperor  Caracalla  ; 
accordingly,  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirii 
century  from  this  period — particularly 
after  they  had  penetrated  the  limes,  and  to- 
wards  the  end  of  the  third  century,  after 
the  death  of  the  emperor  Probus,  when 
they  had  conquered  the  tithe-land — they 
fell  upon  the  effeminate  Gauls  (who  hence- 
forward, from  terror,  called  all  Germans 
Allemands,)  at  another  time  made  incur. 


CONFEDERATIONS  OF  THE  TRIBES. 


Gi? 


sions  across  the  Danube,  and  even  across 
the  Alps  into  Italy,  and  each  time  returned 
nome  with  rich  spoil.  Northward  from 
these  dwelt : 

2.  The  Franks,  on  the  Lower  Rhine,  as 
far  as  the  Netherlands  and  the  North  Sea ; 
likewise  a  confederation  collected  from 
different  tribes  of  the  northwest  of  Ger- 
many :  the  Sigambri,  on  the  Issel,  which 
appears  to  have  been  the  chief  tribe,  (the 
subsequent  Salic  Franks,)  the  Chamavi, 
Amsibari,  Tenchteri,  Usipeti,  Brukteri, 
Chatti,  Cherusci,  Tubanti,  and  others. 
The  Friesi  and  Chauci  also  joined  them 
afterwards.  The  name  of  Frank  is  va- 
riously derived  by  ancient  and  modern 
learned  men.  The  broadest  derivation  is 
that  they  wished  to  be  frank  and  free  peo- 
ple, and  thence  called  their  confederation. 
The  name  of  Franks  is  much  more  proba- 
bly supposed  to  be  derived  from  their  pe- 
culiar weapon,  a  javelin  armed  with  a 
barbed  hook,  which  writers  call  Fran- 
ziska,  (perhaps  the  ancient  framed  of  the 
Germans.)  History  mentions  the  Franks 
to  us  for  the  first  time  distinctly  about  the 
middle  of  the  third  century,  as  a  union  of 
north  German  tribes.  Flavins  Vopiscus 
first  names  them  in  the  life  of  the  emperor 
Aurelian,  about  242 ;  after  which  the 
emperor  Julian  and  other  later  writers. 
They  were  also  very  strong  and  bold. 
Their  high  opinion  of  themselves  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  introduction  to  the  Salic 
law,  where  it  states :  "  The  high-famed 
nation  of  the  Franks,  who  have  God  for 
their  judge,  are  brave  in  war,  profound  in 
council,  firm  in  union,  noble,  manly  in 
form,  bold,  prompt,  firm ;  such  is  the  na- 
tion, which,  small  in  number,  by  strength 
and  courage,  burst  the  yoke  of  the  Ro- 
mans." They  traversed  many  Roman 
countries,  particularly  Gaul,  from  one  end 
to  the  other,  whenever  they  were  excited 
by  the  lust  of  prey  and  booty.  They 
even  crossed  the  Pyrenees  into  Spain,  and 
conquered  the  city  of  Tarragona.  The 
Romans  in  the  third  century  had  so  frail 
a  tenure  of  these  countries,  that  the 
Franks  and  other  German  warlike  hordes, 
among  whom  are  named  the  Burgundians 
and  Vandals,  had  possession  of  seventy 
considerable  cities  in  Gaul.  After  a  long 
period  a  hero  again  appeared  among1  the 
Roman  rulers,  in  the  emperor  Probus 
(276-282;)  he  drove  the  Germans  be- 
yond the  Rhine,  fell  upor  their  country. 
9 


and  conquered  so  many  of  them,  that  in 
order  to  reduce  them,  he  was  enabled  to 
transplant  many  thousands  into  other  por 
tions  of  his  empire.  He  conveyed  a  body 
of  the  Franks,  who  had  their  seat  upon  the 
North  Sea,  more  than  a  thousand  miles 
into  a  distant  country,  to  the  coasts  of  the 
Black  Sea.  He  expected  the  Germans 
would  here  forget  their  bleak  fatherland, 
for  here  they  dwelt  in  a  most  beautiful 
and  warm  climate^  and  in  a  rich  and  de- 
lightful country.  They,  however,  could 
not  banish  from  their  recollection  the  cold 
shores  of  the  stormy  North  Sea,  but  only 
planned  how  they  could  return.  They 
attacked  and  took  possession  of  several 
ships,  and  in  them  passed,  amidst  a  thou- 
sand dangers  and  difficulties,  through  un- 
known waters,  across  the  seas  of  Greece 
and  Africa,  and  by  the  coasts  of  Italy, 
Spain,  and  France,  towards  their  home. 
They  were  often  obliged  to  land,  and  fight 
with  the  natives  for  provisions  ;  they  even 
conquered  the  large  city  of  Syracuse  in 
Sicily,  which  the  Athenians  in  ancient 
times  had  vainly  invested. for  three  years; 
and  they  at  last  came  through  the  great 
Ocean  into  the  North  Sea,  and  back  to 
their  German  coasts.  This  took  place  in 
the  year  280.* 

3.  The  Saxon  confederation  is  named, 
together  with  the  Franks,  as  early  as  the 
year  288,  by  Eutropius,  and  was  formed 
of  the  remaining  Lower  German  tribes  who 
had  not  joined  the  Franks,  or  had  again 
separated  themselves  from  them.  Amm. 
Marcellinus  next  mentions  the  Saxons  as 
the  neighbors  of  the  Franks  about  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century,  and  after 
him  they  are  named  by  many  others-  The 
greatest  territorial  extension  which  ihcy 
attained  in  the  course  of  the  following  cea- 
turies  up  to  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  was 
from  the  Danes,  from  whom  they  were 
separated  by  the  Eider,  over  Lower  Sax- 
ony and  the  greatest  portion  of  Wes'phalia, 
and  in  addition  they  occupied  the  banks  of 
the  Elbe,  Weser,  Aller,  Seine,  Ems,  Lippe, 
and  Ruhr..  The  history  of  this  command 
of  territory  by  the  Saxons  is  entirely  un- 
known to  us.  If  we  fix  upon  the  name  of 
the  small  tribe  of  the  Saxons  which  is  men. 
tioned  in  the  second  century  by  Ptolemy 
alone,  and  who  places  them  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Elbe,  and  towards  Holstein,  it  then 

*  Zosimus,  i.,  71 ;  Eumenius  in  Panepryr.,  iv.,  18 


CONFEDERATIONS  OF  THE  TRIBES.  % 


becomes  probable  that  these,  together  with 
the  Chauci,  Brukteri,  Cherusci,  and  Friesi, 
(who  again  detached  themselves  from  the 
Francoman  league,)  the  Angrivari,  the 
Fosi,  and  other  tribes,  formed  an  alliance 
against  the  powerful  confederation  of  the 
Franks,  and  drove  these,  who  previously 
occupied  the  greater  portion  of  Westphalia, 
farther  towards  the  Rhine. 

The  Saxons  appear  subsequently  divided 
into  three  circles  :  that  of  the  Eastphalians, 
beyond  the  Weser,  in  the  country  of  Han- 
over and  Brunswick  ;  the  WestphaUans  on 
the  Ems,  and  the  Lippe  in  Minister,  Osna- 
brtick,  &c.,  as  far  as  the  Rhine ;  and  the 
Engerians,  in  the  centre  between  both,  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Weser,  continuing  per- 
haps the  name  of  the  Angrivari  in  an 
abridged  form. 

The  Saxons  likewise  well  understood 
navigation,  although  in  the  earlier  times 
they  possessed  but  poor  ships,  formed  as 
they  were  principally  of  twisted  branches 
and  boughs  of  trees  lashed  together,  and 
then  covered  over  with  hides  of  oxen  and 
bullocks — they  were  called  by  the  name 
of  kiel.*  They  committed  many  piracies, 
and  became  first  known  to  the  Romans  at 
the  end  of  the  third  century  as  pirates  on 
the  Gallic  coasts,  We  shall  find,  subse- 
quently, that  they  crossed  over  to  England, 
and  there  founded  new  kingdoms.  They 
placed  themselves  only  during  the  wars 
under  the  leadership  of  dukes,  who  after- 
wards immediately  withdrew  into  the  ranks 
of  the  nobility.  In  times  of  .peace  they 
legislated  by  representation,  and  sent  from 
each  of  the  three  circles  an  equal  number 
if  chosen  deputies  to  their  assembly,  whose 
decisions  were  valid  for  all.  Thus  the 
idea  of  a  representative  parliament,  of 
which  the  ancient  nations  knew  nothing, 
originated  with  the  Germans. 

But  still  more  powerful  than  all  these 
tribes  were  : 

4.  The  Gollis.  Their  name  we  have 
already  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Vistula. 
Subsequently,  however,  it  is  mentioned 
from  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  as  far  as 
the  East  Sea.  They  were  evidently  a 
union  of  many  mixed  nations,  as  it  ap- 
pears, belonging  hereditarily  to  the  Gothic 
race,  and  perhaps  founded  already  at  the 
period  of  the  great  war  of  the  Eastern 
tribes  against  Mark  Aurelius.  And  while 

*  Kiel,  a  Danish  port,  still  bears  this  sign  in  its  city 

mm. 


on  the  one  hand  the  Alemanni,  Franks 
and  Saxons,  attacked  the  country  of  the 
Romans,  which  lay  towards  the  west,  the 
Goths,  on  the  other,  turned  their  attack? 
towards  the  south  and  the  east,  the  Black 
Sea  and  the  Danube.  Already,  in  the 
third  century,  the  Romans  had  to  maintain 
severe  contests  with  them.  The  Gothic 
king  Eniva,  crossing  the  Danube,  invaded 
Mcesia  and  Thracia,  conquered  several 
cities,  laid  the  country  waste,  and  when 
the  emperor  Decius  advanced  to  meet  him, 
he  gained  so  great  a  victory  over  him  at 
Abrutum,  that  the  emperor  himself  and  his 
son  remained  slain  upon  the  field.  From 
this  battle,  in  the  year  251,  the  superiority 
of  the  Germans,  and  the  weakness  of  the 
Romans,  became  more  and  more  evident, 
although  several  powerful  emperors  gained 
victories  over  them.  Even  the  successoi 
of  Decius,  the  emperor  Gallus,  was  obligea 
to  purchase  peace  with  the  Goths,  by  leav- 
ing them  all  the  booty,  as  well  as  all  the 
distinguished  prisoners,  and  promising 
them  besides  a  yearly  tribute.  At  a  later 
period  they  made,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Herulians,  several  bold  and  dangerous 
piratic  expeditions,  from  the  northern  coasts 
of  the  Black  Sea,  as  well  as  beyond  it,  to 
those  of  the  Mediterranean.  Athens,  with 
many  monuments  of  its  flourishing  period, 
the  vicinity  of  Troy,  and  the  splendid  tem- 
ple of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  were  overrun  by 
them,  and  the  latter  wholly  destroyed. 

The  great  prince  of  the  Goths,  who,  of 
all  others,  spread  their  dominion  the  most 
extensively,  was  Armanarich,  or  Herman- 
rich,  who  lived  in  the  fourth  century.  He 
ruled  over  them  for  more  than  two  gene- 
rations, and  attained  himself  the  age  of  a 
hundred  and  ten  years.  His  empire  ex- 
pended from  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Danube 
over  Moldavia,  Wallachia,  Hungary,  Po- 
land, and  Prussia,  to  the  Baltic. 

The  Goths  early  divided  themselves  into 
two  head  divisions,  which  afterwards,  after 
many  changes,  appear  in  the  history  under 
the  titles  of  the  Eastern  Gotlis  and  the 
Western  Goths.  Kings  of  the  race  of  the 
Amalians  (probably  the  pure,  without 
stain)  ruled  over  the  Eastern  Goths  3  and 
the  Western  Goths  were  governed  by  the 
royal  race  of  the  Baltians,  (from  lalt, 
bold.^  Among  the  Eastern  Goths,  the 
Greuthungi,  and  among  the  Western 
Goths,  the  Thcrvingi,  were  the  chief  tribes. 

The  Goths  beloned  to  the  noblest  and 


DECLINE  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


67 


most  civilized  German  tribes,  and  had 
adopted  Christianity  at  a  very  early  pe 
riod.  Their  bishop,  Ulphilas,  or  Wulfila, 
(WOlflein,)  as  early  as  the  fourth  century, 
undertook  the  truly  wonderful  task  of 
translating  the  Bible*  into  their  language, 
until  then  but  little  cultivated ;  and  thus 
was  speedily  diffused  among  them,  togeth- 
er with  the  belief  in  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  both  gentler  feelings  and  manners. 

Besides  these  confederations,  there  were 
other  isolated  tribes  in  Germany,  particu- 
larly two,  who  will  speedily  appear  among 
the  rest,  as  distinguished  for  power  and 
dignity,  viz.,  the  Burgundi,  earlier  on  the 
Vistula,  and  the  Longobardi,  on  the  Elbe. 

At  the  period  that  the  German  tribes 
flourished  in  their  prime,  and  collected  and 
combined  their  power  in  large  unions,  the 
Roman  empire,  in  its  declining  strength, 
became  daily  more  and  more  reduced 
within  itself,  and  its  magnitude  was  a  bur- 
den to  it.  The  majority  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  from  the  year  180  downward, 
became  in  a  greater  degree  enervated,  and 
with  their  effeminacy,  grew  likewise  either 
more  and  more  malignant  and  suspicious, 
or  they  were  avowed  tyrants,  and  shed  the 
blood  of  the  best  men  without  reserve  or 
shame.  But  even  if  a  good  ruler  hap- 
oened  to  appear,  and  sought  to  maintain 
right  and  order,  he  was  speedily  murdered 
by  the  wild  horde  of  soldiers ;  for  they  it 
was  who,  in  fact,  ruled  the  empire.  Ac- 
cording to  their  pleasure,  they  elevated  or 
deposed  the  emperors ;  and  to  such  shame- 
less extent  did  they  carry  their  sway,  that 
they  publicly  offered  the  imperial  crown 
for  sale,  arid  placed  it  upon  the  head  of 
him  who  gave  them  the  most  money.  In 
the  course  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years,  from  180-300,  in  which  period,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  things,  six  rulers 
would  have  succeeded  each  other,  no  less 
than  six  and  thirty  emperors  governed  the 
Roman  empire,  of  whom  twenty-seven 
were  murdered,  three  fell  in  war,  and  only 
six  died  a  natural  death. 

It  did  not,  however,  suffice  that  an  em- 

*  This  translation  is  the  most  ancient,  and  for  us,  an 
invaluable  monument  of  our  language.  For  a  long 
period  there  only  existed  two  >H.  copies  thereof :  the 
so-called  Codex  Argentina,  (of  the  silver  letters,)  in 
Upsala,  and  the  Codex  Carolina*,  in  Wolfenbiittel. 
These,  however,  contain  only  the  four  Evangelists  and 
a  portion  of  the  Roman  Epistles;  while  Ulphilas  trans- 
lated the  whole  Bible,  with  the  exception  of  the  books 
of  Samuel  and  the  Kings.  In  recent  times,  however, 
Considerable  portions  of  the  remaining  translation  have 
Oeen  discovered  and  made  known  in  Milan. 


peror  was  destroyed  every  moment,  but 
the  murderers  slew  all  his  adherents  with 
him ;  so  that  blood  was  shed  in  streams, 
and  the  majority,  in  their  selfishness,  took 
especial  care  not  to  adhere  too  faithfully 
to  their  princes  to  the  last.  In  such  times, 
the  Romans  necessarily  became  a  corrupt- 
ed, reckless,  and  contemptible  people,  who 
only  cared  to  pass  their  days  in  idleness, 
luxury,  and  sensuality.  For  when  man 
beholds  before  him  no  security  for  the  fu- 
ture, and  knows  not  if  the  fruits  of  his  in- 
dustry will  descend  to  his  children,  he  then 
only  considers  how  he  himself  shall  enjoy 
the  present  moment ;  and  thus,  in  his  sen- 
sual voracity  and  brutality,  he  places  him- 
self upon  a  level  with  the  irrational  beasts, 
no  longer  thinking  of  a  future  judgment 
and  a  retribution. 

It  is  true  that  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  had 
calmly  diffused  itself  likewise  among  the 
Romans,  and  had  certainly  saved  many 
from  the  general  ruin.  The  emperor 
Constantine  himself  even,  who  removed 
the  seat  of  empire  from  Rome  to  Constan- 
tinople, made  it,  in  the  year  311,  the  es- 
tablished religion  of  his  empire ;  and, 
ndeed,  from  that  time  Roman  affairs  took 
for  a  period  a  more  favorable  turn,  but  the 
improvement  was  not  fundamental.  The 
Romans,  during  the  dominion  of  vice,  had 
lost  the  higher  moral  power  of  the  soul,  in 
which  alone  the  divine  word  can  take  deep 
root ;  the  former  sinfulness  became  inter- 
mixed with  the  modern  doctrines,  and 
'hus,  as  pure  spring-water,  when  flowing 
into  a  morass,  becomes  as  bad  as  the  stag- 
nant pool  itself,  so  did  the  admixture  of  the 
ancient  wickedness  with  the  new  light  of 
~hristian  virtue,  destroy  completely  all 
beneficial  results. 

In  this  condition  of^the  world,  it  is  easy 
:o  understand  that  the  attacks  of  the  Ger- 
man nations  upon  the  Roman  empire,  must 
necessarily  have  become  daily  more  suc- 
cessful ;  and  it  also  explains  how  they 
.vore  urged  by  an  irresistible  natural  im- 
)ulse  to  overpower  such  miserable  neigh- 
Dors,  by  whom  they  themselves  had  been 
irst  attacked,  and  who,  notwithstanding 
heir  enervation  and  corruption,  considered 
hemselves  a  noble-  race  than  the  unpol- 
shed  Germans,  whom  they  called  barba. 
•ians.  And  thus  in  nature  also  it  may  be 
observed  as  a  rule,  that  where  there  is  a 
vacuum,  the  active,  agitated  powers  of  air 
arfd  water  forthwith  stride  to  break  in. 


OS 


THE  HUNNS 


CHAPTER  III. 
375—476. 

The  Hunns— -Commencement  of  the  Great  Migration, 
375— Irruption  of  the  Western  Goths,Vandals,  Suevi, 
Burgundians,  and  other  tribes,  into  the  Western  Ro- 
man Empire— Alaric— Attila,  God's  Scourge,  451— 
The  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  West,  470. 

ABOUT  the  year  375,  when  the  emperor 
Valens  reigned  in  Constantinople,  and  the 
western  empire  was  under  the  dominion  of 
his  nephew,  the  youthful  Gratian,  a  new 
tribe,  almost  unknown  and  exceedingly 
savage,  broke  forth  from  Asia.  They  were 
not  of  German  but  of  Mongolian  origin,  and 
were  called  Hunns.  Terror  and  dread  pre- 
ceded them,  and  those  who  had  seen  them 
described  them  in  the  following  terms  :* 
"  The  tribe  called  Hunns  surpass  every 
degree  of  savageness.  They  have  firm-set 
limbs  and  thick  necks,  and  their  whole  fig- 
ure is  so  misshapen  and  broad,  that  they 
might  be  considered  as  two-legged  monsters, 
or  as  posts  that  have  been  roughly  hewn  to 
support  the  balustrades  of  bridges.!  And  as, 
immediately  after  their  birth,  deep  incis- 
ions are  made  in  the  cheeks  of  their  chil- 
dren, so  that  the  growth  of  hair  may  be 
hindered  by  cicatrizing  the  wounds,  they 
remain  beardless  and  most  hateful  to  be- 
hold, even  to  the  most  advanced  period  of 
life.  In  addition  to  their  ill-favored  and 
repulsive  shapes,  they  are  so  savage  that 
they  neither  need  fire,  nor  cook  their  vic- 
tuals; but  the  roots  of  wild  plants  and  the 
half-raw  flesh  of  the  first  good  animal  they 
meet  with,  and  which  they  place  beneath 
them  upon  the  backs  of  their  horses  and  thus 
ride  it  somewhat  tender,  is  their  whole  sus- 
tenance. They  enter  houses  only  when 
they  are  forced  by  the  most  extreme  neces- 
sity ;  they  avoid  them  as  the  separated 
graves  of  life,  but  wandering  through  moun- 
tains and  valleys,  they  learn  to  endure, 
from  their  infancy,  frost,  hunger,  and  thirst. 
They  clothe  themselves  in  a  linen  garment 
or  in  furs,  consisting  of  the  skins  of  mice 
sewn  together  ;  they  cover  their  heads  with 
overhanging  caps,  and  their  legs  with  the 
skins  of  goats.  Their  rough  and  clumsy 
boots  prevent  them  from  walking  freely, 
and  therefore  they  cannot  fight  on  foot ; 
but  are  almost  grown,  as  it  were,  to  their 
horses,  which  are  durable,  but,  in  keeping 
with  their  masters,  as  characteristically 
ugly.  All  their  business  is  transacted  upon 
horseback,  and  thus  this  people  buy  and 

*  Amm.  Marce. ...  xxi.,  2  •  Dordanis  24 


sell,  eat  and  drink ;  and,  leaning  upon  the 
neck  of  his  swift  animal,  the  rider  sinks 
into  a  deep  sleep,  even  to  the  very  phan- 
tasma  of  dreams ;  and  if  a  council  is  to  be 
held  upon  serious  matters,  it  is  conducted 
in  this  same  manner. 

"  They  commence  battle  with  a  terrific 
howl ;  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning  they 
advance  and  purposely  disperse  themselves 
in  the  same  moment ;  return  rapidly  again, 
hover  about  in  irregular  array,  destroying 
heedlessly  whatever  they  meet  with  here 
and  there  ;  and  from  their  extraordinary 
speed,  almost  before  they  are  observed, 
they  are  already  engaged  in  storming  the 
wall,  or  plundering  the  camp  of  the  enemy. 
At  a  distance  they  fight  with  javelins, 
whose  points  are  furnished  with  polished 
bones,  prepared  with  extraordinary  skill ; 
but  in  close  combat  with  the  sabre,  while 
the  enemy  parries  the  thrust,  they  cast  a 
noose  over  him  and  carry  him  off*. 

"Agriculture  is  not  practised  among 
them,  and  none  touch  the  plough,  for  all 
roam  about  without  a  dwelling,  without  a 
home,  without  laws  and  fixed  customs, 
always  wanderers ;  the  women  dwell  in 
wagons,  where  they  weave  their  coarse 
garments  and  briug  up  their  children.  H 
the  question  be  put  to  them,  whence  they 
come,  none  can  return  an  answer  ;  for  they 
are  begot  at- one  place,  born  at  another,  and 
brought  up  again  elsewhere.  Adherence 
to  contracts  they  know  not,  and  like  insen- 
sible animals,  they  scarcely  know  aught  of 
justice  or  injustice,  but  they  precipitate 
themselves  with  all  the  impetuosity  of  their 
desires  upon  an  object,  and  they  waver  at 
every  newly  raised  hope  or  prospect ;  nay, 
they  are  so  changeable  and  irritable,  that 
even  sometimes  in  the  same  day,  without  the 
least  offence,  they  fall  out  with  their  allies, 
and  again,  without  any  persuasion,  they 
return  and  become  friends  with  them  again." 

This  lightly  equipped  and  uncontrollable 
race,  burning  with  a  fearful  and  determin- 
ed desire  of  booty  from  strangers,  broke 
forth  from  the  sea  of  Asov,  whither  they 
were  driven  much  earlier  from  their  ancient 
pastures  on  the  frontiers  of  China,  and  fell 
first  upon  the  Alani,  thought  by  some  to  be 
an  Asiatic  tribe,  by  others  again  considered 
to  be  a  branch  of  the  Goths  ;  but  it  is  prob- 
ably a  collective  name,  by  which  the  Ro- 
mans signify  the  tribes  eastward  of  the 
Goths  on  the  Wolga  and  the  Don,  who  may 
possibly  have  been  of  different  races.  The 


THE  HUNNS  AND  GOTHS. 


69 


Hunns  are  said  to  have  sacrificed  their  first 
European  prisoners  to  the  manes  of  their 
ancient  princes.  This  immense  swarm 
then  rushed  onward  upon  the  Goths.  Her- 
manrich,  a  brave  old  warrior,  upwards  of 
a  hundred  years  of  age,  and  still  suffering 
from  a  severe  wound  received  in  battle, 
when  he  saw  he  could  not  resist  the  Hunns, 
would  not  survive  his  formerly  acquired 
fame,  and  therefore,  in  despair,  killed  him- 
self. His  people  were  obliged  to  subject 
themselves  to  the  power  of  these  savages, 
and  the  Thervingians  considering  resist- 
ance useless,  quitted  their  ancient  seats, 
and  sent  messengers  to  the  emperor  Va- 
lens,  at  Constantinople,  with  a  petition : 
"  that  if  he  would  give  them  lano1  and  pas- 
turage beyond  the  Danube,  they  would  be 
the  defenders  of  the  frontiers."  As  medi- 
ator for  the  Thervingians,  it  is  very  prob- 
able, that  much  was  effected  by  the  Gothic 
Bishop  Ulphilas,  who,  in  a  persecution 
made  against  the  Christians  by  the  pagan 
G  >thic  princes,  had,  some  time  previously, 
together  with  several  Gothic  Christians, 
taken  refuge,  and  been  granted  an  asylum 
on  Roman  ground,  at  the  foot  of  the  Hce- 
mus.  This  pious  and  patriotic  prelate  had, 
indeed,  during  a  space  of  forty  years,  been 
continually  occupied  in  working  for  the 
benefit  of  his  people.  The  emperor  receiv- 
ed them  kindly.  They  were  not  pursued 
by  the  Hunns,  who  now  followed  pastur- 
age, hunting,  and  pillage,  for  more  than 
fifty  years  in  the  steppes  and  forests  of  the 
present  southern  Russia,  Poland,  and  Hun- 
gary, by  which  means  they  came  into  fre- 
quent intercourse  with  the  Romans,  whom 
they  often  served  in  war ;  and,  humanized 
by  this  communication  with  the  latter  and 
the  Germans,  much  of  the  uncouthness  in 
their  manners  was  removed. 

The  new  seat  of  the  Western  Goths  in 
Maesia  became  very  soon  too  narrow  for 
them  ;  and  as  their  herds  did  not  supply 
them  with  sufficient  support,  they  begged 
permission  to  barter  for  their  necessary 
wants.  The  Roman  rulers,  however,  Lu- 
picinus  and  Maximus,  took  such  shameful 
advantage  of  their  necessities,  that  for  a 
loaf  and  about  ten  pounds  of  miserable 
meat,  (frequently  the  flesh  of  dogs,)  they 
demanded  a  slave  in  return.  The  majority 
of  their  herds  were  consumed,  their  slaves 
gone,  and  famine  induced  many  to  give  up 
even  their  children  for  bread.  While  the 
oeople  suffered  from  these  grievances, 


Fridigem,  the  Gothic  prince,  was  invited 
as  a  guest  by  Lupicinus  to  Marcianopolis. 
He  was  a  valiant  youth,  full  of  the  heroic 
courage  of  his  ancestors ;  and  on  this  oc- 
casion many  young  men,  his  brethren  in 
arms  and  other  friends,  accompanied  him. 
While  he  was  eating,  the  cries  of  his  fol- 
lowers outside  rose  suddenly  upon  his  ear, 
for  the  Romans  had  fallen  upon  them  and 
were  murdering  them.  With  his  eyes 
sparkling  with  vengeance,  and  his  sword 
in  hand,  he  sprang  up,  and  rushing  out, 
saved  his  friends,  and  hastened  away  with 
them.*  The  Goths,  embittered  at  the 
treachery  of  the  Romans,  broke  up,  de- 
feated Lupicinus,  and  traversed  the  nearest 
provinces  with  fire  and  sword  ;  and  from 
the  walls  of  Constantinople  were  seen  the 
flames  of  the  villages  and  country-seats 
which  they  had  lighted. 

The  emperor  Valens  advanced  against 
Fridigern  wi;a  an  army  ;  the  assistance 
which  his  nephew,  Gratian,  was  bringing 
to  his  aid  from  the  west,  he  would  not  wait 
for,  in  order  to  retain  alone  the  honor  of 
victory  •  and  he  precipitately  ventured  a 
battle  near  Adrianople.  It  was  severely 
contested  ;  but  the  Gothic  infantry  repulsed 
at  last  the  Roman  cavalry,  and  then  the 
legions.  The  emperor  fled  wounded  ;  his 
horse  falling,  he  had  scarcely  time  to  save 
himself  in  a  neighboring  peasant's  hut. 
The  Goths,  far  from  thinking  that  the  Ro- 
man emperor  was  concealed  beneath  a 
thatched  roof,  set  fire  to  this  as  well  as 
other  huts  ;  and  Valens  found  his  death 
in  this  miserable  manner  in  the  year  378. 

In  this  pitiable  state  the  empire  was  once 
more  warded  from  its  fall  by  the  vigorous 
and  prudent  emperor  Theodosius,  a  Span- 
iard by  birth.  He  contrived  to  weaken 
the  Goths  by  divisions,  and  made  Fridi- 
gern's  successor,  Athanaric,  conclude  a 
peace.  He  promised  the  Goths  a  consid- 
erable supply  of  provisions,  and  they,  in 
return,  lent  him  40,000  men  as  auxilia- 
ries. 

This  emperor  died  in  the  year  395,  and 
his  two  sons,  Honorius  and  Arcadius,  divi- 
ded the  empire  between  them ;  Arcadius 
took  his  seat  at  Constantinople,  Honorius 
in  Italy,  and  the  first  division  was  called 
the  eastern,  and  the  second  the  western 
empire. 

The   sons  did   not  resemble  the  father 

*  Amm.  Marceil.,  xxxi  5,  and  Jordaiiis,  26. 


THE  GOTHS— ALARIC. 


too  indolent  to  undertake  the  government 
themselves,  they  allowed  their  chancellors, 
the  Gaul,  Riifinius,  and  the  Vandal,  Stili- 
cho, to  rule.  Rufinius,  who  was  chancel- 
lor in  Constantinople,  corrupt  and  selfish, 
thought  by  war  and  daring  adventures  to 
exalt  himself  and  increase  his  power ;  ac- 
cordingly he  excited  the  Goths  under  Ala- 
ric  to  make  an  irruption.  The  presents 
promised  them  by  Theodosius  were  not  de- 
livered, and  Alaric  devastated  Thracia 
throughout ;  and  Stilicho  advanced  against 
him,  but  was  driven  back  by  the  jealous 
Rufinius,  who  was  murdered  by  the  embit- 
tered army.  Upon  this,  Alaric  turned 
against  Greece,  then  quite  defenceless, 
which  he  robbed  of  its  last  treasures  and 
glories.  Suddenly,  Stilicho  attacked  and 
pressed  hard  upon  the  Goths ;  but  Arca- 
dius  ordered  him  to  retire,  negotiated  with 
Alaric,  and  made  him  general  of  Illyria, 
that  is — gave  it  up  to  him  in  396.  The 
Goths  broke  up  from  here  in  the  year  402, 
and  advanced  across  the  Alps.  Stilicho, 
nevertheless,  once  more  succeeded,  by  a 
determined  resistance,  in  forcing  his  dan- 
gerous enemy  to  retire  beyond  the  boun- 
dary line  of  mountains.  And  in  the  same 
manner  he  saved  Italy  in  the  year  405  from 
the  attack  of  a  large  mixed  army  of  Ger- 
man tribes,  which,  under  Radagaisus,  en- 
deavored to  break  across  the  Alps  from  a 
different  side,  and  were  perhaps  in  alliance 
with  Alaric.  The  history  of  these  times  is 
very  confused,  and  it  is  therefore  not  clear 
if  that  body  was  destroyed  near  Fcesulse, 
as  some  historians  relate,  or  whether  Stili- 
cho was  enabled  to  remove  them  by  treaty, 
and  direct  them  to  Gaul.  But  it  appears 
that  Stilicho  also  pursued  ambitious  pro- 
jects ;  for  he  had  combined  with  Alaric  to 
make  an  attack  upon  the  eastern  empire, 
but  was  accused  of  treachery  by  his  ene- 
mies, and  by  command  of  the  emperor 
Honorius,  his  own  son-in-law,  he  was  as- 
sassinated in  the  year  408.  As  soon  as 
Uaric  heard  of  the  death  of  Stilicho,  he 
once  more  advanced  against  Italy,  pressed 
through  the  passes  of  the  Alps,  crossed  the 
Po,  and  went  direct  to  Rome ;  he  left  the 
emperor  in  Ravenna,  for  he  despised  this 
weak  prince.  In  Rome  all  was  terror  and 
confusion ;  fo*  since  600  years  the  Ro- 
mans had  seen  no  enemy  before,  nor  dur- 
ing 800  years  had  they  beheld  an  enemy 
within  their  walls,  thence  the  city  was  call- 
ed the  eternal  city.  They,  nevertheless, 


once  more  gave  voice  to  their  ancien 
haughtiness,  and  thus  addressed  Alaric:* 
"The  Roman  people  are  numerous  and 
strong,  and  by  their  constant  practice  in 
arms  are  so  bold  and  courageous  that  they 
have  no  dread  of  war."  But  Alario 
only  laughed  aloud  at  this,  and  replied 
"  Thickly  standing  grass  is  much  easiei 
mowed  than  thin."  The  ambassadors  then 
asked  the  conditions  of  peace.  He  de- 
manded all  the  gold  and  silver,  together 
with  the  whole  of  the  rich  plate  contained 
in  the  city,  and  all  the  slaves  of  German 
origin.  On  which  they  asked,  "  What 
will  you  then  leave  us  ?"  "  Your  souls  !" 
said  he.  Thus  insolently  spoke  a  man, 
born  among  a  barbaric  tribe,  upon  the  isl- 
and of  Peuce,  (at  the  mouth  of  the  Dan- 
ube,) to  that  city  which,  for  centuries,  had 
ruled  the  habitable  earth,  and  through  the 
gates  and  streets  of  which  the  proudesl 
heroes  had  marched  in  triumph,  crowned 
with  victories  gained  over  foreign  nations, 
and  loaded  with  booty  from  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa ! 

At  this  moment,  certain  prophets  from 
Tuscany,  who  were  in  the  city,  offered 
themselves  to  drive  Alaric  back  from  Rome 
by  prophetic  threats,  if,  in  return,  they 
might  be  allowed  to  institute  feasts  and 
sacrifices  to  their  ancient  divinities.  Doubt- 
less, when  he  heard  of  such  weak  and  fu- 
tile proposals  being  made,  the  valorous 
Alaric  treated  the  matter  with  merited  con- 
tempt and  derision. 

When  now  the  Romans  discovered  no 
hopes  of  being  rescued,  they  were  obliged 
to  fulfil  the  wishes  of  their  enemy,  and 
promise  him  5,000  pounds  of  gold  and 
30,000  of  silver,  besides  a  multiplicity  GJ 
rare  and  costly  articles.  But  so  much  gold 
and  silver  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  inhabitants.  They  were, 
therefore,  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the 
ornaments  and  decorations  of  the  ancient 
temples ;  and  it  is  said  that,  among  the 
statues  of  their  divinities,  that  of  Valor  was 
also  melted  down — it  thus  appearing  as  if 
all  that  still  remained  in  Rome  of  that  no- 
ble quality  in  man  was  now  annihilated  for 
ever. 

The  emperor  Honorius  refused  to  enter, 
into  any  negotiation  whatever  with  Alaric, 
who,  therefore,  returned  next  year  to  Rome, 
and  appointed  another  emperor,  of  the  mime 
of  Attains,  as  rival  to  Honorius ;  but  as 
*  Zosimus,  v..  34. 


MIGRATION  OF  THE  TRIBES 


71 


after  one  year's  trial,  he  also  proved  him- 
self to  be  wholly  worthless,  Alaric  reduced 
him  again  to  the  dust  from  which  ho  had 
raised  him,  and  the  city  of  Rome,  which 
held  out  against  him,  he  now  took  by  storm. 
This  happened  on  the  22d  of  August,  in  the 
year  410.  The  Goths  entered  the  imperial 
palace  and  plundered  it,  as  well  as  the 
houses  of  the  nobles  ;  but  they  so  far  mod- 
erated their  ire,  that  they  did  not  burn  the 
city.  It  was  a  happy  thing  for  the  Romans 
that  the  Goths  were  Christians ;  for  those 
who  fled  to  the  churches  were  not  molested 
or  touched  ;  nay,  a  singular  occurrence, 
which  is  related  to  us,  displays  very  evi- 
dently the  pious  feeling  of  these  people.  A 
warrior,  who  entered  the  house  of  a  female, 
found  gold  and  silver  vessels  there.  She 
told  him  that  they  belonged  to  the  holy 
apostle  St.  Peter,  and  were  given  to  her  in 
charge  for  the  church  ;  he  might,  there- 
fore, act  as  he  thought  proper.  The  sol- 
dier communicated  this  to  Alaric,  who  sent 
immediately  thither,  and  caused  the  sacred 
vessels  to  be  carried  with  solemnity  back 
to  the  church.  The  Romans,  animated  by. 
such  generous  tolerance,  accompanied  the 
train,  chanting  solemn  hymns ;  and  the 
Gothic  warriors,  astonished  at  the  unex- 
pected spectacle,  ceased  to  plunder,  joined 
the  procession  themselves,  and  thus  was 
the  fury  of  war  transformed  into  genial 
peace  by  mere  Christian  emotion. 

Alaric  remained  only  a  few  days  in 
Rome  ;  he  then  advanced  towards  Lower 
Italy,  indulging  his  imagination  with  mag- 
nificent plains,  for,  as  it  appears,  he  pur- 
posed embarking  for  the  beautiful  island  of 
Sicily,  and  thence  to  proceed  to  Africa,  in 
order  to  conquer  likewise  this  granary  of 
Italy.  But  death  overtook  him  at  Cosenza, 
in  his  34th  year.  The  entire  Westro- 
Golhic  nation  bewailed  his  loss,  and  pre- 
pared a  remarkable  and  memorable  grave 
for  him.  They  dug  another  bed  for  the 
river  Busento,  conducting  the  water  through 
it,  and  then  buried  their  king,  fully  armed 
and  equipped,  in  the  original  bed  of  the 
river,  accompanied  by  his  war-horse  and 
the  trophies  of  his  victories.  They  then 
conducted  the  course  of  the  river  back 
again,  in  order  that  neither  Roman  covet- 
ousness  nor  revenge  should  desecrate  or 
disturb  the  great  Alaric,  in  the  grave  where 
he  reposed  from  his  victories.  Upon  his 
death,  the  Goths  elected  for  their  king  the 
most  handsome  of  their  young  nobles,  the 


youth  Alhaulf,  or  Adolplius,  the  brother-in. 
law  of  Alaric.  lie  advanced  from  Lower 
Italy  to  Rome,  where  he  obliged  the  empc. 
ror  Honorius  to  give  him  his  own  sister, 
Placidia,  as  consort;  he  then  quitted  Italy, 
passed  with  his  nation  into  Gaul  and  Spain, 
and  he  and  his  successor,  Wdllia,  were  the 
founders  of  the  extensive  Westro-Gothie 
kingdom,  which  comprised  the  south  of 
France  as  far  as  the  Loire,  and  speedily- 
embraced  Spain  also,  the  metropolis  of 
which  was  Toulouse,  on  the  river  Garonne. 
In  the  year  419,  the  Romans  formally  de- 
livered  Southern  Gaul  up  to  Wallia.  The 
commencement  of  the  fifth  century  was 
therefore  in  the  highest  degree  turbulent, 
from  the  violent  movements  of  the  various 
nations.  Almost  all  the  German  tribes  sent 
out  hordes  of  troops  upon  excursions  of  pil- 
lage or  conquest;  or  they  themselves, 
pressed  forward  by  the  superior  attacks  of 
other  tribes,  broke  up  their  abode,  that  they 
might,  arms  in  hand,  seek  elsewhere  for 
new  dwellings.  The  weak  alone,  who 
could  or  would  not  quit  their  paternal  dwell- 
ing, remained  behind,  and  became  mingled 
with  and  lost  amidst  the  immediately  suc- 
ceeding race.  Besides  the  Goths,  the  Van- 
dals and  Alans  were  pressed  forward  by 
the  Ilunns,  and  advanced  from  the  east 
gradually  towards  the  west.  In  their  ad- 
vance, the  Burgundians,  who  likewise  had 
quitted  their  dwelling-place  on  the  Vistula 
and  had  arrived  as  far  as  the  Upper  Dan- 
ube, with  a  portion  of  the  Suevi,  namely, 
the  Quadi,  and  other  tribes  joined  them. 
It  was  probably  a  swarm  of  these  mixed 
tribes  which,  under  Radagaisus,  or  Radigast, 
made  the  attack  upon  Italy  in  the  year  405, 
and  which  by  great  good  fortune  was  ward- 
ed off  by  Stilicho.  This  isolated  horde  dis- 
appears, as  well  as  the  name  of  its  leader, 
without  leaving  a  trace  in  history.  But  in 
their  attacks  upon  Gaul  and  Spain  the  be- 
fore-mentioned tribes  were  more  fortunate. 
S-tilicH  had  opened  to  them  the  road  thith- 
er, by  withdrawing  the  legions  from  the 
Rhine  and  from  Gaul  for  the  defence  of 
Italy.  They  now  desolated  the  country 
from  Strasburg  to  Amiens.  Treves  was 
four  times  plundered,  Mentz  and  Worms 
destroyed,  the  inhabitants  of  Strasburg, 
Spires,  Rheims,  and  other  cities  driven 
forth  as  slaves.  After  these  swarms  had 
at  last  been  driven  back  into  the  south  of 
France  by  the  Romans  and  the  Franks, 
they,  in  the  year  408,  wnre  called  intc 


72 


THE  BRITONS— ATTILA,  GOD'S  SCOURGJj. 


Spain  by  the  rebellious  Roman  governor, 
Gervatius.  Hitherto  this  country  had  been 
spared  during  these  fearful  times,  but  its 
turn  came  at  last.  The  Vandals,  Alani, 
and  Suevi,  crossed  the  Pyrenees,  and  speed- 
ily conquered  the  greatest  part  of  the  coun- 
try. A  portion  of  the  Alani  remained  in 
Gaul,  and  are  found  later  on  the  side  of 
the  Romans,  in  the  great  battle  with  Atti- 
la  ;  after  which  they  disappear.  The  Bur- 
gundians  also  remained  under  their  king, 
Gundikar,  (Giinther,)  and  first  founded 
their  kingdom  in  Alsace,  where  it  speedily 
extended  towards  the  Rhone  and  Saone  in- 
to Switzerland,  and  from  thence  it  spread 
to  Savoy.  In  Northern  Gaul,  however,  the 
Franks  appear  about  this  time  to  have  made 
themselves  masters,  so  that  all  that  lies  to- 
wards the  north,  from  Boulogne  on  one  side, 
to  Cologne  on  the  other,  was  subject 
to  their  sway.  Before  the  middle  of  that 
century  Treves  also,  which  they  had 
four  times  conquered,  remained  in  their 
power. 

The  Vandals,  who  with  the  Alani  had 
taken  their  seat  in  the  south  of  Spain, 
passed  thence  in  the  year  420,  under  their 
king,  Geiserich  or  Genserich,  upon  the  in- 
vitation of  the  discontented  Roman  gov- 
ernor, Bonifacius,  over  into  Africa,  and 
conquering  there  the  whole  of  the  northern 
coast,  founded  for  a  century  a  flourishing 
kingdom,  the  chief  city  of  which  was 
Carthage.  What  a  migration,  from  the 
very  shores  of  the  Baltic,  where  these 
tribes  first  appear  in  history,  even  to  the 
borders  of  the  African  deserts  !  Geiserich, 
one  of  the  great  men  of  his  age,  but  of  a 
savage  disposition,  ruled  for  50  years,  from 
428-477.  After  him  the  kingdom  of  the 
Vandals  fell,  in  the  luxuriant  climate  of 
the  country,  produced  by  internal  disturb- 
ances, and  by  the  enervation  of  this  other- 
wise powerful  tribe.  The  emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople, Justinian,  took  advantage  of 
their  reduced  state,  and  in  the  year  553 
sent  his  general,  Belisarius,  to  Africa  with 
an  army,  who  overcame  them  in  eight 
months.  Their  last  king,  Gelimer,  was 
led  by  him  in  chains  on  his  triumphant 
entry  into  Constantinople. 

The  Suevi  remained  in  Spain,  but  be- 
came, by  degrees,  more  and  more  pressed 
upon  by  the  Westro-Goths  under  Wallia 
and  his  successors,  being  soon  limited  to 
the  northwestern  portion  of  Spain  and 
Portugal ;  and  at  l-st,  in  the  year  585, 


they  were  entirely  united  with  the  Westro- 
Gothic  kingdom. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  449, 
the  Angeli,  Saxons  and  Futi,  passed  over 
into  England,  and  there  founded  new 
dynasties.  Under  the  emperor  Honorius, 
and  immediately  after  him,  the  Romans 
had  entirely  quitted  Britain.  The  Britons 
had,  however,  become  so  enervated  under 
their  sway,  that  after  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Roman  garrisons,  they  felt  themselves 
incompetent  to  protect  their  freedom. 
Their  neighbors  in  the  Scotch  Highlands, 
the  warlike  Picts  and  Scots,  breaking  forth 
from  their  mountains  with  undiminished 
power,  pressed  hard  upon  them  ;  and  they 
found  no  other  alternative  but  to  call 
strangers  once  more  to  their  defence. 
Their  choice  fell  upon  the  tribes  of  Saxon 
origin  who  inhabited  the  coasts  of  the 
North  Sea,  and  whose  valor  they  had  often 
had  occasion  to  know  when  these  fell  in 
with  their  piratic  squadrons  on  the  coasts 
of  Britain.  Two  Saxon  brothers,  Hengist 
and  Horst,  or  Horsa,  heroes  of  a  noble 
race,  who  derived  their  origin  from  Wodan, 
accepted  the  invitation  of  the  British  king, 
Vortigern,  and  with  only  three  ships,  which 
bore  1600  warriors,  they  landed.  Their 
valor  alone  supplied  the  place  of  numbers; 
they  beat  the  Picts  near  Stamford,  and 
speedily  afterwards  large  troops  of  their 
countrymen  followed  them  over  from  the 
continent.  The  Britons  then  would  willing- 
ly have  been  freed  of  their  new  guests , 
they,  however,  preferred  remaining,  sub- 
jected the  whole  of  England  as  far  as 
Wales,  and  founded  the  well-known  Anglo- 
Saxon  kingdoms  or  heptarchy,  of  which 
Kent,  established  by  Hengist,  formed  the 
first. 

In  a  large  village,  seated  in  a  plain  be- 
tween the  Danube  and  the  Theiss,  in  Hun- 
gary, and  surrounded  by  palisades,  which 
had  originated  in  a  camp,  there  stood,  in 
the  midst  of  a  spacious  court,  an  extensive 
wooden  mansion,  adorned  with  many  pas- 
sages and  halls,  and  which  formed  the 
dwelling  of  Attila  or  Etzel,  king  of  the 
Hunns.  He  had  united  his  people — until 
then  dispersed  under  many  leaders — under 
his  own  dominion ;  and  in  effecting  this, 
had  not  hesitated  even  to  slay  his  own 
brother,  Bleda.  All  the  tribes  of  the  Hunns 
and  their  subjected  nations,  distributed 
from  the  Wolga  to  Hungary,  reverenced 
his  command.  He  was  lord  of  the  Genidi 


ATTILA  AND  THE  11UNNS 


73 


Longobardi,  Avari,  Ostro-Goths,  and  many 
nations  in  the  south  of  Germany  ;  thoy, 
however,  retained  their  languages,  their 
customs,  and  their  laws,  and  were  ruled 
by  their  own  princes  ;  so  that  they  were 
to  be  considered  more  as  allies  than  sub- 
iects  ;  and  besides  the  language  of  the 
Hunns,  that  of  the  Goths,  or  German,  was 
spoken  at  the  court  of  Attila. 

He  himself  was  small  of  stature,  had  a 
large  head,  deeply-seated  eyes,  which  he 
proudly  cast  around,  a  broad  chest,  much 
animation,  and  a  manner  and  bearing 
which  thoroughly  displayed  the  ruler, 
His  most  favorite  name,  indeed,  was  Gode- 
giesel,  the  scourge  of  God,  for  the  punish- 
ment of  the  world. 

But  as  it  may  be  assumed  generally 
with  regard  to  rulers,  the  founders  of 
mighty  empires,  that  they  have  not  alone 
to  thank  their  conquering  swords  for  their 
acquired  power,  so  also  on  his  part  King 
Attila  gave  undoubted  proofs  that  for  gov- 
erning he  possessed  capacities  more  mild 
and  intellectual  than  the  mere  rude  cour- 
age and  skill  of  a  warrior.  For  if  he  was 
terrible  towards  his  enemies,  and  in  his 
wrath  severe  and  exterminating,  still,  on 
the  other  hand,  he  was  gentle  and  kind  to 
those  he  took  under  his  protection.  And  if 
in  war  he  himself  always  led  on  his  peo- 
ple to  battle,  he  was  nevertheless,  in  times 
of  peace,  always  to  be  found  seated  at 
their  head  before  his  palace  gates,  perform- 
ing the  office  of  mediator  and  judge  between 
each  and  all  who  came  to  him,  without 
distinction. 

He  loved  splendor  around  him,  but  he 
himself  lived  in  a  simple  and  plain  style, 
as  if  his  greatness  did  not  require  this  foil. 
The  trappings  of  his  horse  were  unadorned, 
and  but  little  costly  ;  at  his  banquets,  gold 
and  silver  vessels  were  placed  before  his 
guests,  while  he  alone  had  those  of  wood  ; 
he  ate  but  little  meat,  despising,  according 
to  the  custom  of  his  nation,  even  bread. 
After  each  dish  was  served,  the  cup  or 
wassail-bowl  was  handed  round,  and  his 
health  and  prosperity  drunk  j  while  min- 
strels sang  heroic  songs  in  praise  of  his 
valorous  deeds.  The  court  jester  then  fol- 
lowed with  his  wit  and  fun,  and  hilarity 
and  merriment  ruled  at  the  board  of  the 
royal  host ;  but  he  alone  never  intermit- 
ted his  strict  seriousness.  He  remained 
throughout  grave  and  thoughtful ;  and  it 
was  oily  when  his  youngest  son,  Irnack, 


entered  the  hall  and  approached  him,  that 
his  features  relaxed  into  a  smile,  and  whom 
he  greeted  with  affection;  for  of  this  son  it 
had  been  prophesied,  that  he  alone  would 
be  the  means  of  preserving  the  succession 
of  the  race  of  Attila.* 

This  powerful  ruler,  of  whom  i".  ha* 
been  said  that,  when  with  his  mysterious 
sword — which  had  been  found  by  a  shep- 
herd in  the  steppes  of  Scythia,  and  was 
considered  to  be  the  sword  of  the  god  of 
war — he  struck  the  earth,  a  hundred  na- 
tions trembled,  and  even  Rome  and  Con- 
stantinople shook  to  their  foundations,  arose 
with  his  army  in  the  year  451,  and  turned 
his  course  towards  the  west.  He  advanced 
with  700,000  men,  all  under  him  as  chief 
ruler,  and  every  tribe  under  its  particular 
prince ;  and  although  the  princes  them- 
selves trembled  before  him,  his  whole  army 
had  but  one  soul,  and  his  nod  alone  direct- 
ed every  movement.  His  path  was  called 
destruction ;  for  what  could  not  fly,  or  was 
not  destroyed,  as  he  progressed  in  his  road, 
was  forced  to  follow  in  his  train. 

He  advanced  through  Austria  and  the 
Allemannic  country,  across  the  Rhine, 
overcame  the  Burgundian  king,  Gundikar, 
(Giinther,)  even  to  the  destruction  of  his 
whole  tribe  ;  conquered  and  plundered  the 
cities  of  Strasburg,  Spire,  Worms,  Mentz, 
Treves,  and  others,  and  vowed  not  to  stop 
until  he  reached  the  ocean  itself.  The 
military  portions  of  the  countries  he  tra- 
versed joined  him  either  spontaneously  or 
by  force,  and  the  gigantic  horde  increased 
at  every  step  like  an  avalanche. 

But  the  Romans  and  several  German 
nations  had  now  armed  themselves  against 
the  great  danger  which  threatened  the 
west ;  for  it  was  now  to  be  decided  whe- 
ther Europe  should  be  German  or  Mon- 
golian, whether  German  races  were  to 
found  new  kingdoms  upon  the  tottering 
ruins  of  the  Roman  empire,  or  the  great 
king  of  the  Hunns.  The  Romans  had  at 
this  time  once  again  a  good  leader  of  the 
name  ofjgtius^vho  had  formerly,  when 
banished  by  Valentinian,  sought  refuge  at 
the  court  of  Attila  ;  he  collected  an  army 
in  Gaul,  and  applied  for  aid  to  the  Westro- 
Gothic  king,  Theodoric  or  Dieterich,  who 

*  This  description  of  Attila  and  his  court  is  handed 
down  to  us  by  an  eye-witness,  the  sophist,  Prisons, 
who  attended  in  the  suite  of  an  embassy  from  the  em- 
peror Theodosius  II.  at  the  court  of  Attila:  Hyzant. 
Hist.  Script,  i.  Jordanis  also  describes  Attila,  cap 
xxxv.— Both  relate  also  about  the  sword  of  Mars 


74 


ATTILA  AND  THE  GOTHS 


dwelt  in  Toulouse,  and  whose  kingdom 
also  was  in  great  danger.  To  him  Diete- 
rich  replied,  although,  in  earlier  times, 
./Etius  had  been  nis  enemy  :  "  A  just  war 
has  never  appeared  to  fall  too  heavy  upon 
any  king  of  the  West ro- Goths ;  and  never 
has  any  such  king  been  known  to  fear 
when  it  depended  upon  a  glorious  deed. 
Even  thus  think  the  nobles  of  my  kingdom 
also  ;  and  the  entire  nation  of  the  Westro- 
Goths  will,  at  the  call,  cheerfully  seize 
their  well-tried  'arms,  at  all  times  victori- 
ous." The  Burgundians  had  also  promised 
assistance,  besides  Sangipan,  the  Alanian, 
who  ruled  upon  the  Loire ;  a  portion  of 
the  Franks  also,  together  with  the  city  of 
Paris  itself,  and  even  a  branch  of  the 
Saxons,  which  had  colonized,  it  is  unknown 
at  what  period,  at  the  mouths  of  the  Loire, 
or  perhaps  had  landed  there  direct  from  a 
maritime  expedition — all  these  united  to- 
gether for  the  same  purpose. 

In  the  broad  plain  of  France,  through 
which  the  Marne  flows,  and  which  was 
called  by  the  ancients  the  Catalaunian 
Plain,  where  the  city  of  Chalons  now  lies, 
there  rises  near  Mury,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Troyes,  a  moderately  high  hill,  which  com- 
mands the  district.  It  was  here  that  the 
army  of  the  West  met  the  forces  of  the 
Hunns,  and  a  severe  battle  was  fought. 
It  may  be  called  a  battle  of  the  nations, 
for  the  majority  of  the  European  nations 
stood  here  opposed  to  each  other.  The 
left  wing  of  the  Roman  army  was  com- 
manded by  jEtius,  the  right  by  Theodo- 
ric ;  between  them  they  posted  king  San- 
gipan, who  was  the  least  to  be  trusted. 
The  hordes  of  the  Hunns,  on  the  opposite 
side,  appeared  innumerable ;  one  wing 
was  commanded  by  Arderic,  the  king  of 
the  Gepidi;  the  others  by  Theudimer, 
Widemir,  and  Walamir,  the  princes  of  the 
Ostro-Goths.  Attila  was  in  the  centre  of 
the  whole.  The  multitude  of  petty  kings 
obeyed  his  least  nod,  and  they  fulfilled  his 
commands  in  silence  and  terror ;  he  alone, 
the  chief  of  all  these  kings,  thought  and 
acted  for  all.  When  the  battle  was  about 
to  begin,  he  summoned  his  leaders  before 
him,  and  said,  "  It  does  not  become  me  to 
say  common-place  things  to  you,  or  for 
you  to  listen  to  such.  Be  men;  attack, 
break  through,  cast  all  down ;  despise  the 
Roman  array  and  their  shields.  Fall  upon 
the  Western  Goths  and  Alani,  in  whom 
lies  the  strength  of  the  enemy.  If  you 


must  die,  you  will  die  even  when  you  flee. 
Direct  your  eyes  to  me,  for  I  shall  go 
first;  he  who  does  not  follow — shall  be  a 
corpse !" 

Both  armies  strove  to  obtain  the  hill , 
the  battle  was  very  furious,  and  there  wa? 
terrible  slaughter.  The  Hunns  soon  broke 
through  the  centre,  where  the  Romans 
were  stationed,  and  whom  they  put  to 
flight ;  and  soon  afterwards  the  Westro- 
Goths  gave  way  before  the  Ostro-Goths. 
While  the  Westro-Gothic  king  was  ad- 
dressing his  people  he  fell,  but  gloriously, 
for  his  death  inflamed  his  nation  to  re- 
venge it;  and  his  son  Thorismund  leading 
them  on,  put  the  enemy  to  flight,  and  thus 
decided  the  battle.  Upon  the  approach  of 
night,  Attila  was  obliged  to  retire  within 
his  camp  of  wagons.  As  he  did  not  know 
but  the  enemy  might  pursue  him,  he  caused 
innumerable  saddles  and  wooden  shields  to 
be  piled  up,  in  case  of  necessity  to  set  fire 
to  them  and  die  in  the  flames ;  at  the  same 
time,  to  terrify  the  enemy,  he  commanded 
a  noise  to  be  made  all  night  with  arms, 
drums,  trumpets,  and  songs ;  but  they  did 
not  attack  him.  Among  the  piled  heaps 
of  the  slain,  they  sought  the  body  of  the 
Westro-Gothic  king,  and  celebrated  his 
funeral  by  a  procession,  amid  laments  and 
warlike  instruments  sounding,  taking  with 
them  the  spoils  of  the  Hunns  in  their  very 
presence,  who  however  did  not  venture  to 
interrupt  the  ceremony.  Thorismund  fol- 
lowed the  body  of -his  father,  and  wished  to 
return  and  renew  the  attack ;  but  he  was 
dissuaded  from  this  by  jEtius;  who  advised 
him  to  return  to  his  kingdom,  that  his 
brother  might  not  take  first  possession  of 
the  crown.  He  was  anxious  not  to  destroy 
the  power  of  the  Hunns  completely,  in 
order,  perhaps,  to  be  enabled  to  use  it  sub- 
sequently  against  the  Goths. 

In  the  following  year,, Attila,  who  was 
thus  enabled  to  recross  the  Rhine  unpur- 
sued,  made  a  second  incursion  into  Italy, 
and  destroyed  in  a  terrible  manner  Aqui- 
leja,  Milan,*  and  other  cities.  Rome  itseli 
was  alone  saved  from  a  similar  fate  by  the 
supplications  of  Pope  Leo,,  and  the  rich 
ransom  he  offered  to  him.  Want  of  sup- 
plies, and  disease  among  his  army,  forced 

*  Sucibius  relates  that,  at  this  place,  Attila  met  with 
a  picture,  in  which  were  represented  some  Scythian 
men  kneeling  before  the  Roman  emperor ;  and  that 
there,  opposite  to  it,  he  had  his  own  figure  painted, 
seated  upon  the  imperial  throne,  and  at  his  feet  the  Ro- 
man emperors,  throwing  down  before  him  bags  of  gold 


ATTILA— HIS  DEATH. 


75 


nim  to  retreat  across  the  Alps ;  he  never- 
theless  threatened  to  return  again,  and  had 
already  prepared  another  expedition,  but 
amidst  his  preparations  he  died,  in  the  year 
4.">3.  lie  was  mourned  over,  and  buried 
according  to  the  customs  of  his  people. 
The  Hunns  slashed  their  faces  with  wounds, 
and  shaved  away  their  hair,  and  upon  a 
broad  plain,  beneath  a  silken  tent,  his  body 
lay  in  state.  About  it  coursed  the  caval- 
ry, singing  his  deeds  as  they  galloped 
around,  and  vaunting  the  good  fortune,  that 
the  great  Attila,  after  immortal  victories, 
in  the  most  glorious  moment  of  his  nation's 
history,  and  without  pain,  had  closed  his 
life,  and  had  transferred  himself  to  the  spi- 
rits of  the  ancient  heroes.  In  the  night  he 
was  laid  in  a  golden  coffin  ;  this  was  placed 
in  a  silver  one,  which  was  enclosed  in  an 
iron  one  ;  the  caparison  of  his  horses,  his 
arms,  and  costly  ornaments  being  buried 
with  him.  After  the  ceremony,  the  work- 
men were  immediately  slaughtered  on  his 
grave,  that  none  of  them  might  betray  where 
the  hero  of  the  Hunns  reposed.* 

As  soon  as  the  terror  of  his  name  no 
longer  bound  the  nations  together,  they 
separated  ;  many  refused  obedience  ;  and 
after  his  first-born  son,  Ellak,  had  fallen  in 
a  great  battle  against  Arderic,  the  king  of 
the  Gepidi,  the  whole  power  of  the  Hunns 
disappeared,  and  they  dispersed  further 
towards  the  east.  The  head  of  one  of  the 
sons  of  Attila — such  are  the  changes  in 
human  fate — was  shortly  afterwards  seen 
held  up  for  display,  at  one  of  the  race-courses 
in  Constantinople !  Arderic  occupied  the 
country  of  the  Lower  Danube,  and  the 
3stro-Goths  took  possession  of  Hungary, 
..owards  Vienna.  The  remaining  portion 
of  the  German  tribes  who  had  been  subject 
to  the  power  of  the  Hunns,  no  doubt  like- 
wise took  advantage  of  this  moment  of  re- 
newed independence,  to  return  to  their  old, 
or  to  take  possession  of  new  dwelling-places. 
This  period  may  therefore  be  considered 
rts  decisive  of  the  form  of  the  immediate 
future,  until  the  entire  destruction  of  the 
Roman  power  in  Italy  produced  new  re- 
volutions for  a  portion  of  Europe. 

The  Western  Roman  Empire  now  con- 
sisting of  Italy  alone,  declined  more  and 

*  The  name  of  Attila,  or  Etzel,  was  afterwards  men- 
tioned in  the  German  legends;  he  was  there  grouped 
with  Hermanarich  and  the  subsequent  Theodoric, 
(Dieterich,  of  Berne.)  He  does  not,  however,  appear 
there  as  an  enemy  to  the  Germans,  but  as  a  mighty 
valiant  ruler  in  the  east  of  Germany. 


more  towards  its  utter  extinction.  The 
wretched  emperor,  Valentinian  III.,  mur- 
dered with  his  own  hand  JEtius,  who  had 
been  the  support  of  the  empire,  and  who  had 
once  more  saved  it  in  the  Catalaunian  plains, 
against  Attila,  because  he  had  been  made 
to  suspect  him.  Valentinian  himself  was 
slain,  at  the  instigation  of  Petronius  Max- 
imus,  who  now  became  emperor,  and  forced 
Eudocia,  the  widow  of  the  murdered  mon- 
arch, to  many  him.  She  however,  out  of 
revenge,  invited  the  Vandal  king,  Geise- 
rich,  from  Africa.  He  came,  conquered 
in  455  the  city  of  Rome,  plundered  and 
devastated  it  in  a  dreadful  manner  for  the 
space  of  fourteen  days,  as  if,  by  him,  Fate 
retaliated  upon  the  Romans,  for  their  terri- 
ble destruction  of  Carthage  six  hundred 
years  before.  He  then  embarked  again 
for  Africa,  with  a  fleet  of  many  ships, 
loaded  with  costly  booty  and  prisoners  of 
all  classes,  who  were  sold  as  slaves. 

After  Valentinian,  nine  sovereigns,  in 
the  short  space  of  twenty  years,  bore  the 
degraded  title  of  Emperor  of  Rome.  At 
last,  in  the  year*  170,  QdimctT,  a  prince  o1 
Scyric  descent,  commander  of  an  allied 
horde  of  Scyri,  Herulians,  Rugians,  and 
Turcilingi,  a  man  equally  distinguished 
for  his  mental  powers  and  physical  strength, 
thrust  the  last  of  those  shadowy  emperors, 
Romulus  Momyllus  or  Augustulus,  as  yet 
a  boy,  from  the  throne,  and  called  himself 
King  of  Italy.  The  tender  age  of  the 
young  emperor  when  he  laid  aside  the  pur- 
pie  robes,  the  crown  and  arms,  and  came 
and  deposited  them  in  the  camp,  caused 
him  to  be  spared,  and  he  was  3cnt  by 
Odoacer  to  a  castle  in  Campania.  The 
above-named  tribes,  who  doubtlessly  be- 
longed to  the  Gothic  confederation,  had 
gradually  advanced  from  their  earlier  dwell- 
ings on  the  Baltic  towards  the  south,  until 
they  found  a  dwelling  on  the  Danube  and 
the  frontiers  of  Italy,  and  there  served  the 
Romans  frequently  for  pay.  This  small 
band,  therefore,  at  last  extinguished  the 
Roman  empire,  in  the  year  476,  and  in 
the  1230th  year  since  the  foundation  of  the 
capital. 

About  this  period  the  following  was  the 
manner  in  which  the  countries  of  the 
western  empire  were  divided  among  for- 
eign  tribes,  the  result  of  the  great  migra- 
tion which  had  taken  place  a  century  be- 
fore. 

Italy  was  under  the  dominion  of  Odoa. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  TRIBES 


cer,  and  his  kingdom  extended  itself  to- 
wards the  north,  across  the  Alps,  as  far  as 
the  Danube.  In  Hungary  the  Ostro-Goths 
were  powerful,  and  the  Longobardi  had 
long  before  advanced  from  their  seats  upon 
the  Elbe,  and  fixed  themselves  to  the  north 
of  the  Danube,  towards  the  Theiss.  In 
Bavaria  was  formed  by  degrees,  (without 
history  giving  a  detailed  account  of  it.) 
from  remnants  of  the  Rugi,  Heruli,  Scyri, 
Turcilingi,  and  certainly  from  Suevic 
tribes,  particularly  the  Marcomanni — the 
nation  of  Bojoarians  under  the  royal  race 
of  the  Agilolfi.  The  name  more  particu- 
larly indicates  the  descent  from  the  Marco- 
manni, coming  from  Bohemia,  inasmuch  as 
the  more  ancient  name  of  this  country, 
Boja  or  Bojos,  has  been  transferred  to  Bo- 
joheim,  Baiheim,  or  Beheim.  The  Mar- 
comanni, who  had  previously  wandered 
back  to  this  country,  after  the  Danube  dis- 
tricts had  become  free,  fixed  themselves  in 
Franconia  and  Bavaria,  and  called  them- 
selves Bojoari  or  Bajovari. 

The  Allernanni  dwelt  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Switzerland,  in  Swabia,  and  down 
both  banks  of  the  Rhine,  as  far  as  the 
Lahn  and  Cologne.  On  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rhine  they  were  afterwards  called 
Alsatians.  The  name  of  Suevi  also  ap- 
pears about  this  time  among  them,  and  has 
preserved  itself  to  this  day  in  fhe  name  of 
the  country — Swabia. 

In  the  centre  of  Germany,  from  the 
present  Harz  mountains  to  Franconia,  the 
powerful  Thuringians  held  their  sway, 
whose  earlier  history  is  very  obscure. 
,  They  first  appear  noticed  about  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century,  without  our  author 
mentioning  their  origin  or  earlier  state. 

In  Lower  Saxony  and  Westphalia  the 
Saxons  retained  their  ancient  seats  and 
constitution,  and  close  to  them  on  the  North 
Sea  were  the  Friesi. 

On  the  Lower  Rhine,  on  the  Maas  and 
the  Scheldt,  as  far  as  the  Netherlands,  and 
in  the  north  of  France,  dwelt  the  branches 
of  the  Franks  ;  the  most  considerable  of 
which  were  the  Salians,  in  the  Nether- 


ands,  and  the  Ripuarians,  dwelling  along 
;he  coasts  of  the  Rhine. 

Close  to  them,  on  the  Seine,  a  Roman 
governor,  of  the  name  of  Syagrius,  main- 
tained his  power  for  ten  years  longer, 
until  the  year  486,  when  already  there 
,vas  no  longer  an  emperor  in  Rome.  The 
northwestern  point  of  France,  the  present 
Brittany,  had  already  been  occupied  much 
earlier  by  fugitives  from  Britain,  who  had 
fled  before  the  Picts,  and  then  formed  un- 
der the  name  of  Armoricce  an  alliance  of 
free  cities. 

Southeastern  France,  Savoy,  and  west- 
ern  Switzerland  belonged  now  to  the  Bur 
gundians.  Their  chief  cities  were  Gene- 
va, Besan§on,  Lyons,  and  Vienne.  The 
Burgundians  were  certainly  the  mildest  of 
the  conquering  tribes  of  this  period,  being 
early  attached  to  Christianity,  cultivation, 
and  art ;  and  to  them  that  portion  of  Franco 
is  indebted  for  its  many  remains  of  ancient 
Roman  works  of  art.  In  Switzerland  the 
French  language  still  marks  its  ancient 
boundaries  against  the  Allernanni,  for  the 
Burgundians  mixed  more  with  the  Ro- 
mans, and  adopted  much  of  their  language. 

Southwestern  France,  from  the  Loire 
and  Rhone  to  the  Pyrenees,  as  well  as  a 
great  portion  of  Spain,  was  subject  to  the 
Western  Goths,  but  northwestern  Spain  tc 
the  Suevi. 

The  northwestern  coast  of  Africa  was 
Vandalian.  In  Britain  the  Angeli  and 
Saxons  by  degrees  retained  their  power 
and  augmented  it  more  and  more. 

The  east  and  northeastern  portion  of 
Germany  was  left  comparatively  bare  by 
the  advance  of  the  tribes  towards  the  south 
and  west,  and  Slavonic  tribes  migrated  in- 
creasingly thither,  who  had  been  seated  on 
those  boundaries  from  time  immemorial, 
and  who  had  also,  perhaps,  been  partly 
subject  to  the  Germans.  Those  foreign 
branches  now  gained  the  superiority,  and 
the  remains  of  the  Germans  who  would 
not  quit  their  original  dwslling-place,  be- 
came subject  to,  and  were  dispersed  among 
them 


CLOVIS..  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS. 


77 


SECOND    PERIOD. 

THE  CONQUESTS  OF  CLOVIS  TO  CHARLEMAGNE. 

466—768. 


THE  historical  writers  of  this  period  form  but  a  very 
'imited  class,  and  are  of  very  unequal  estimation. 
What  they  relate  of  the  earlier  times  is  mostly  founded 
on  tradition,  and  can  scarcely  be  placed  in  conjunction 
with  what  has  been  furnished  by  the  Roman  authors: 
still,  in  reference  to  the  history  of  their  own  period,  and 
those  immediately  preceding,  they  are  nevertheless  of 
lii«h  importance: 

1.  For  the  "  History  of  the  Franks,"  we  may  con- 
pider  as  a  principal  writer,  Gregory,  bishop  of  Tours, 
(  <  iregcrius  Turonensis,)  who  died  in  the  year  595.  He 


is  book  an  ecclesiastical  history,  but  therein  he 
describes  generally  the  acts  and  proceedings  of  the 
Pranks,  in  ten  books,  until  the  year  591.  His  language, 
characteristic  of  his  time,  is  uncivilized,  his  descrip- 
tion confused  and  interrupted  by  legendary  wonders, 
going,  however,  very  deeply  into  the  details,  and  in  re- 
ference to  subsequent  years,  as  the  record  of  a  contem- 
porary, it  is  very  exact,  and  thus  renders  him  equally 
instructive  ;  he  likewise  possesses  the  merit  of  being 
honest  and  a  loyer  of  truth.  He  has  been  styled  the 
Herodotus  of  this  period. 

Frcdegar,  about  the  year  650,  made  from  Gregory's 
work  a  short  abridgment,  interspersed  with  fables, 
("  ilistoria  Francorum  Epitomata,")  which  proceeds 
us  tar  as  the  year  584,  and  then  continues  the  history 
in  u  "  Chronicum"  until  64  J.  This  "  Chronicum" 
\vas  again  taken  up  and  resumed  by  three  other  men. 
!mt  with  certain  chasms,  until  768;  very  meager  and 
without  connection,  but  still  important,  because  the 
\\  riters  were  chiefly  witnesses  of  the  events  described. 
The  "  Gesta  Regum  Francorum,"  are,  likewise,  in  part 
extracted  from  Gregory,  whose  description  they  con- 
tinue to  the  year  720,  very  briefly  and  not  without  many 
inaccuracies. 

With  these  andlater,  are  the"Annals,"  short  sketch- 
es which  were  made  annually  in  the  monasteries,  of 
the  most  important  events,  and  thus,  at  least,  in  part 
originate  from  eye-witnesses.  They  were  afterwards 
copied  and  communicated  from  the  one  monastery  to 
the  other,  often  augmented  there,  then  subsequently 
various  portions  corrected  and  prepared,  and  thus  they 
acquired  greater  extent  and  value.  The  most  impor- 
tant are  those  which  bear  the  simple  title  "  Annalis 
Laurissenses,"  from  a  monastery  in  the  Unper  Rhine 
province,  wjiich  go  on  from  741  to  788,  ana  were  con- 
tinued by  Eginhardt,  from  788  to  829.  They  have  been 
partially  published  in  the  older  collections,  but  more 
completely  given  in  the  "  Monumenta  Germanics  His- 
torica  "  collected  by  Pertz. 

2.  for  the  "History  of  the  Goths"  are  to  be  men- 
tioned : 

a.  Cassiodorus.  invested  with  high  offices  of  state. 
under  Odoacer,  Theodoric,  and  their  successors,  and 
who  died  in  the  year  565,  in  the  convent  Vivarosa  ;  he 
wrote  a  history  of  the  Goths,  which,  unfortunately, 
was  lost.    There  have,  however,  been  preserved  his 
"  XII  Libri  Variarum,"  a  very  important  work,  be- 
cause it  contains  edicts,  instructions,  and  documents, 
which  were  written  in  the  names  of  the  kings  ;  learned, 
elegant,  but  vain  and  verbose. 

b.  The  monk  Jordanis,  (thus  he  is  called,  and  not 
Jornandc-s,  in  the  more  ancient  documents,  and  by 
himself  likewise,)  a  Goth,  living  about  the  middle  of 
the  sixth  century,  has  brought  into  an  abridgment—  de 
Rebus  Geticis—  the  lost  history  of  Cassiodorus,  but  has 
lisrtgurcd  it  by  the  interlineation  of  every  thing  he 
inew  or  heard  of  besides.     Still,  although  without 
judgment  and  historical  knowledge,  his  book  is  of  the 
highest  value,  inasmuch  as  for  many  events  that  is 
nearly  our  only  source.    It  extends  to  the  year  540. 

*.   The  parallel  of  "  Procopii  Csesarensis  Vandalica 


et  Gothica"  may  in  the  details  explain  much,  beca\»se 
the  Greek  proceeds  upon  very  different  views  to  those 
of  the  \yestern  writers. 

d.  Isidor,  bishop  of  Seville,  (Isidorus  Hispalensis.) 
who  died  in  636,  wrote  a  short  history  of  the  Goths, 
Vandals,  and  Suevians,  to  the  year  628,  but  which 
again  explains  nothing  about  the  earlier  history  of  these 
nations,  and  refers  more  properly  to  Spain  alone. 

3.  The  chief  writer  on  the  history  of  the  Lpngobardi 
is  Paul  Diaconus,  the  son  of  Warnefried,  one  of  the 
first  men  of  his  age,  living  at  the  courts  of  Desideriue 
and  Charlemagne,  and  who  died  as  a  monk  on  Mount 
Cassino  in  the  year  799.    In  his  "  De  Gestis  Lango- 
bardorum,  libri  vi.,"  he  describes  the  deeds  of  his  na- 
tion with  a  great  predilection  for  tradition ;  the  com- 
mencement is  quite  unhistorical,  but  subsequently  h< 
becomes  more  careful  and  exact,  and  presents  us  will 
detailed  information  extremely  valuable. 

4.  For  German  history  likewise  are  of  great  import- 
ance the  biographies  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,at  least  from 
the  eighth  century,  composed  by  contemporary  writers  ; 
they  continue  to  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century. 

5.  Extremely  important  also  are  the  letters  of  dis- 
tinguished men  which  have  been  handed  down  to  us 
from  that  peri9d,  especially  those  of  Saint  Boniface,  as 
well  as  the  biographies  of  him  and  other  holy  men, 
(Vit®  Sanctorum,)  which  often  present  the  most  faith- 
ful picture  of  their  times,  and  have  preserved  for  us  the 
most  valuable  information. 

6.  And  lastly  ;  for  our  research  into  the  relations  of 
life,  the  manners,  customs,  and  institutions,  are  very 
important,  the       Laws  of  the  German   nations  01 
tribes,"  who  belonged  to  the  Franconian  empire :  the 
Salians,  Ripuarians,  Allemannians,  Burgundians,  and 
Bavarians,  and  later,  the  Saxons  and  Thuringians.  But 
there  remains  much  therein  which  is  very  obscure,  in- 
asmuch as  they  contain  principally  only  the  penal  law 
of  these  people,  and  cannot,  therefore,  yield  us  the  de- 
sired information  respecting  the  other  relations,  are  no} 
regulated  according  to  general  principles,  contain  no- 
thing of  the  constitution  of  the  empire  beyond  what 
refers  to  the  administration  of  the  law,  and  present 
even  in  that  portion  what  to  our  eye  appears  very  frag- 
mentary. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Clovis,  king  of  the  Franks,  482-511— Theodoric,  stir- 
named  Dieterich  of  Berne.  488-526— The  Longobardi 


in  Italy,  568— Changes  in  tne  Customs  and  Institu- 
tions of  the  Germans— The  Language— Constitution 
— Feudal  System— Laws—  Pastimes— ChrisTTaTrity  in 
Germany— The  Grand  Chamberlains— Charles  Mar- 
tel  against  the  Arabs,  732— Pepin  the  Little— The 
Carlovingians. 

DURING  the  great  movements  of  tho 
tribes,  which  we  have  just  related,  tht 
Franks  had  not,  like  the  Goths,  Burgun- 
dians,  and  other  nations,  migrated  from 
their  dwellings  to  settle  themselves  else- 
where, but  they  remained  in  their  own 
seat,  and  from  thence  conquered  only  thai 


78 


CLOVIS,  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS. 


pcition  of  Gaul  which  lies  to  the  north  of 
the  Forest  of  Ardennes.  And  this  forest 
also  sheltered  them  from  being  drawn  into 
the  great  stream  of  migration.  Their  di- 
vision also  into  several  branches,  each  of 
which  had  its  own  king  or  prince,  prevented 
them  from  making  extensive  and  general 
expeditions. 

But  their  time  came.  About  the  year 
4^2,  Clovis,  or  as  we  should  say,  Lewis, 
the  son  of  Gilderich,  became  prince  of  the 
Salian  Franks ;  and  he  soon  prepared  him- 
self to  execute  the  plans  of  his  bold  and 
comprehensive  mind,  for  the  bent  of  his 
ardent  spirit  was  to  make  war  and  con- 
quest. Clovis  belongs  to  that  class  of  ru- 
lers in  the  history  of  the  world,  who  think 
all  ways  good  that  lead  to  dominion.  He 
has  sullied  the  celebrity  of  his  military 
fame  by  the  most  despicable  want  of  faith 
to  his  relatives  and  allies.  He  at  first 
concluded  with  the  princes  of  the  Franks, 
who  were  his  equals,  and  for  the  majority 
his  relatives,  alliances  of  war  against  other 
tribes,  and  after  he  had  conquered  them 
by  their  assistance,  and  had  become  power- 
ful, he  then  also  dispatched  those  very 
friends  out  of  his  way  by  poison,  the  dag- 
ger, and  treachery.  By  this  means  he 
became  eventually  king  of  all  the  Franks. 

Of  his  foreign  enemies,  he  first  attacked, 
when  only  twenty,  the  Roman  governor 
Syagrius,  whom  we  mentioned  above,  ef- 
fectually beat  him  at  Soissons,  (Suessiones,) 
and  occupied  the  country  as  far  as  the 
Loire.  Syagrius,  who  fled  to  the  Western 
Goths,  was  obliged  to  be  delivered  up  to 
Clovis  and  was  executed.  This  commence- 
ment of  the  conquests  of  Clovis  took  place 
in  the  year  486,  ten  years  after  Romulus 
Augustulus  was  deposed. 

He  then  advanced  with  his  army  against 
the  Allemanni,  who  in  the  mean  time  had 
fallen  upon  the  country  of  the  Ripuarian 
Franks,  for  both  nations  having  their  bound- 
aries upon  the  river  Lahn,  had  been  ene- 
mies for  years.  They  met  in  the  year 
496,  near  Zulpich,  in  the  district  of  Juliers," 
and  fought  bitterly  against  each  other,  and 
the  victory  already  inclined  to  the  side  of 
the  Allemanni,  when  in  the  heat  of  the 
battle,  his  soul  excited  by  anxiety,  Clovis 
fell  upon  his  knees  and  vowed  to  become  a 
Christian  ;  and  as  victory  now  absolutely 
turned  on  his  side,  he  caused  himself  and 
three  thousand  of  his  Franks  to  be  baptized 
in  Rheims,  at  the  subsequent  Easter  fes- 


tival, by  the  Bishop  Remigius.  This  was 
the  commencement  of  the  introduction  of 
the  Christian  faith  among  the  Franks,  and 
Clovis  was  henceforward  called  the  eldest  son 
of  the  church  and  the  most  Christian  king. 
His  consort  Clotilda,  the  daughter  of  a 
Burgundian  prince,  had  long  wished  to 
convert  him  t9  the  better  faith  by  the  force 
of  gentle  persuasion  ;  he,  however,  had 
always  despised  it  until  the  necessity  of 
the  battle  overpowered  him,  and  it  was  in- 
deed very  evident  both  in  him  and  in  tne 
Franks  in  general,  that  their  conversion 
was  a  work  of  mere  compulsion.  For 
Clovis  murdered  his  relatives  after  as  well 
as  before,  and  subdued  one  Christian  nation 
after  the  other,  while  the  Franks  for 
several  centuries  bore  the  character  of 
being  the  most  treacherous  of  all  the  Ger- 
man nations. 

After  the  Allemanni  were  reduced,  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  Franks  had  spread  it- 
self along  the  Rhine  to  Switzerland,  and 
after  the  Burgundians  were  obliged  to 
promise  tribute,  Qlawe-HSJent  his  eyes  to- 
wards the  kingdojBLJol^the  West  Goths, 
who  possessed  th^most.  beautiful  portion 
of  France  in^tnesouth.  Thus,  although 
he  had  only  shortly  before  had  a  confer- 
ence with  their  king,  Alaric,  and  had  sworn 
friendship  to  him,  he  yet  determined  to  at- 
tack him  as  an  enemy. 

The  wise  Ostro- Gothic  king,  Theodoric, 
who  previously  to  this  had  founded  his 
dominion  in  Italy,  counselled  the  unruly 
Clovis,  whose  sister,  Audofleda,  was  his 
consort,  in  the  most  urgent  manner  from 
his  unjust  expedition  against  Alaric,  and 
reminded  him  that  peace  and  union  be- 
came Christian  nations.  But  Clovis,  who 
knew  only  the  language  of  the  sword  and 
of  rude  force,  gave  no  ear  to  him  ;  he 
attacked  the  Westro-Gothic  kingdom  ;  and, 
in  the  year  507,  in  a  plain  of  the  river 
Vienne,  near  Vougle  or  Vironne,  fought 
and  won  a  great  battle  in  which  Alaric 
himself  fell,  transpierced  by  the  spear  of 
Clovis,  who  took  possession  of  the  chief 
cities  of  his  country,  and  would,  no  doubt, 
have  destroyed  the  whole  kingdom,  had 
not  the  great  Theodoric  stepped  between 
and  driven  him  back  with  a  strong  hand. 
He  was,  therefore,  obliged  to  content  him- 
self with  the  country  between  the  Loire 
and  the  Garonne. 

Clovis  did  not  live  long  after  this,  but 
died  at  Paris,  in  the  year  511,  in  the  fortv 


THE  MEROVINGIANS— THEODORIC  THE  GOTH. 


third  year  of  his  age,  and  his  empire  was 
divided  between  his  four  sons. 

His  successors  to  the  throne  of  the  Franks, 
\rho  are  called  the  Merovingians,  were  in 
general  worthy  of  their  founder.  It  ap- 
peared as  if  vice  and  tyranny,  unheard  of 
cruelty,  and  savage  revenge  were  heredi- 
tary in  this  family,  and  as  if  a  curse  had 
from  the  beginning  been  poured  over  them. 
In  the  space  of  forty  years  six  Merovingian 
kings  were  destroyed  by  poison  or  the 
sword  ;  and  the  intrigues  and  revengeful 
passions  of  malicious  women  form  an  im- 
portant feature  in  these  horrid  scenes.  It 
umnot,  therefore,  suit  the  purport  of  this 
history  to  penetrate  further  into  the  details 
of  these  events,  which  are  equally  as  un- 
nourishing  to  the  mind,  as  they  are  unfruit- 
ful in  regard  to  the  knowledge  it  is  so 
desirable  to  obtain  from  the  great  entirety 
of  our  history.  The  nation  of  the  Franks, 
under  such  princes,  could  not  possibly  be 
raised  from  its  state  of  moral  rudeness  and 
degradation,  but  necessarily  became  plung- 
ed more  deeply  in  vice.  Their  power, 
however,  continued  to  extend  itself  more 
and  more.  They  by  degrees  subjected 
the  Burgundians,  and  in  Germany  the 
powerful  nation  of  the  Thuringians,  and 
the  dukes  of  Bavaria  sought  their  protec- 
tion. About  the  middle  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury all  the  German  nations  from  the 
frontiers  of  the  Saxons  to  the  Alps  allied 
themselves  with  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks  ; 
Franks,  Thuringians,  Allemans  or  Swa- 
bians,  and  Bavarians.  The  Saxons  alone 
and  the  Friesi  still  remained  independent 
in  their  northwestern  dwellings. 

When,  after  king  Attila's  death,  the 
kingdom  of  the  Hunns  fell  asunder,  the 
Ostro-Goths,  as  has  been  already  mention- 
ed, became  again  free,  and  dwelt  in  Hun- 
gary and  the  neighboring  countries  of  the 
Danube.  They  had  frequent  disputes  with 
the  emperor,  in  Constantinople,  and  upon 
one  of  these  occasions  Theodoric  or  Die- 
terich,  a  son  of  one  of  their  princes,  was 
sent  as  hostage  to  that  city,  and  there  he 
saw,  as  had  Marbodiua  and  Arminius  form- 
erly, in  Rome,  the  institutions  of  a  great 
empire.  He  remained  there  ten  years, 
and  was  instructed  in  the  Grecian  arts  and 
sciences,  so  that  no  German  prince  of  his 
time  equalled  him  in  accomplishments. 
After  the  death  of  his  father,  Theodemir, 
and  of  his  uncles,  he  became  sole  king  of 
the  Ostro-Goths,  and  now  resolved,  like 


other  rulers,  to  found  for  his  people  a  large 
and  beautiful  kingdom,  for  they  longed  to 
be  led  to  more  desirable  lands  than  the 
wastes  near  the  Sau  and  the  Danube.  The 
Emperor  of  Constantinople,  Zeno,  who  con- 
sidered himself  now  as  the  sole  inheritor  of 
the  entire  ancient  empire  of  the  Romans 
upon  this  presented  him  with  the  land  of 
Italy  as  the  reward  for  services  rendered, 
and  instead  of  his  promised  subsidies  in 
money.  Italy  was  still  under  the  rule  of 
Odoacer,  but  his  kingdom  was  not  pro- 
perly to  be  considered  German,  because 
the  Herulians  and  Rugians  formed  but  a 
small  portion  of  his  people. 

Theodoric  broke  up  with  his  nation  in 
the  year  488,  pressed  through  the  passes 
of  Italy,  and  encountered  Odoacer  near 
Aquileja  and  Verona.  But  the  Italians 
fought  with  little  zeal  for  their  king,  and 
he  was  both  times  obliged  to  fly.  King 
Theodoric,  from  this  last  battle,  was  styled 
in  legendary  songs  and  ballads,  in  a  mul- 
titude of  which  his  fame  was  recorded,  the 
great  hero,  Dieterich  of  Berne,  (which  sig- 
nifies Verona.)  Immediately  after  this, 
Odoacer  was  a  third  time  defeated  near 
the  Adda,  after  his  own  city,  Rome,  had 
shut  its  gates  against  him,  and  for  three 
years  he  was  besieged  in  Ravenna,  until, 
in  the  year  493,  he  was  at  last  forced  to 
yield,  and  his  lands  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Theodoric,  by  whom  he  was  killed.  His 
kingdom  had  lasted  seventeen  years. 
Theodoric  became  lord  of  Italy,  and  ruler 
over  the  countries  beyond  the  Alps  to  the 
Danube,  and  in  the  wars  of  the  Franks 
and  Westro- Goths  he  made  himself  master 
of  the  provinces  as  far  as  the  Rhone,  an 
extensive  and  beautiful  kingdom,  which 
might  have  existed  to  the  present  day  if 
his  successors  had  equalled  him  in  wisdom 
and  virtue.  His  chief  cities  were  Ra- 
venna and  Verona. 

He  himself  reigned  more  than  thirty 
years,  and  was  not  only  a  kind  and  mild 
master  to  his  Goths,  but  also  a  gentle  ruler 
over  his  Roman  subjects  and  all  who  dwelt 
in  Italy ;  so  much  so,  that  this  country 
had  not  enjoyed  so  happy  a  time  for  many 
centuries  as  under  him,  the  foreign  prince. 
Agriculture  and  trade  again  flourished 
Art  and  science  found  in  him  a  protector 
and  ancient  cities,  lying  in  ruins,  were  re- 
built. Italy  enjoyed  under,  and  subse- 
quent to  his  reign,  for  a  period  of  forty 
years,  continued  peace,  and  was  so  dili. 


THEODORIC  THE  GOTH— HIS  DEATH^ 


gently  cultivated,  that  it  not  only  grew 
sufficient  grain  for  its  own  consumption, 
but  could  even  export  it  to  Gaul,  while 
formerly,  under  the  Roman  emperors,  it 
was  always  necessary  to  procure  a  supply 
from  Sicily  and  Africa. 

His  wisdom  and  justice  raised  him 
above  all  the  kings  of  his  time.  He 
stepped  among  them  like  the  father  of  a 
large  family  and  an  institutor  of  peace ; 
and  the  most  distant  tribes  had  recourse  to 
his  counsel,  and  honored  him  with  pre- 
sents. To  the  other  kings  of  German 
origin,  with  almost  all  of  whom  he  had 
allied  himself  by  marriage,  he  wrote  as  a 
father,  thus:  "You  all  possess  proofs  of 
my  good- will.  You  are  young  heroes,  and 
it  is  my  duty  to  counsel  you.  Your  dis- 
order and  irregularities  grieve  me ;  it  is 
not  a  matter  of  indifference  to  me  to  be- 
hold how  you  allow  yourselves  to  be  gov- 
erned by  your  passions,  for  the  passions  of 
kings  are  the  ruin  of  nations ;  while,  on 
the  contrary,  your  friendship  and  unity 
together  are,  as  it  were,  the  veins  through 
which  the  wishes  of  nations  flow  into  each 
other." 

He  placed  such  principles  before  their 
eyes,  and  showed  thereby  that  his  mind 
had  formed  the  conception  of  a  great  al- 
liance, founded  upon  justice  and  wisdom, 
between  all  the  Christian  nations  of  Ger- 
man origin,  who  had  fixed  their  seat  in 
Europe.  An  alliance,  such  as  reason  has 
depicted  before  the  eyes  of  all  ages  as  a 
ublime  picture ;  and  as  it  has  displayed 
tself,  from  time  to  time,  by  the  mouths  of 
enlightened  men,  so  that  justice  and  order, 
and  especially  the  spirit  of  Christian  unity, 
should  predominate,  and  hatred  and  thirst 
after  prey  be  reined  in — evils  which,  alas ! 
through  the  want  of  such  an  alliance,  have 
ravaged  Europe  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
Had  Theodoric  been  enabled  to  form  such 
a  noble  union,  he  would  have  founded 
more  of  that  which  is  truly  grand  than 
the  ancient  Romans,  over  whose  posses- 
sions he  had  now  become  ruler,  and  whose 
empire  he  was  anxious  to  restore,  not  by 
the  rude  force  of  arms,  but  in  the  form  of 
a  peaceful  alliance  of  nations.  But  as  the 
mild  force  of  truth  and  justice  always  finds 
its  enemy  in  the  selfishness  of  those  who 
only  seek  their  own  advantage  and  the  in- 
dulgence of  their  passions,  Theodoric  con- 
sequently experienced  that  the  world  was 
not  then  yet  rife  enough  for  the  fruction 


of  his  great  ideas  ;  for  while  he  preacher! 
peace  with  earnestness  and  love,  Clovis, 
the  Frank,  raged  war  with  his  sword,  de- 
spising his  doctrine,  and  seeking  only  tr 
bring  a  multitude  of  tribes  under  his  do- 
minion. 

The  great  Theodoric  died  in  the  year 
526.  His  monarchy  had  now  no  duration ; 
for  his  son,  Athalaric,  was  but  just  ten 
years  old,  and  died  shortly  after  his  father. 
The  nobles  of  his  kingdom  were  no  longei 
unanimous,  but  elevated  and  deposed  sev- 
eral kings  after  each  other.  The  Roman 
subjects,  also,  could  not  forget  that  their 
rulers  were  Goths,  and  attached  to  the 
Arian  faith.  They  wished  themselves 
again  under  the  Greek  emperors,  who 
dwelt  in  Constantinople,  and  were  mem- 
bers of  the  orthodox  church,  although  the 
dominion  of  these  emperors  had  become 
lamentably  bad,  and  was  in  a  ruinous 
state.  It  was  then  that  the  emperor  Justi- 
nian, who  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  series, 
took  advantage  of  this  discontent,  and  sent 
his  general,  Belisarius,  and  after  him 
Narses,  into  Italy,  to  subject  this  country 
again  to  his  rule.  A  long  and  severe  war 
arose,  conducted  by  the  Goths  with  their 
usual  valor,  but  without  success,  and 
which  destroyed  the  country,  and  almost 
depopulated  Rome  by  several  sieges,  so 
that  no  trace  was  left  of  its  ancient  splen- 
dor. 

The  Goths  raised  themselves  once  more, 
after  four  of  their  sovereigns  had  been 
destroyed,  under  their  king,  Totilas,  who 
was  worthy  of  ruling  the  dominions  of 
Theodoric ;  but  as  he  also,  after  he  had 
fought  with  fame  for  eleven  years,  wa.<- 
killed  in  the  year  552,  in  a  battle  against 
Narses,  and  ten  months  afterwards,  his 
successor,  Tejas,  fell  likewise  in  the  three 
days'  desperate  battle  near  Cuma,  the 
Gothic  kingdom  sunk  into  such  a  ruinous 
state  that  twenty-seven  years  after  the 
death  of  Theodoric,  and  in  the  year  553, 
the  Ostro-Goths  were  not  only  vanquished, 
but  also  almost  entirely  annihilated.  A 
few  only  escaped  over  the  Alps  to  seek  an 
asylum  among  other  German  nations. 

Fifteen  years  after  the  fall  of  the  Ostro- 
Goths,  another  valiant  German  nation,  the 
Longobardi,  who  had  taken  possession  of 
the  earlier  dwelling-places  of  the  former  on 
the  Danube,  executed  an  act  of  retaliation, 
justly  timed  for  them,  on  the  Greeks.  The 
Greek  general,  Narses,  ucon  falling  under 


THE  LONGOBARDI  IN  ITALY. 


81 


vhe  displeasure  of  the  emperor  Justinian, 
nad  himself  called  forward  their  king, 
Alboni  or  Albwin,  who  had  already  over- 
come  the  Gepidi,  and  now  ruled  in  Hun- 
gary, Austria,  Carruthia,  and  even  in  a 
portion  of  Bavaria.  This  king  possessed 
that  heroic  courage  which  graves  itself 
deeply  in  the  hearts  of  nations.  Not  only 
his  own  nation,  but  those  of  the  Saxons  and 
Bavarians  sang  his  praise  for  centuries 
after  his  death. 

On  the  second  day  of  April,  in  th«  year 
568,  the  king  Alboni  broke  up  from  Hun- 
gary with  all  his  Longobardian  men,  tLtsir 
\\omen  and  children,  accompanied  by 
20,000  Saxons.  The  country  they  hitherto 
possessed  was  left  by  them  to  their  allies, 
the  Avari,  who  were  found  still  there  by 
Charlemagne  subsequently.  It  was  a  morn- 
ing full  of  splendor  when,  from  the  heights 
of  one  of  the  advanced  mountains  of  the 
Alps,  which  was  afterwards  called  the 
King's  Mountain,  the  astonished  strangers 
cast  their  eyes  down  upon  their  new  and 
beautiful  country.  Wherever  Alboni  passed 
he  showed  his  veneration  for  the  church, 
and  sought,  on  every  occasion,  the  affection 
of  the  people.  By  the  conquest  of  Pavia, 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Ticino  and  the  Po. 
he  founded  his  dominion  in  Upper  Italy, 
which,  to  the  present  day,  has  been  called 
Lombardy,  from  the  Longobardi,  and  he 
made  it  the  chief  city  of  those  districts.  In 
Lower  Italy,  also,  this  nation  conquered 
beautiful  tracts  of  land,  and  founded  the 
principality  Benevento,  which  comprises 
the  greatest  portion  of  the  present  kingdom 
of  Naples.  But  Rome  and  Ravenna  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  Greeks,  who 
gained  the  Franks  to  their  side  by  presents, 
in  order  that  they  might,  by  their  means, 
prevent  the  Longobardi  from  taking  pos- 
session of  the  whole  of  Italy,  and  consoli- 
dating it  into  one  powerful  and  strong  king- 
dom. And,  unfortunately  for  the  country, 
in  this  object  they  succeeded.  From  that 
period  to  this  day,  Italy  has  remained  dis- 
united, and  has  endured  the  severe  fate  of 
a  divided  country,  internally  rent.  Stran- 
gers have,  from  time  immemorial,  contested 
for  its  possession,  and  its  ground  has  been 
deluged  with  streams  of  native  and  foreign 
blood. 

The  Longooardi  cultivated  their  newly- 
acquired  country  so  admirably,  that  the 
melancholy  traces  of  former  devastation 
became  daily  less  discernible.  The  kin^ 
11 


also  procured  his  supplies  from  the  produce 
of  his  possessions ;  and  from  one  farm  to 
another  he  was  regular  in  his  visits  of  in 
spection;  living,  in  fact,  with  all  the  sim- 
plicity of  a  patriarch,  combined  with  the 
dignity  of  a  great  military  leader.  Theii 
free-men,  as  among  the  ancient  Romans, 
labored  of  their  own  accord  to  turn  the  de- 
sert and  waste  tracts  into  arable  land,  thus 
distinguishing  themselves  from  other  Ger- 
man nations.  Agriculture  flourished  par- 
ticularly around  monasteries,  whose  chron- 
icles, says  a  great  German  writer,  contain 
the  less  dazzling  but  more  satisfactory  his- 
Jory,  of  the  way  in  which  they  almost  over- 
came, or,  at  least,  assisted  Nature,  and  how 
cheerful  gardens  and  smiling  fields  covered 
the  ruins  of  ancient  Italy. 

The  majority  of  German  nations,  at  the 
time  of  the  great  migration,  had  come  into 
new  countries  wholly  different  from  their 
former  settlements,  and  there  found  inhab- 
itants of  a  different  race,  with  other  lan- 
guages, manners,  and  laws.  They,  con- 
sequently, could  not  themselves  continue  to 
exist  stationary  in  their  new  country  upon 
the  same  footing  that  they  had  been  used 
to  in  their  former  homes;  and  it  is  import- 
ant that  we  should  place  before  our  view, 
in  its  broad  outline,  the  great  difference 
presented  between  the  tribes  which  had 
wandered  forth  as  conquerors,  and  those 
which  had  remained  behind  adhering  to 
their  ancient  simple  customs. 

The  German  conquerors  found  in  Gaul, 
Spain,  Italy,  and  England,  inhabitants  con- 
sisting of  Romans  and  natives  mixed.  They 
left  them,  it  is  true,  after  they  had  appro- 
priated to  themselves  a  portion  of  their 
possessions,  in  their  dwelling-places,  but 
generally  as  an  ignoble  and  degenerate 
race.  By  the  laws  of  the  Franks,  the  fine 
for  killing  a  Roman  or  a  Gaul  was  only 
the  half,  and  in  some  cases  but  one  fourth, 
of  what  it  was  for  a  free  Frank.  After- 
wards, notwithstanding  their  original  separ- 
ation and  distinctive  character,  it  could  not 
well  be  otherwise  but  that  the  Germans  by 
degrees  became  mixed  with  the  natives,  and 
that  many  of  the  latter,  who  were  superior 
to  the  Germans  in  knowledge,  as  well  as 
in  cunning  and  refinement,  speedily  obtain- 
ed, under  weak  kings,  distinguished  offices, 
and  now  ruled  their  former  lords.  They 
even  obtained,  as  services  were  paid  only 
with  land,  grants  of  possession  as  feudal 
tenures,  and  became  thereby  partakers  in 


CHANGES  IN  THE  CUSTOMS  AND  INSTITUTIONS. 


the  feudal  rights.  Romans  and  Gauls 
were  seen  to  rank  among  the  counts,  dukes, 
and  grand  stewards,  and  thence  arose,  al- 
though perhaps  but  slowly,  a  mixture  of 
nations,  and  accordingly  of  manners,  lan- 
guages, and  forms  of  ideas. 

The  ancient  vigorous  nature  of  those 
Germans  who  came  into  warm  and  luxuri- 
ous countries,  became  enervated  by  effemi- 
nacy and  sensuality.  Thus  the  Vandals 
in  Africa,  and  the  Ostro-Goths  in  Italy,  in 
the  course  of  twenty  years  after  their  arri- 
val, had  become  so  much  transformed  and 
degenerated,  that  they  submitted  to  enemies 
who  previously  could  scarcely  bear  their 
powerful  glance.  The  tribes,  however, 
which  remained  in  Germany,  continued  as 
firm  and  vigorous  as  ever;  and  if  after- 
wards they  became  by  degrees  more  mild, 
like  their  climate,  their  forests  were  never- 
theless cleared  so  gradually,  that  the  change 
in  the  people  took  place  without  too  rapid, 
and  thereby  injurious  a  transition. 

But  the  greatest  change  that  happened 
to  the  migrated  German  branches,  was  in 
reference  to  their  language.  For,  as  in 
the  conquered  countries,  the  Roman  or 
Latin  language  was  chiefly  spoken,  and  as 
this  was  at  that  time  much  more  cultivated 
than  the  German,  it  could  not  be  supplanted 
by  the  latter  ;  but  there  arose  a  mixture  of 
both,  whereby  they  became  changed,  and 
the  indigenous  language  of  the  country  be- 
fore the  Roman  period,  often  formed  a  third 
component  of  this  medley.  Consequently 
in  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  and  Eng- 
land, a  language  is  spoken  formed  by  a 
mixture  with  the  Roman,  v/hich  may  per- 
haps fall  more  gently  upon  the  ear  than  the 
German,  which  yet  retains  much  of  its 
former  roughness  from  the  ancient  forests ; 
while,  however,  the  former  tongue  is  nei- 
ther so  energetic,  so  hearty,  and  honest,  nor 
so  rich  in  peculiar  words.  The  German 
language  remains  ever  fresh  and  florid, 
ana  is  open  to  continual  improvement  in 
beauty  and  richness.  It  is  a  language  en- 
tirely original,  the  roots  of  which  ramify 
into  the  aboriginal  foundations  of  German 
national  idiosyncrasy,  and  draws  its  nour- 
ishment from  the  rich  fountain  of  life  with 
which  nature  has  endowed  the  nation  ;  it 
may  be  compared  to  the  living  plant  in  a 
fruitful  soil,  and  the  labor  bestowed  upon 
it,  is  as  that  of  the  gardener  who  watches 
and  carefully  attends  to  the  development 
of  the  favorite  tree.  But  the  language 


formed  by  a  composition  of  many  otheiSj 
is  but  the  work  of  man,  like  the  artificial 
web  which  the  hand  of  man  prepares  from 
the  plants  of  the  field.  It  is  true  this  may 
be  beautifully  and  richly  worked  ;  but  it  is 
then  and  for  all  times  finished,  and  possesses 
no  further  internal  power  of  life  and  growth 

The  constitution  of  the  conquering  Ger 
man  nations  necessarily  became  also  es- 
sentially changed.  At  home,  in  their 
original  condition,  the  power  of  royalty  in 
peace  was  but  insignificant.  The  elders 
or  counts,  as  the  appointed  judges  in  every 
gau  or  district,  regulated  the  usual  affairs, 
adjudged  disputes  according  to  custom,  and 
upon  more  important  and  general  affairs 
the  national  assembly  was  convened.  But 
in  war  the  power  of  the  leader  surpassed 
every  thing  else,  and  justly  so,  as  it  then 
depended  upon  prompt  decisions.  The 
king  or  prince  was  the  unlimited  lord,  and 
the  most  faithful  of  his  suite  or  Gefolge 
ranked  next  to  him.  When  such  a  war 
had  speedily  passed  away,  the  prince 
again  retired  into  the  insignificance  of  a 
state  of  peace  ;  but  in  the  many  years  of 
the  incursions,  amidst  constant  warfare, 
his  power  became  firmly  established.  The 
whole  nation  became  an  army,  and  it  ac- 
customed itself  to  the  obedience  necessary 
in  war.  The  institutions  of  peace  losi 
much  of  their  force,  and  as  in  their  incur- 
sive  movements  they  had  no  country  they 
could  call  their  own,  their  whole  confidence 
and  attachment  were  necessarily  concen- 
trated in  their  leader,  who  led  them  to  vic- 
tory and  pillage,  and  the  forcible  posses- 
sion of  a  new  country.  He  was  the  safe- 
guard and  hope  of  the  nation  ;  he  stood  to 
them  in  lieu  of  home  and  father-land,  and 
those  who  stood  next  to  him,  as  his  suite, 
were  the  most  prosperous. 

To  these  latter,  when  conquest  was  com- 
pleted, he  apportioned  first  their  share  of 
booty  and  of  land,  as  in  ancient  times  he 
had  given  them  only  their  horse,  arms,  and 
entertainment.  But  without  doubt  he  took 
to  himself  the  most  desirable  and  consider- 
able  share,  and  particularly  the  'lands  of 
the  conquered  or  slain  princes  ;  his  power 
being  thus  founded  by  his  possessions  and 
strong  adherents.  The  Goths,  the  Bur- 
gundians,  and  the  Longobardi,  who  came 
as  migrating  nations,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  must  certainly  have  exacted  from 
the  conquered  a  considerable  portion  of 
their  possessions.  The  Ostro-Qoths  in 


THE  CONSTITUTION— THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM 


Italy  demanded  one-third  of  the  land, 
while  the  Wcstro-Goths  and  Burgundians 
required  from  the  Gauls  as  much  as  two- 
thirds.  The  Franks,  on  the  contrary,  made 
iheir  conquests  in  excursions  from  home, 
not  only  as  a  nation,  but  as  the  suite  of 
their  prince.  Their  numbers  were  not 
great,  hence  they  did  not  require  to  take 
from  the  Gauls  and  Romans  any  portion 
of  their  land,  although,  according  to  their 
ideas  of  the  rights  of  conquerors,  they  con- 
sidered the  whole  as  their  property ;  and 
in  many  cases,  no  doubt,  they  seized  much 
of  private  property,  so  that  the  chance  of 
the  Gauls  became  often  much  more  fa- 
tal,  inasmuch  as  they  were  more  imme- 
diately exposed  to  the  wild  and  arbitrary 
demands  made.*  But  altogether,  they  still 
found  in  what  the  Romans  had  previously 
possessed  as  national  properly,  a  sufficiency 
of  land  ;  besides,  in  those  portions  of  Gaul 
which  they  took  from  the  Westro-Goths, 
the  majority  of  those  land  possessions  fell 
to  them  which  the  latter,  upon  the  con- 
quest, had  appropriated  to  themselves  ;  for 
many  of  them  were  killed  in  the  war,  and 
many  likewise  quitted  the  country  and  ad- 
vanced into  Spain,  that  they  might  not  be- 
come slaves  to  the  Franks.  The  whole 
mass  of  the  conquered  state-lands  above 
mentioned  (according  to  the  Roman  ex- 
pression, jiscus)  formed  now,  after  the  king 
had  received  his  chief  portion,  the  common 
property  of  the  conquerors.  It  was  thence, 
so  long  as  they  held  together  as  an  army, 
that  their  support  was  furnished ;  after- 
wards, when  they  began  to  domicile  them- 
selves among  their  new  subjects,  and,  ac- 
cording to  the  original  disposition  of  Ger- 
man nations,  desired  to  obtain  entire  pos- 
session, they  received  this  from  the  mass 
of  fiscal  lands,  as  a  reward  (beneficium)  for 
the  military  services  rendered ;  and  for 
which  they  remained  obligated  to  afford 
further  military  duty  at  the  command  of 
the  king,  holding,  however,  possession  of 
the  land  merely  as  a  fief,  or  loan,  (lehen,) 
during  their  lives. 

From  this  commencement  was  developed 
the  entire  constitution,  afterwards  so  im- 
portant and  influential,  and  which  was 
oalled  the  feudal  state.  In  the  following 
centuries  it  obtained,  by  degrees,  its  full 
perfection,  particularly  when  it  extended 
itself  backward  to  the  ancient  seats  of 


the  Franks,  and  the  other  German  nations 
subjected  to  them.  The  exertions  to  ob- 
tain fiefs,  and  procure  appointment  for  the 
services  connected  therewith  under  the 
sovereign,  became  increasingly  predomi- 
nant, for  thereby  was  attained  influence 
and  power  ;  an/1  to  gain  this  many  gave 
up  their  freedom.  The  feudatories  took 
the  name  of  liege  subjects  (fideks)  and 
people  (leudes)  of  the  prince,  or  vassals, 
(vassi,)  whence  vasalli  is  derived.  The 
feudal  lord  was  called  senior  (whence 
seigneurs)  or  dominus.  The  name  an- 
trustio  (confidential)  signified  the  liege  sub- 
ject, leader  of  a  troop,  or  arimanie  of  the 
escort  or  train,  in  which  quality  he  had  to 
take  a  particular  oath  of  fidelity,  and  then 
stood  truste  dominica.  Those  liege  sub- 
jects who  stood  in  close  service  to  the  prince 
were  called  administrators. 

The  great  vassals  could  distribute  from 
their  own  land  fiefs  to  other  poore'r  indi- 
viduals, who  engaged  in  their  service,  and 
thus  became  after,  or  arriore  vassals. 
They  were  obliged,  with  these  their  jideles, 
to  follow  the  heerbann  of  the  prince,  while 
the  common  freeman,  who  had  only  an 
allodial,  or  free  inheritance,  (in  contradis- 
tinction to  feudum,*)  was  only  obliged  to 
attend  in  great  national  wars,  and  for 
which  the  heerbann,  in  the  ancient  Ger- 
man sense,  was  proclaimed.  Notwith- 
standing which,  the  feudatories  soon  began 
to  look  down  upon  the  freeman  as  upon 
one  much  their  inferior,  and  to  consider 
themselves,  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  no- 
bility of  the  nation — even  when  they  were 
not  descended  from  the  original  nobility  of 
the  nation,  for  Gauls  were  likewise  ena- 
bled to  receive  fiefs ;  nay,  already,  under 
Clovis,  these  were  elevated  beyond  the 
Franks  in  honors,  for  they  more  easily 
yielded  obedience  than  the  latter,  and 
were  thus  more  agreeable  to  the  king. 
The  law  also  made  a  distinction  prejudi- 
cial to  the  free  possessor.  The  liege  sub- 
jects (in  trusle  dominica)  had  a  higher 
amount  of  fine-money  allowed  them  ;  it 
amounted  to  three-fourths  of  that  of  the 
common  freeman ;  and  even  when  the 
liege  subject  was  merely  of  Roman  de- 
scent, the  sum  was  higher  than  that  of  the 
free  Frank,  it  being  300  solidis,  while 
that  of  the  latter  was  200. 

The  feods,  originally,  were  not  heredi- 


*  "  Nee  ullus  muttire  coram  iis  audcbat,"  says  Greg-       *  The  word  feudum,  however,  d'   «  not  present  it 
ory  of  Touts.  self  before  the  second  century 


B4 


THE  FEUDAL  SYSTEM— THE  LAWS. 


lary ;  the  lord  could  withdraw,  and  invest 
others  with  them ;  but  in  the  course  of 
time,  and  particularly  under  weak  govern- 
ments, the  vassals  found  means,  in  one 
way  or  the  other,  to  obtain  hereditary  pos- 
session, and  make  it  nearly  independent ; 
the  royal  power  being  thus  again  restrict- 
ed, by  those  whom  it  had  previously  ele- 
vated for  its  support.  The  majority  of 
vassals  were  also  powerful  by  their  inher- 
ited property;  and  who  would  deprive  the 
powerful  man,  or  his  son,  of  his  feod  ? 
Property  and  feods  became  mixed,  because 
he  who  inherited  the  property  inherited 
also  the  feod. 

The  power  of  the  kings  was,  therefore, 
not  unlimited ,  and  the  ancient  freedom  not 
annihilated,  inasmuch  as  the  nation  still 
participated  in  the  decision  of  important 
national  affairs.  Regular  assemblies  were 
still  held,  and  by  the  Franks  at  first,  in 
March ;  afterwards,  under  Pepin  the  Lit- 
tle, in  May  ;  whence  the  names  of  March 
and  May  plains.  But  the  greatest  differ- 
ence from  ancient  times  was,  that  these 
assemblies  consisted  no  longer  of  the  ma- 
jority of  all  the  freemen,  but  chiefly  of 
feudatories,  so  that  the  nobility  gave  the 
decision. 

The  laws  of  the  German  nations  of  this 
age  show  that  their  state  was  still  very 
rude.  The  punishment  of  death  was 
scarcely  awarded  to  any  crime  except 
treason  and  infidelity.  The  German  re- 
garded personal  liberty  so  highly,  that  he 
would  not  yield  to  any  other  the  right  to 
his  life.  Murder  might  be  compounded 
for  with  money  or  goods,  and  the  compen- 
sation obtained  by  relatives,  who,  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  right  of  the  retribution 
of  blood,  could  have  demanded  the  blood 
of  the  offender.  Accordingly,  the  injured 
family  possessed  the  right  of  feud  or  hos- 
tility against  the  other,  until  satisfaction 
was  given.  Expiation  for  the  non-exer- 
cised family  revenge  was,  therefore,  the 
original  signification  of  the  retribution,  or 
fine-money.  The  punishment  of  death, 
however,  would  not  have  withheld  these 
passionate  nations,  who  instantly  grasped 
the  sword,  and  had  but  little  fear  of  death, 
from  the  momentary  satisfaction  of  re- 
venge ;  the  pecuniary  penalty  was,  on  the 
contrary,  very  high  for  that  period,  and 
therefore  more  felt ;  and  he  who  could  not 
pay  it  lost  his  freedom,  and  became  the 
jrlave  of  the  offended  party.  Many  poor 


freemen  thus  lost  their  liberty,  because 
their  possessions  were  esteemed  of  but  lit- 
tle value,  as,  for  instance,  an  ox  by  thf 
Salic  laws  was  worth  two  gold  shillings,  a 
cow  but  one,  a  stallion  six,  and  a  mare 
three ;  therefore,  an  opprobrious  word  cost 
a  considerable  sum,  for  he  who  called  ano- 
ther a  liar,  was  obliged  to  give  him  six 
shillings,  or  two  oxen ;  he  who  called  him 
knave  or  scoundrel,  as  much  as  fifteen 
shillings.  The  extent  of  the  punishment 
certainly  conduced  to  their  frequently  ma- 
king arrangements,  in  order  that  they 
might  not,  through  the  excitement  of  a 
passionate  moment,  involve  each  other  in 
deep  misfortune.  As  each  went  armed, 
and  could  always  defend  himself,  the  mur- 
der of  a  man,  according  to  the  Allemannic 
law,  was  only  half  as  heavily  punished  as 
that  of  a  woman,  who  was  defenceless. 
But  theft  was  more  abhorred  than  murder, 
because  a  coward  may  also  attack  defence- 
less objects.  According  to  the  Saxon  law, 
he  who  had  stolen  a  horse  was  punished 
with  death,  but  every  murder,  even  that 
of  a  noble,  money  could  buy  off.  The 
highest  fines  inflicted  were,  first,  that  of  a 
Bavarian  duke,  of  960  shillings,  and  sec- 
ondly, that  of  a  bishop,  of  900  shillings. 
There  was  no  fine  fixed  for  a  king,  for  his 
person  was  considered  sacred  and  unas- 
sailable. With  the  Franks,  the  fine- 
money  of  the  royal  Antrustio,  if  he  was  a 
Frank,  was  equal  to  that  of  a  count,  600 
shillings ;  of  the  freeman  200,  and  the 
Litus  100.  For  the  Romans  it  was  fixed 
at  half  these  amounts,  in  the  same  pro- 
portion :  so  that  the  Romanus  conviva  regis 
paid  300  shillings,  the  Romanus  possessor 
100,  but  the  Romanus  tributarius,  instead 
of  50,  paid  only  45.  Among  the  other 
nations,  according  to  their  laws,  there 
were  many  variations.  Every  corporeal 
wound  was  very  precisely  fixed  by  a  mo- 
ney rate ;  the  mutilation  of  the  hand,  for 
instance,  cost  100  shillings,  of  a  thumb 
45 ;  the  nose  the  same,  the  fore  finger  35, 
and  any  of  the  others  15  shillings. 

Judgment  was  held  under  the  open  firm- 
ament, in  an  enclosed  place,  called  Mal- 
lum,  (Malstiitte,  or  Malberg,)  and  before 
an  elevated  shield.  The  judges  chosen 
under  the  presidency  of  the  count  were,  in 
all  cases,  for  freemen  also  freemen  them- 
selves, and  called  in  judicial  language 
Rachimlurgi,  or  boni  homines.  These  were 
nominated  by  counts,  usually  to  the  num 


PASTIMES— CHRISTIANITY  IN  GERMANY. 


ber  of  seven.  In  cases  where  the  Rachim- 
burgi  could  not  find  judgment,  the  so-called 
Sagibarones,  who  were  appointed  as  special 
counsellors  or  magistrates,  stepped  in  to 
decide.  The  regular  tribunal  which  met 
at  certain  fixed  periods,  was  called  mallum 
iegitimum.  It  was  attended  by  the  entire 
population,  and  the  whole  community  gave 
its  decision,  and  not  the  judges,  (Rachim- 
burgi,)  who  merely  found  the  judgment. 
In  the  especial  or  summoned  tribunals, 
however,  at  which  only  few  assisted  besides 
the  counts  and  judges,  tbe  latter  decided  at 
once  ;  the  others  present  did  not  act  as  a 
community,  but  only  attended  as  audience, 
and  as  such  had  nothing  to  say. 

To  arrive  at  the  guilt  or  innocence  of 
an  accused  person  appeared  to  the  Ger- 
mans, with  their  acute  feeling  for  the  sa- 
credness  of  justice,  to  be  one  of  the  most 
indispensable  duties.  When,  therefore, 
the  truth  was  not  to  be  obtained  by  means 
of  witnesses,  they  sought  higher  aid,  by 
having  recourse  to  the  so-called  judgments 
Df  God.  The  innocence  of  the  accused 
party  seemed  confirmed  if  they  remained 
unharmed  upon  being  exposed  to  the  dan- 
gers which,  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
things,  are  injurious ;  if,  for  instance, 
upon  exposing  the  hand  or  foot  to  boiling 
water  or  a  glowing  iron,  it  remained  un- 
marked, or  if  in  single  combat  he  con- 
quered his  opponent.  They  had  confi- 
dence that  God  would  not  allow  innocence 
to  fall,  and  no  doubt  in  the  single  combat, 
at  least,  the  consciousness  of  innocence 
would  frequently  give  the  victory. 

Their  chief  pleasures  were  still  the 
chase  and  war.  The  former  they  loved 
so  much,  and  so  highly  prized  all  that 
pertained  to  it,  that  the  Allemanni  esti- 
mated a  stolen  lime  hound  at  twelve  shil- 
lings, while  a  horse  could  be  compensated 
at  six,  and  a  cow  at  only  one  shilling.  A 
common  trained  hawk  was  valued  at  three, 
and  one  that  had  taken  a  stork  at  six  shil- 
lings. 

The  whole  moral  and  civil  condition  of 
.he  German  tribes,  in  the  centuries  imme- 
diately after  the  great  migration,  was  in 
certain  respects  worse  than  their  ancient 
simple  state,  when  they  followed  the  im- 
mediate impulses  of  their  nature.  They 
were  now  on  the  transit  from  the  uncon- 
scious life  of  nature  to  a  consequent  pro- 
gress in  civilization,  and  this  period  of  a 


ness  of  moral  dignity  begins  to  awaken 
before  the  power  of  self-government  is 
present  to  subdue  the  active  impulses  of 
passion. 

The  Goths,  Burgundians,  Longobardi- 
ans,  and  Franks,  had,  as  has  been  related, 
much  earlier  adopted  Christianity  ;  in 
Germany  proper  it  made  its  appearance  a 
couple  of  centuries  later.  For  although 
the  Vllemanni,  Thuringians,  and  Bavari- 
ans were  subject  to  the  Franks,  the  latter 
did  not  give  themselves  much  trouble  to 
disseminate  the  holy  doctrines  among 
them  ;  although,  by  such  a  boon,  they 
might  have  given  them  a  compensation  for 
the  loss  of  liberty.  It  appeared,  indeed, 
as  if  they,  who  had  adopted  Christianity 
in  need  and  in  the  tumult  of  battle,  sought 
and  desired  only  to  promulgate  it  with  the 
sword.  On  the  other  hand,  the  apostles 
who  planted  these  mild  doctrines  among 
the  German  forests,  came  from  distant 
countries — from  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland.  The  Angli  and  Saxons,  who  had 
landed  there  as  heathens,  were  slowly  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  not  by  force,  but  by 
instruction  and  conviction.  And  it,  there- 
fore, struck  so  deep  a  root  in  their  minds, 
that  speedily  a  multitude  of  inspired  and 


Christian  men  travelled 


those  coun- 


tries as  teachers  of  the  heathens.  They 
had  not  to  expect  either  rich  abbeys  or 
much  honor  and  reward  among  them,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  ridicule,  contempt,  want, 
and  the  most  extreme  danger. 

Such  men  were  the  holy  Columban 
and  Gallus,  in  the  sixth  century ;  Kili- 
an,  Emmeran,  Rupertus,  and  Willibrod, 
in  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries ; 
and,  at  last,  the  Englishman  Winefred, 
who  afterwards  received  the  honorable 
name  of  Bonifacius,  (the  Beneficent.)  Hf 
labored  from  the  year  718  to  755  with  in- 
exhaustible  courage  for  Christianity.  In 
Franconia,  Thuringia,  on  the  Rhine,  and 
among  the  Saxons  and  Friesi,  his  zeal 
planted  tbe  divine  doctrines  ;  and  while  he 
introduced  and  established  the  Christian 
worship,  so  humanizing  to  the  manners,  he 
collected  the  communities  into  villages, 
and  this  laid  a  foundation  for  towns.  For 
the  strengthening  of  the  new  faith,  he 
fixed  bishoprics  here  and  there,  or  regu- 
lated those  already  existing,  as  in  Salz- 
burg, Passau,  Freisingen,  Ratisbonne, 
Wurtzburg,  Eichstadt,  and  Erfurt; 


nation  is  the  worst,  because  the  conscious- 1  celebrated  abbey  Fulda  was 


86 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  GERMANY— ARCHBISIIOt 


his  follower  Sturm,  and  at  Ohrdruf  he 
planted  a  school  for  future  teachers,  who, 
according  to  the  rule  of  their  institution, 
not  only  zealously  propagated  Christianity, 
but  also  the  arts  of  agriculture  and  horti- 
culture. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate, although  at  great  personal  danger,  to 
contend  against  the  rude  disposition  of  the 
people  with  the  force  of  his  faith.  He 
overturned  their  altars,  and  cut  down  their 
sacred  trees,  beneath  which  they  sacrificed 
to  their  gods.  One  among  these,  at  Geiss- 
mar  in  Hessia,  was  particularly  celebra- 
ted ;  but  Boniface  himself  seized  the  axe 
and  helped  to  hew  it  down.  The  sur- 
rounding heathens  firmly  believed  that  the 
god  who  dwelt  in  the  tree  would  speedily 
come  forth  with  fire,  and  consume  the  cul- 
prit and  all  his  companions.  But  the  tree 
fell  without  the  fire  coming,  and  with  it 
dropped  their  former  confidence  in  their  god. 

But  Boniface  complained  even  more  of 
the  bad  Christian  priests  themselves,  whom 
he  found  among  the  Franks,  than  of  the 
savageness  of  the  heathens.  They  lived 
in  all  kinds  of  vice,  and  made  no  con- 
science of  sacrificing  to  the  false  gods,  as 
well  as  to  baptize  howsoever  was  required 
from  them  for  the  money  offered  for  so 
doing.  And  even  the  best  among  them 
took  as  much  delight  in  arms  and  the 
chase  as  in  the  duties  of  their  spiritual 
office.  "  Religion  has  now  been  prostra- 
ted full  sixty  or  seventy  years,"  says  he  in 
an  epistle  to  Pope  Zacharias  ;  "  and  the 
Franks  for  more  than  eighty  years  have 
had  neither  an  assembly  in  council  of  the 
church  nor  an  archbishop.  The  bishop- 
rics are  in  the  hands  chiefly  of  greedy 
laymen  or  criminal  churchmen,  who  per- 
ceive profit  in  nothing  but  temporalities." 
Hence  one  of  his  chief  cares  was,  that 
councils  should  be  held  by  the  France-man 
clergy  to  restore  good  morals  and  the 
ancient  church  discipline,  and  that  the 
clergy  should  participate  in  the  assemblies 
of  the  March  plains,  (Martii  Campi,)  that 
the  weal  of  the  Church  might  also  be 
there  taken  into  consideration ;  and  to- 
wards this  he  accomplished  much,  for 
which  he  made  himself  greatly  distin- 
guished. 

In  the  year  746,  Boniface  was  made 
archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  as  such  he  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  East-Franconian  clergy, 
which  he  accustomed  to  unconditional  obe- 


dience towards  the  R,oman  bishop,  who  nov* 
as  pope  stood  uncontestedly  at  the  head  of 
the  western  church.  Boniface,  however, 
would  not  remain  inactive  and  pass  his  later 
years  in  quiet,  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathens  was  now,  as  formerly,  still  the  la^ 
bor  and  aim  of  his  life ;  and  at  last  his  zea! 
was  rewarded  with  the  martyr's  fate.  Upon 
his  return  to  the  Friesi,  in  order  solemnly 
to  consecrate  some  newly-baptized  Chris- 
tians, he  was  fallen  upon  by  a  troop  of  bar- 
barians, who  expected  to  gain  booty  from 
him.  His  servants  seized  their  arms  to 
repel  the  attack  ;  he,  however,  forbade  them 
to  shed  blood,  and  was  therefore  at  once 
murdered  with  all  his  companions  by  the 
furious  band. 

The  religious  foundations,  churches,  and 
cloisters  which  Boniface  and  others  built  in 
Germany,  became  not  only  the  sparks 
whence  the  light  of  religion  and  intellectu- 
al cultivation  proceeded,  but  many  of  them 
formed  also  the  nucleus  of  new  towns  and 
villages  which,  by  degrees,  arose  around 
them.  Not  only  the  bondsmen  built  their 
huts  close  to  them,  but  others  also  sought  the 
protection  of  their  walls,  and  merchants  and 
traders  proceeded  thither  in  the  hopes  of 
f  making  profit  from  the  multitude  of  stran- 
gers who  flocked  there  for  the  sake  of  wor- 
ship. The  name  of  the  festival,  Kirclumesse 
or  Churchwake,  derived  thence  its  origin. 

The  kingdom  of  the  Franks  was  divided 
into  two  great  portion",  Neustria/and  Aus- 
trasia,  or  the  Western  and  Eastern  kingdoms; 
and  the  former  was  again  frequently  divided 
into  sevei4l  parts.  In  the  Western  king- 
dom, the  Roman  manners  and  language 
maintained  the  superiority  ;  but  in  the  East 
those  of  the  Germans  were  predominant. 
Both  nations  were  frequently  at  war  and 
discontented  with  each  other. 

In  the  year  613,  Clothaire  IT.  once  again 
united  the  two  divisions  of  the  kingdom,  but 
soon  afterwards  resigned  that  of  Austrasia 
into  the  hands  of  his  son  Dagobert,  who,  on 
the  death  of  his  father,  in  the  year  628, 
again  combined  the  whole  together.  Under 
these  two  governments,  which  may  be  in- 
cluded in  the  series  as  the  most  happy,  thp 
kingdom  became  strengthened,  and  the  in- 
ternal relations,  by  the  exertions  of  Arnolph, 
bishop  of  Metz,  and  the  great  chamberlain 
or  prime  minister,  Pepin  of  Landen,  (grand, 
father  of  Pepin  of  Heristal,)  were  greatly 
improved,  and  rendered  more  perfect  and 
settled. 


DAGOBERT—  Till,  (,KAM)  C'iJ A.M15KKLAINS. 


The  judicial  system  now  assumed  more 
jf  the  Christian  character;  for,  according 
.o  the  original  pagan  law,  every  act  of  mur- 
der, with  the  exception  of  that  committed 
against  the  king,  could  be  compounded  for 
with  money  and  land,  whereas  now  it  was 
decreed  that  each  premeditated  murder 
should  be  punished  with  death.  The  clergy 
likewise  were  placed  upon  a  more  elevated 
and  distinct  footing,  and  which,  indeed,  was 
extremely  necessary  and  desirable,  so  that 
Christianity  might  not  again  sink  and  fall 
into  neglect.  In  order  that  bishops  should, 
as  far  as  possible,  consist  of  the  most  worthy 
men,  the  ecclesiastics  received,  with  the  co- 
operation of  the  people,  the  right  of  election, 
(clerus  cum  populo.)  The  jurisdiction  of 
the  clergy  was  likewise,  at  the  great  synod 
of  Paris  in  614,  established  upon  a  more 
firm  and  secure  basis;  and  at  the  grand 
conferences  its  influence  became  more  im- 
portant, inasmuch  as  they  appeared  there 
almost  alone  with  the  great  vassals  or  high- 
er  officers  of  the  crown.  The  ancient  as- 
semblies of  the  people  had,  under  Cl/ovis, 
entirely  ceased  to  exist.  V-- 

Dagobert  resided  chiefly  in  Paris.  We 
find  that  under  him  continual  wars  were 
carried  on  between  the  Franks  and  Slavi, 
which  produced  against  them  a  friendly 
league  between  the  Franks  and  Saxons. 
Dagobert  released  the  Saxons  from  their 
tribute  of  five  hundred  cows. 

After  the  death  of  Dagobert,  in  637,  the 
decline  of  the  Merovingian  dynasty  com- 
menced anew,  and  we  find  seven  kings 
ruled  like  puppets  by  guardians,  acting  as 
prime  ministers  or  mayors  of  the  palace, 
thus  producing  the  complete  fall  of  the  race. 
These  mayors  got  the  entire  sway  of  the 
kingdom.  Originally,  the  major-domus 
was  only  steward  ;  he  stood  at  the  head  of 
the  royal  house  and  of  the  royal  people, 
(leudes,)  and  was  leader  of  the  feudal 
retinue  in  war,  next  to  the  king.  The 
heerbann  of  freemen  was  not  under  him. 
But  when  the  retinue  obtained,  by  degrees, 
the  precedence,  and  became  properly  the 
state,  the  heerbann  fell  into  disuse,  and  the 
independent  freemen  becoming  reduced  in 
number,  the  grand  steward  then  rose  to  be 
effectually  the  first  officer  of  the  kingdom, 
and  under  weak  kings  was  their  ruler. 
When  a  war  was  to  be  conducted,  the 
grand  steward  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  troops,  and  showed  himself  prepared  for 
warlike  feats ;  in  peace  also  he  exercised 


privilege  of  mercy,  disposed  of  offices,  dis- 
tributed vacant  sinecures,  and  left  to  the 
king  merely  the  honor  of  his  name  and  that 
of  the  crown,  and  the  indulgence  of  his 
sensuality  in  the  inner  apartments  of  t!>" 
palace.  It  was  only  at  the  March  assem- 
bly that  the  king  appeared  personally 
amidst  his  people.  There  he  sat  publicly 
upon  the  seat  of  his  ancestors,  greeted  his 
nobles,  and  was  saluted  in  return  by  them  : 
he  received  the  presents  brought  by  the  na- 
tion, and  handed  them  over  to  the  grand 
chamberlain  or  steward  standing  beside  the 
throne,  distributing,  according  to  his  recom- 
mendation, the  vacant  places,  and  confirm- 
ing those  he  had  already  disposed  of.  He 
••hery  mounted  his  chariot,  which,  according: 
to  ancient  custom,  was  drawn  by  four  oxen, 
drove  to  his  palace,  and  remained  there 
until  the  following  March  assembly. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  great 
conqueror  Clovis's  descendants,  before  two 
hundred  years  had  passed  since  his  death. 
About  the  year  700,  the  grand  steward 
over  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  Franks, 
Neustria  as  well  as  Austrasia,  was  Pepin 
of  Heristal,  (near  Liege ;)  a  very  careful 
and  prudent  man,  who  restored  order  and 
justice,  held  the  old  March  assemblies  re- 
gularly, and  won  so  much  the  love  and 
confidence  of  the  people,  by  restoring  in 
this  manner  their  rights  against  the  en- 
croachments of  the  hordes,  that  he  was 
enabled  to  make  the  office  hereditary  to  his 
family.  His  son,  Charles  Martel,  who 
was.  grand  steward  after  him,  saved  the 
whole  of  Christianity  at  this  moment  from 
a  great  impending  clanger. 

A  savage  horde  had  arrived  from  the 
south,  and  had  in  a  short  time  traversed 
extensive  tracts  with  fire  and  sword,  and 
subjected  all  to  their  dominion.  No  nation 
could  set  limits  to  them,  their  arm  was 
irresistible,  and  struck  their  opponents  like 
lightning.  These  strangers  were  the  Arabs  ; 
they  came  from  Asia,  and  they  derived  their 
great  power  from  the  new  faith.  For  he 
whom  they  called  their  prophet,  Mahomet, 
had  announced  to  them  much  from  the 
doctrines  of  Moses  and  of  our  Saviour ; 
besides  which  he  promised  to  this  people, 
who  were  addicted  to  sensual  pleasures 
beyond  every  thing,  great  rewards  and  an 
ever-during  bliss  in  Paradise,  if  they 
fought  zealously  for  their  new  faith,  and 
extended  it  over  all  countries.  .Mahomet 
lived  about  the  year  6*22.  They  had  now 


S8 


THE  ARABS— PEPIN  THE  LITTLE.     % 


rapidly  conquered  several  lands  in  Asia 
and  Africa,  and  in  less  than  a  hundred 
years  after  the  death  of  Mahomet,  in  the 
year  711,  they  had  already  crossed  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  Spain.  ^  Roderic, 
king  of  the  West  Goths,  who  ruled  in 
Spain,  opposed  them  near  Xeres  de  la 
Frontera ;  he  strove  for  his  crown,  for  the 
freedom  and  religion  of  the  West  Goths ; 
long  and  severe  was  the  battle.  Roderic 
fought  heroically,  until  a  treacherous  count, 
who  called  the  Arabs  across  the  straits, 
passed  over  to  the  enemy.  The  king  then 
fell,  and  with  him  the  flower  of  his  army. 
The  kingdom  of  the  West  Goths  was  sub- 
jected to  the  Arabs,  and  they  soon  ruled 
from  the  sea  to  the  Pyrenees,  so  that  only 
a  very  small  spot  to  the  northwest  of 
S.p ain,  in  the  mountains  of  Gallicia,  re- 
mained a  free  possession  in  the  hands  of 
the  Goths. 

After  the  Arabs  had  conquered  Spain, 
they  cast  their  eyes  upon  France,  and, 
crossing  the  Pyrenees,  fell  upon  that  coun- 
try. At  the  same  time  they  showed  them- 
selves below  Constantinople  with  a  large 
army  and  a  fleet :  so  that  they  embraced 
the  whole  of  Europe  from  east  to  west, 
determined  upon  conquering  it  and  ex- 
tinguishing Christianity.  And  had  they 
obtained  the  victory  on  both  sides  they 
would  have  advanced  still  farther,  and  the 
two  great  armies  would  have  met  and 
united  in  Germany  and  have  completed 
the  work.  But  Providence  had  determin- 
ed otherwise.  The  city  of  Constantinople 
held  firm  against  the  attack,  with  its  strong 
walls  and  Greek  fire,  which  the  inhabi- 
rants  used  against  the  ships  of  their  enemy. 
But  in  France  they  were  opposed  by  the 
powerful  hero  Charles  Martel,  the  son  of 
Pepin  ;  he  was  called  Martel  or  the  ham- 
mer, because  by  his  bravery  he  struck  his 
enemies  down,  as  it  were,  like  a  hammer. 
With  his  Franks  he  crossed  the  river  Loire 
to  meet  the  enemy,  and  came  upon  them 
between  the  cities  of  Tours  and  Poitiers, 
where  a  wide  plain  spread  itself  out.  The 
battle  here  took  place  on  a  Saturday  in 
October,  in  the  year  732.  Close  and  im- 
passable, and  covered  with  an  advanced 
wall  of  shields,  the  Franks  stood  immovea- 
ble,  and  endured  their  first  violent  attack, 
for  this  was  always  the  most  furious.  The 
Franks,  however,  then  suddenly  broke 
forth,  precipitated  themselves  upon  the 
Arabs,  repulsed  them,  and  it  is  said  that 


more  than  300,000  fell,  together  with  theil 
general,  Abderachman,  slaughtered  by  tht 
swords  of  the  Franks.  Those  who  re- 
mained  fled  towards  southern  France, 
whence  Charles  soon  drove  them  forth,  and 
placed  forever  a  boundary  against  them  on 
this  side.  Charles,  who,  for  this  deed,  was 
highly  honored  throughout  all  countries, 
died  in  the  year  741. 

His  son  was  called  Pepin  the  Little,  01 
the  Short ;  he  was  also  grand  steward  untii 
752,  and  ruled  the  kingdom  according  tc 
his  pleasure,  but  with  wisdom  and  justice, 
while  king  Childeric  III.  sat  in  his  palace 
like  a  shadow,  and  took  not  the  least  care 
of  his  government.  When  Pepin  saw  the 
disposition  of  the  Franks  favorable  to  him, 
he  caused  an  assembly  of  them  to  take 
place  in  the  year  751,  when  it  was  de- 
termined to  send  an  embassy  to  Rome,  with 
this  question:  "Is  he  justly  called  king 
who  has  the  royal  power  in  his  hands,  or 
he  who  merely  bears  the  name  ?"  To  which 
pope  Zacharias  replied,  "  He  must  also  be 
called  king,  who  possesses  the  royal  power." 

The  holy  Boniface  had  accustomed  the 
Franks,  in  certain  cases  of  conscience,  10 
apply  to  the  pope  for  advice  as  their  spiritu- 
al father,  and  the  papal  reply  is  to  be 
regarded  as  counsel  and  opinion,  as  an 
answer  to  such  a  question,  but  not  as  a 
deposal  of  king  Childeric,  by  virtue  of  the 
power  existing  in  the  pope.  Upon  this, 
the  Franks  assembled  again  at  Soissons, 
and  took  the  crown  from  Childeric,  the  last 
of  the  Merovingians,  cut  off  his  long  hair, 
the  mark  of  honor  with  the  Prankish  kings, 
and  had  him  removed  to  a  cloister,  there  to 
end  his  days ;  while  Pepin,  the  son  of 
Charles  Martel.  and  grandson  of  Pepin  of 
Heristal,  was  in  the  year  752  solemnly 
anointed  and  crowned  king  of  the  Franks 
by  the  archbishop  Boniface,  266  years  after 
Clovis  the  Merovingian  had,  by  his  victory 
over  Syagrius,  upon  this  same  field  of 
Soissons,  first  founded  the  kingdom. 

Pepin  by  his  courage  and  wisdom  aug- 
mented the  power  of  his  nation.  At  this 
time,  in  -752*— pope  Stephen  crossed  the 
Alps  (he  being  the  first  pope  who  since 
the  foundation  of  the  church  had  under- 
taken this  journey)  to  demand  the  assist- 
ance of  Pepin  against  the  Longobardian 
king  Aistulph,  who  had  conquered  Raven- 
na, and  demanded  tribute  and  submission 
from  the  pope.  Pepin  promised  him  aid, 
and  retained  him  through  the  winter  at  his 


CHARLEMAGNE,  OR  CHARLES  THE  GREAT 


89 


flourt  in  Miinster.  Here  the  pope  repeated 
the  anointment  of  the  king,  as  already  per- 
formed by  the  holy  Boniface,  anointing 
also  his  two  sons,  Carloman  and  Charles, 
(after  he  had  himself  lifted  the  latter,  then 
twelve  years  old,  from  the  font,)  and  then 
presented  to  the  Franks  these  members  of 
the  newly-created  dynasty  as  alone  legiti- 
mate. In  the  spring  of  the  year  754  the 
king  advanced  against  Italy,  defeated  Ais- 
tulph  at  Susa,  reconquered  Ravenna,  with 
the  surrounding  country,  which  had  pre- 
viously belonged  to  the  Greek  emperors, 
and  presented  it  to  the  pope.  This  formed 
the  beginning  of  the  papal  states. 


Pepin  died  in  768,  in  the  fifty-fourth 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  Franks  mourned 
his  death  as  much  as  if  he  had  sprung 
from  the  ancient  royal  race.  In  stature 
he  was  short,  but  very  strong.  It  is  rela- 
ted of  him,  that  once,  upon  the  occasion  of 
a  combat  of  wild  beasts,  some  one  jested 
about  his  size,  upon  which  he  stepped  into 
the  arena,  drew  his  sword,  and  with  one 
blow  struck  off  the  head  of  a  lion  :  "lam 
not  tall,"  said  he,  "  but  my  arm  is  strong !" 

His  sons,  Charles  and  Carloman,  were 
elected  kings  by  the  nation  of  the  Franks, 
in  a  solemn  assembly,  and  regularly  di- 
vided the  kingdom  between  them. 


THIRD  PERIOD, 


THE  CARLOVINGIANS  FROM  CHARLEMAGNE  TO  HENRY  I. 


768—919. 


THE  events  of  the  reign  of  Charlemagne  called  forth 
the  energy  of  the  historical  writers: 

1.  The  annals  and  chronicles,  of  which  mention  has 
been  made  previously,  became  augmented,  and  proved 
for  this  period  more  and  more  important ;  while  educa- 
tion, so  much  promoted  by  Charlemagne,  is  therein 
displayed,  both  in  the  language  and  treatment  of  the 
subject. 

2.  In  reference  to  the  history  of  Charlemagne,  the 
works  of  Einhard  or  Eginhard  will  always  remain  the 
most  important,  being  written  by  a  man  who  was  in 
immediate  communication  with  that  sovereign.    His 
"  Annales,"  from  741-829,  treat  more  particularly  of 
this  period  than  the  continuation  of  the  "  Annal  Lauris- 
senses,"  before  mentioned.  The  "  VitaCaroli  Magni," 
after  giving  a  brief  account  of  the  wars  of  Charlemagne, 
describes  especially  every  other  particular  connected 
with  his  life  and  its  events ;  ana  must  be  read  by  all 
with  pleasure.    In  addition  to  this  we  possess  also  his 
letters. 

3.  Theganus,  bishop  of  Treves.  who  died  in  848? 
wrote  the  life  of  Louis  the  Pious, —    De  Gestis  Ludovici 
Pii" — certainly  not  very  impartially,  and  rattier  too 
briefly,  yet  written  with  sincerity  and  exact  informa- 
tion. 

4.  The   "  Vita  Hludovici  Pii  auctore  anonymo,"  is 
much  more  complete,  written  by  a  member  of  the  em- 
peror's household  ;  this  is  rich  in  facts,  and  is  expressed 
with  judgment. 

5.  Equally  important  is  the  poetical  representation  of 
a  contemporary,  Ermqldus  Nigcllus,in  his  elegiac  poem, 
"  in  honorem  llludovici  Caesaris." 

(i.  Nithard,  grandson  of  the  emperor,  who  died  in 
858,  describes  most  completely  the  disputes  among  the 
sons  of  Louis,  in  his  "  IV  Libris  de  dissension! bus  (ilio- 
-um  Ludovici  Pii ;"  he  shows  himself  to  be  decidedly 
on  the  side  of  Charles  the  Bald. 

7  The  "  Vita  sti- Anskarii,"  by  Rimbert,  Archbishop 
of  Hamburg,  written  under  Louis  the  German,  treats 
more  especially  upon  the  North  German  relations. 

8.  Enhard's  and  Kudolphus's  "  Annals  of  Fulda," 
and  their  continuators,  are,  after  the  conclusion  of 
Einhard,  very  important  in  German  history.  In  his 
tvork,  Rudolphus  gives  a  very  interesting  description 
of  the  Saxons ;  he  is  the  only  writei  wh  ^  was  acquaint- 


ed with  the  writings  of  Tacitus,  and  from  the  . 
Gcrmania  he  has  quoted  several  chapters  li'erally. 
With  respect  to  the  western  moiety  ol.  the  Prankish 
kingdom,  the  "  Annales  Bertiniani"  (so  called  from  tho 
Abbey  St.  Bertinbei  Gent)  of  822,  give  the  best  infor- 
mation. The  last  moiety  was  perhaps  written  by  the 
celebrated  Archbishop  Hincmar  of  Rheims. 

9.  A  monk  of  St.  Gallon,  Monachus  Sangallensis,  has 
described  in  two  books,  "de  Gestis  Car.  Magni,"  the 
life  of  the  emperor  in  a  peculiar  fashion,  according  to 
communications  received  and  popular  legends,  mostly 
without  historical  fidelity,  but  still  not  without  grace. 

10.  Abbo,  a  monk  of  St.  Germain,  was  present  at  the 
siege  of  Paris  by  the  Normans  in  885,  and  has  de- 
scribed the  events  of  that  period  in  a  poem,  "  de  Bellis 
Pariiacis,"  in  a  very  animated  style. 

11.  The  so-called  Poet  a  Saxo,  (900,)  has  rendered 
into  verse  what  Einhard's  Annals  relate  of  the  em- 
peror, and  has  partly  succeeded  in  his  work,  although 
he  can  never,  or  but  rarely,  be  used  as  a  reference. 

12.  The  Chronicles  of  me  Abbot  Regino,  who  died 
in  915,  and  which  extend  to  the  year  907,  are  very  im- 
portant for  the  latter  period  of  the  Carlovmgians. 

13.  The  letters  of  the  popes,  sovereigns,  princes,  &c., 
of  this  period  are  alsq  very  important,  particularly 
those  which  are  contained  in  the  Codex  Carolinus; 
likewise  the  letters  and  works  of  Alcuin,  as  also  the 
letters   of  Servatus   Lupus,    Eginhard's   friend,  and 
Hincmar,  Archbishop  ol  Rheims. 

14.  Finally,  it  is  quite  certain  that  the  "Capitularia 
Regum  Francorum,"  the  laws  of  the  realm,  and  gen- 
eral decrees  of  the  kings,  form  a  principal  source  of 
reference  for  our  history.     They  were  collected  by 
Baluzius,  and  have  been  recently  published  by  Pertz, 
in  the  third  volume  of  the  "  Monument*." 


CHAPTER    V. 

768—814'. 

Charlemagne,  768-814— The  state  in  which  Chane- 
magne  found  the  Empire— The  East-Roman  01 
Grecian  Empire— England— The  North  of  EurorxJ— 


CHARLEMAGNE— STATE  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


The  Spanish  Peninsula— Italy— Austria  and  Hun- 
gary—Germany- The  Wars  of  Charlemagne— The 
Faxons— The  Longobardi— The  Arabs— The  Bava- 
rians—The Empire  of  Charlemagne— Charlemagne, 
Kmperor  of  Rome,  800— The  Death  of  Charlemagne, 
614 — His  portraiture. 

1  r  has  been  trie  fate  of  Charlemagne,  as 
well  as  of  the  majority  of  extraordinary 
historical  characters,  to  be  subjected  to  the 
ordeal  of  a  very  different,  and  frequently 
a  very  opposite  criticism.  By  many  he 
lias  been  classed  with  the  noblest  heroes 
and  sages  of  the  human  race,  by  some, 
however,  he  has  been  rejected  as  a  blood- 
thirsty tyrant,  whose  whole  object  and  de- 
sire was  war  and  destruction.  It  is  true 
that  he  led  his  armies  from  one  end  of  his 
extensive  empire  to  the  other  in  constant 
warlike  expeditions,  and  subjected  many 
nations  by  force  of  arms  to  his  dominion, 
thus  giving  Europe  an  entirely  different 
form.  The  question  therefore  to  be  solved 
is,  whether  history  shall  bless  or  curse  him 
for  these  extraordinary  deeds. 

A  false  judgment  must  necessarily  be 
passed  upon  great  men  and  the  great  events 
of  nations,  by  those  who  cannot  transport 
themselves  from  their  own  times  back  into 
those  whereof  the  picture  is  to  be  drawn. 
In  periods  when  society  is  in  a  ferment, 
and  barbarism  and  civilization  are  in  con- 
test with  each  other ;  when  from  the  ex- 
isting component  parts  something  new  and 
great  is  to  germinate,  towards  which  the 
tranquil  course  of  things,  as  handed  down, 
will  not  suffice  —  Providence  sends  forth 
mighty  individuals,  who  are  destined  to 
lead  a  whole  age  many  steps  onward  in  its 
development,  and  according  to  the  object 
which  they  are  to  accomplish,  it  furnishes 
them  with  adequate  vigor  of  intellect  and 
strength  of  will.  But  because  such  chosen 
spirits  do  not  follow  the  beaten  track,  and 
because,  perhaps,  while  their  eye  is  fixed 
upon  the  distant  mountain  summit,  many 
a  flower  is  crushed  beneath  their  feet,  and 
they  in  the  impatient  struggle,  which  in 
the  short  space  of  the  life  of  one  man  is  to 
determine  the  plan  of  the  course  of  centu- 
ries, wound  unconsciously  many  a  sacred 
right;  the  easy,  indolent  spirit  of  the  lover 
of  repose,  therefore,  to  which  the  sanctity 
of  rights  forms  the  foundation-stone  of  life, 
is  loud  in  execration  against  the  vessel  in 
which  was  compressed  such  gigantic, 
mighty  powers,  and  the  judgment  thence 
pronounced  is  frequently  severe  and  un- 
*u«t.  But  who  shall  cersure  the  mountain 


stream  because  it  flows  not  like  the  mead, 
owy  brook,  but  drags  forth  even  stones  and 
trees,  bearing  them  onward  with  it  in  its 
course  ?  It  is  true  it  tears  forth  by  the 
roots  the  decayed  and  rotten  stems,  but 
thereby  the  light  of  heaven  is  opened  to 
cheer  the  progress  of  the  more  young  and 
tender  plants. 

Let  this,  however,  by  no  means  be  con- 
sidered  as  an  apology  for  the  violence  of 
tyrannical  rulers,  whoso  actions  flow  from 
an  impure  source.  Man  is  a  free  agent, 
and  presents  himself  as  the  ready  instru- 
ment of  Providence  in  its  great  plans.  The 
manner  in  which  he  executes  his  office  de 
pends  upon  himself,  and  either  justifies  01 
condemns  him.  It  is  not  the  great  dteds 
he  has  performed,  nor  the  thousands  who 
have  bled  in  battle,  while  others  in  the  in- 
toxication of  victory  have  profanely  wor- 
shipped him,  that  decide  upon  his  merits  or 
demerits,  but  it  is  the  oljecl  by  which  he 
was  governed,  and  the  purpose  for  which 
he  accomplished  his  extraordinary  plans  : 
whether  he  has  been  guided  by  great 
thoughts  towards  a  worthy  and  noble  end, 
or  only  by  his  own  pride,  his  ambition,  and 
vanity,  or,  to  speak  figuratively,  whether 
in  the  mirror  of  his  life  the  infinite  crea- 
tion and  its  worlds,  or  only  his  own  proud 
image  be  reflected.  This  may  be  observed 
from  many  signs,  but  it  is  especially  to  be 
recognised  therein,  viz.,  when  he  has  re- 
vered the  dignity  of  humanity  as  a  sacred 
object,  even  in  its  details,  or  not  observing 
or  acknowledging  it,  but  despising  men, 
he  has  merely  used  them  as  instruments  to 
his  purposes. 

This  should  be  our  rule  of  judgment,  in 
order  that  we  may  not  allow  ourselves  on 
the  one  side  to  bestow  admiration  upon 
mere  power  without  intrinsic  goodness,  noi 
on  the  other  to  prejudge  unjustly  all  those 
names  which  are  inscribed  in  the  volume, 
too  frequently  perhaps  in  characters  of 
blood  and  fire. 

The  work  of  a  great  man  derives  its 
proper  light  from  the  condition  of  the 
world  when  he  appeared  upon  the  stage ; 
it  is  therefore  necessary  to  take  a  short  re- 
view of  the  state  of  Europe  at  the  time 
Charles  attained  the  empire. 

1.  The  East-Roman,  or  Greek  empire, 
still  existed  ;  but  only  in  the  strange  mix. 
ture  of  old  and  new  relations,  of  splendoi 
and  misery,  of  presumption  and  weakness, 
as  it  had  existed  for  a  thousand  vears — in 


ENGLAND— THE  NORTH  OF  EUROPE— THE  M'AMSH  PENINSULA. 


0) 


the  history  of  the  world  a  riddle.  For  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  conceived  how  the  mere 
shadow  of  an  ancient,  great,  and  splendid 
state,  or  as  it  were  the  gaudily-decorated 
corpse  of  antiquity,  as  that  empire  has 
been  happily  called,  should  have  preserved 
itself  so  long  without  internal  life.  The 
change  of  rulers  and  the  inconstancy  of  all 
conditions  were  so  great,  that  for  an  em- 
peror of  Constantinople  no  title  was  more 
flattering  than  being  styled,  "  The  imperi- 
al son  of  a  father  born  in  the  purple  robe," 
(porphyrogenitus  porphyrogeniti.)  For  the 
throne  came  by  turns  to  men  who  had 
been  born  among  the  dregs  of  society,  and 
who  owed  their  elevation  to  some  crime. 
To  Charlemagne  this  distant  and  extensive, 
but  wealthy  empire,  could  not  be  immedi- 
ately either  an  object  of  dread  or  ambition. 
He  maintained  friendship  with  the  Greek 
emperors,  and  they  mutually  honored  each 
other  with  embassies  and  presents,  for  it 
was  desirable  to  the  Greeks  to  be  upon 
good  terms  with  him.  "  Retain  the  Frank 
for  thy  friend,  but  prevent  him  from  being 
thy  neighbor,"  was  an  established  proverb 
among  the  Greeks. 

2.  England,  at  the  commencement  of 
Charlemagne's    reign,    was    still    divided 
among    several   Anglo-Saxon   kings,   and 
formed  a  secluded  world  of  its  own,  with- 
out possessing  any  influence  upon  the  na- 
tions   of   the    continent.      Charlemagne's 
name,  however,  was  speedily  known  and 
highly  esteemed.     One  of  his  most  confi- 
«lsntial   friends,  Alcuin,  was  an  English- 
man, and  by  his  means  he  often  caused 
the  princes  there  to  be  written  to,  and  per- 
suaded them  to  be  united  and  repel  the  at- 
tacks of  the  valiant   Danes.       Even  the 
Thanes,  or  petty  kings  of  Scotland,  called 
him  no  otherwise  than  their  lord. 

3.  The  north  of  Europe  was  still  but  lit- 
tle known.     It  is  true  it  was  the  cradle  of 
valiant  men,  who  knew  how  to  wield  the 
iron  of  their  soil  with  a  powerful  arm,  and 
who  after  the  reign  of  Charlemagne,  by 
iheir  maritime   expeditions  gained    them- 
selves a  terrific  name  upon  all  the  coasts 
of  Europe.  They  were  yet,  however,  with- 
out importance  to  the  Frankish    empire. 
Nevertheless,  with  his  comprehensive  mind, 
Charlemagne  perceived  the  danger  which 
threatened  from  them.     It  is  related  that 
being  once  at  a  seaport,  (it  is  said  at  Nar- 
Donne,)  some  ships  approached  the  coast, 
out  their  clews  were  not  known.     Charle- 


nuigne's  quick  eye  detected  them  to  be 
Norman  pirates  by  their  shape  and  rapid 
motions.  They  hastily  retired  when  they 
heard  that  the  great  emperor  was  there. 
After  they  had  disappeared  he  turned  sor- 
rowfully from  the  window,  shed  tears,  and 
at  last  said  to  those  around  him,  "  You 
would  fain  know,  my  friends,  why  I  wept? 
Not  from  fear,  no  !  but  it  vexes  me  that, 
during  my  life,  they  have  ventured  to  this 
shore,  and  with  grief  do  I  foresee,  alas ! 
the  mischief  they  will  bring  to  my  succes- 


sors.' 


4.  The  Spanish  Peninsula  was  subject- 
ed to  the  Arabians  with  the  exception  of 
some    Westro-Gothic    places   among    the 
mountains,  but  their  religious  zeal  had  al- 
ready cooled,  and  their  power  was  tamed 
by  internal  dissensions.      Charlemagne's 
grandfather  had  deterred  them  from  the 
conquest  of  Europe,  and  they  thought  only 
of  maintaining  their  own  existence  in  Spain. 
But  Charlemagne   could  not  behold  with 
indifference  the  enemies  of  the  Christian 
name  as  his  neighbors. 

5.  Italy   was  divided  into  three  domi- 
nions, the  Longobardian  in  Upper  and  a 
portion  of  Lower  Italy ;    the   Grecian  in 
Lower   Italy  and  Sicily  ;  and  thn  Roman 
in  Middle  Italy.     Rome  was  in  a   mixed 
state,  for  the  power  was  divided  between 
the  pope,  the  senate,  and  the  people,  but 
the  pope  daily  acquired  more  importance. 
The  superior  protective  dominion  of  the 
city  had  passed  from  the  Greek  emperors 
to  the  kings  of  the  Franks,  for  Pope  Ste- 
phen, in  the  name  of  the  Roman  senate  and 
people,  had,  in  the  year  754,  conveyed  the 
dignity  of  a  Roman  patrician  to  King  Pepiri 
and  his  sons.     Between  the  Romans  and 
the  Longobards  there  arose  a  bitter  hatred 
and  implacable  enmity,   which   were   the 
immediate  cause  of  Charlemagne  interfer- 
ing in  the  affairs  of  Italy.     He  had,  indeed, 
endeavored  to  remove  the  ancient  jealousy 
which  prevailed  between  the  Franks  and 
the  Longobards  by  marrying  the  daughter 
of  King  Desiderius,  but  upon  this  occasion 
Pope  Stephen  wrote  to  him  thus :  "  What 
madness  in  the  most  excellent  son  of  a  great 
king  to  sully  his  noble   Frankish  race  by 
an  alliance  with  that  most  faithless  and  most 
fulsome  nation,  the  Longobardi,  who  should 
not  be  named  among  the  multitude  of  na- 
tions, and  from  whom  doubtlessly  the  race 
of  lepers  had   their  origin.      What  com 
munitv  of  feeling  has  light  with  darkness. 


92 


AUSTRIA  AND  HUNGARY— THE  AVARIAN6,  &o. 


or  a  believer  with  an  unbeliever?"  The 
Longobards  richly  returned  this  hatred  of 
the  Romans ;  one  of  their  bishops  says  of 
them  :  "  Under  the  name  of  a  Roman  we 
comprehend  all  that  is  mean,-  cowardly, 
avaricious,  and  lying,  nay,  even  all  vices 
combined."  Charlemagne's  union  with 
the  royal  house  of  the  Longobards  was  not 
durable,  for  two  years  afterwards  he  sent 
back  the  daughter  of  King  Desiderius : 
whether  it  arose  from  the  ill-will  of  the 
pope  to  this  marriage,  or  whether  other  un- 
known reasons  urged  him,  we  cannot  say, 
but  we  shall  speedily  see  that  greater  causes 
arose  for  tne  enmity  between  them. 

6.  To  the  southeast  of  Charles's  posses- 
sions in  Austria  and  Hungary,  dwelt  the 
Avari,  a  Mongolian  nation  from  Asia,  which 
had  long  warred  with  and  plundered  the 
provinces  of  the  eastern  empire,  but  now 
quietly  but  anxiously  guarded  the  treasures 
amassed  during  two  centuries.     These  lay 
heaped  up  in  nine  particular  places,  sur- 
rounded by  walls  and  ditches,  and  which 
were  called  circles,  appearing  to  invite,  as 
it   were,  every  one  to  retake  them  from 
their  possessors,  who  themselves  did  not 
know  how  to  enjoy  them. 

7.  The  remaining  portion  of  the  eastern 
German  borders  was  occupied  by  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  the  Slavonians  and  Van- 
dals, rude  nations  of  a  less  noble,  natural 
disposition   than  the  Germans.      In  Ger- 
many they  possessed  Holstein,   Mecklen- 
burg, Brandenburg,  Pomerania,  a  portion 
of  Saxony,  the  Lausitz,  Silesia,  Bohemia, 
and  Moravia.     In  Holstein  were  the  Wag- 
rians ;  in  Mecklenburg,  the  Obotriti ;  in  a 
portion  of  Brandenburg,  the  Wilzen ;   in 
another  part  the  Hevellers  and  Ukerns ; 
the   Pomeranians  in  the    province   which 
has  received  their  name — collective  branch- 
es of  the  Vandals.     In  the  district  of  Meis- 
sen, the  Sclavonian  Sorbi ;  in  Lausitz,  the 
Lausitzers;  in  Bohemia,  the  Ezechi;  and 
the  Moravians  in  Moravia. 

8.  In  Germany  itself  Charlemagne  found 
greater  tranquillity.  The  Septs,  who  had 
been  subjected  to  the  Franks,  the  Alle- 
manni,  Bavarians,  and  Thuringians,  had 
by  degrees  accustomed  themselves  to  the 
foreign  dominion,  which  was  not  only  not 
oppressive,  but  had  even  left  them  their 
manners,  laws,  and  peculiar  customs.  But 
with  the  exception  of  the  Bavarians,  they 
were  no  longer  ruled  according  to  ancient 
tustom  by  their  own  dukes,  but  according 


to  the  Prankish  institutions,  by  counts  with- 
out hereditary  power  in  distinct  districts. 
Thence  they  wanted  a  central  point  of 
union,  and  the  ancient  love  of  independence 
survived  most  firmly  among  the  Bavarians 
alone.  The  bishops  in  all  these  provinces 
were  very  much  attached  to  the  Carlovin- 
gian  dynasty. 

But  on  the  borders  of  his  empire,  in  the 
north  of  Germany,  dwelt  neighbors  who 
offered  the  first  object  for  the  trial  of  his 
strength,  namely,  the  Saxons,  unconquered 
and  free,  fixed  in  their  boundaries  from  the 
German  Ocean  to  Thuringia,  and  from 
the  Elbe  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Rhine. 
While  among  the  Franks,  the  old  German 
institutions  had  been  much  altered,  and  the 
warriors  in  the  Gefolge  or  suite  of  the  king, 
had  assumed  the  order  of  nobility,  and  oc- 
cupied the  place  of  the  freemen,  the  Sax- 
ons still  lived  in  the  ancient  manners  of 
their  ancestors,  without  a  common  chieftain, 
each  Gau  or  district  under  its  own  head, 
and  only  during  war,  under  a  self-elected 
leader.  It  was  a  community  of  freemen 
in  free  dwellings.  The  interior  of  their 
country  was  defended  by  forests  and  mo- 
rasses, and  strong  places  for  the  defence  of 
the  boundaries  were  erected  on  the  Lippe, 
Ruhr,  Weser,  Dimel,  and  Elbe.  In  their 
groves  of  a  thousand  years'  growth,  they 
still  sacrificed  to  the  gods  of  their  fathers, 
while  the  other  German  tribes  had  all 
adopted  Christianity;  nay,  they  were  even 
accused  of  still  celebrating  human  sacri- 
fices. The  Franks  considered  themselves 
so  superior  to  them  by  reason  of  their  Chris- 
tianity, as  well  as  the  general  superiority 
of  their  cultivation,  that  their  historians  can 
scarcely  deprecate  sufficiently  the  rude- 
ness and  wildness  of  the  Saxons.  But  they 
were  not  so  much  dangerous  as  burden- 
some neighbors  of  the  Franks,  because,  ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  German  practice, 
they  did  not  wish  to  make  conquests,  but 
merely  roved  in  predatory  incursions  into 
neighboring  countries.  But  a  well-guard- 
ed frontier  would  have  been  a  sufficient 
protection  against  them,  as  well  as  against 
the  Sclavonians  and  Avari,  and  we  see 
from  this  sketched  description,  that  Charier 
might  have  remained,  like  the  Merovin- 
gians,  in  quiet  possession  of  his  inheritance 
without  conducting  such  great  external 
wars.  The  Frankish  empire  extended  in 
self-sufficient  strength,  from  the  Pyrenees 
to  the  Lower  Rhine,  and  from  the  Erig- 


THE  SAXONS— THE  WARS  OF  CHARLEMAGNE-  ITALY 


ash  Channel  to  the  Ens,  in  Austria,  and 
nad  nothing  to  fear  from  any  of  its  neigh- 
bors. 

But  a  mind  satisfied  with  mere  tranquil 
possession  was  not  accorded  to  Charles ; 
its  internal  power  was  used  to  vent  itself 
in  new  forms,  for  this  was  the  law  i/  iplant- 
ed  in  his  nature.  The  condition  of  the 
world  demanded  great  creative  powers,  in 
order  not  to  remain  for  centuries  longer 
waste  and  confused.  We  dare  not  cen- 
sure Charles  because  he  followed  this  im- 
pulse of  his  nature,  but  the  way  in  which 
he  followed  it  and  modelled  his  new  crea- 
tion, gives  the  measure  of  judgment  against 
mm.  Were  high  and  noble  thoughts  his 
guide,  and  was  his  own  genius  great,  or 
•vas  it  petty,  and  directed  to  vain  things  ? 
Upon  that  the  history  of  his  life  must  de- 
cide. 

After  Charles  (who  ascended  the  throne 
in  his  twenty-sixth  year)  and  his  brother 
Carloman  had  reigned  together  some  years, 
the  latter  died  in  771.  The  nobles  of  Car- 
loman's  possessions  desired  his  brother  for 
their  king  also,  and  cast  out  the  two  sons 
of  Carloman  from  succession  to  the  throne, 
with  whom  the  widow  fled,  and  took  refuge 
at  the  court  of  Desiderius,  king  of  the 
Longobardi.  Thus  was  Charles  sole  ruler 
of  the  Franks.  Upon  this  he  assembled 
at  Worms  an  imperial  diet  in  772,  where 
he  represented  to  the  assembly  the  repeat- 
ed offences  of  the  Saxons  and  the  merit  of 
their  conversion  to  Christianity ;  upon 
which  the  nation  declared  war  against  the 
Saxons — the  first  and  longest  war  that 
Charles  was  engaged  in — for  it  continued 
with  several  interruptions  to  the  year  803, 
consequently  for  thirty-two  years.  During 
this  time  Charles  frequently  conquered  the 
Saxons  in  open  field,  and  forced  them  to 
conclude  peace,  but  when  he  again  quitted 
their  country,  and  was  obliged  to  withdraw 
to  the  farther  end  of  his  empire,  they  broke 
the  peace,  rebelled  against  the  obnoxious 
dominion,  chased  away  the  Prankish  gar- 
risons, and  made  incursions  into  the  coun- 
try of  the  Franks,  until  Charles  again  ap- 
peared and  forced  them  anew  to  submis- 
sion. 

The  first  irruption  made  in  their  coun- 
try, in  the  year  772,  was  successful  and 
short.  He  proceeded  from  Worms,  through 
Hessia  to  the  Weser  and  the  Dimel.  He 
conquered  the  burg  of  Eresberg  (the  pre- 
gent  Statberg,  in  the  bishopric  of  Fader- 


born,)  the  Saxon  place  of  retreat  not  far 
from  the  Weser,  in  a  rude  neighborhood, 
and  upon  a  precipitous  height ;  and  de- 
stroyed the  celebrated  Irminsiil,  (or  statue 
of  Irmin,)  an  object  regarded  with  the 
most  sacred  veneration  by  the  Saxons,  bu1 
of  which  we  do  not  precisely  know  whether 
it  was  an  image  of  a  god,  or  perhaps  a 
monument  of  Arminius,  thus  revered  with 
divine  honors.  The  Saxons  concluded 
peace  upon  the  banks  of  the  Weser,  and 
gave  twelve  chiefs  as  hostages. 

Charles  was  rejoiced  at  having  so  speed- 
ily concluded  an  advantageous  peace,  for 
already  other  affairs  called  him  into  Italy. 
Desiderius,  who  by  the  reception  of  the 
widow  of  Carloman  had  already  shown 
himself  as  an  enemy,  required  of  the  new 
pope,  Adrian,  that  he  should  anoint  the 
sons  of  Carloman  as  kings  of  the  Franks ; 
and  upon  Adrian's  refusal,  he  threatened 
him  with  war.  The  pope  demanded  aid 
from  Charles,  who  at  once  advanced,  cross- 
ed the  Alps,  marched  round  the  passes,  of 
which  the  Longobardi  had  taken  posses- 
sion, and  encamped  before  Pavia  in  the 
year  774.  Desiderius  purposed  defending 
his  metropolis  until  sickness  and  want 
should  force  the  Franks  to  retire.  But 
Charles  was  not  of  a  disposition  to  be  so 
soon  fatigued ;  he  let  his  army  lie  six 
months  before  Pavia,  went  himself  to  the 
Easter  festival  at  Rome,  which  he  for  the 
first  time  witnessed,  and  there  confirmed 
the  deed  of  gift  made  by  his  father.  He 
then  returned  to  Pavia,  which  soon  yielded 
to  him,  received  Desiderius  as  a  prisoner, 
and  sent  him,  after  shaving  his  head  for 
the  cowl,  to  the  monastery  at  Corvey  in 
France,  where,  after  a. short  time,  he  died. 
Charles  now  called  himself  king  of  the 
Lombards,  and  caused  himself  to  be  crown- 
ed at  Monza. 

As  the  Saxons  had  in  the  mean  time  re- 
commenced war,  he  on  his  return,  and  af- 
ter he  had  held  a  die*  at  Duren,  made  in 
775,  a  new  incursion  into  their  country, 
conquered  Sigberg,  restored  the  Eresberg 
destroyed  by  the  Saxons,  pressed  on  wan/ 
over  the  Weser  to  the  Oker,  there  receiv- 
ing hostages  from  the  Eastphalians,  and  on 
his  return,  near  Buckeburg,  (Buchi.)  ob- 
taining also  those  of  the  Angravaiians. 
But  as,  in  the  mean  time,  the  Longobar- 
dian,  Duke  Rotgaud,  of  Frioul,  to  whom, 
as  vassal  of  the  empire,  he  had  intrusted 
the  passes  of  the  Alps,  decided  upon  taking 


04        THE  ARABS— THE  SAXONS,  THEIR  OVERTHROW  AXJ)  SLBJE3TION 


advantage  of  the  moment,  and  rebelled, 
Charles  was  already  again  in  Italy,  (776,) 
and  punished  the  seceders  before  they 
thought  him  even  apprized  of  their  plans. 
This  time,  also,  he  was  about  to  advance 
to  Rome,  when  a  message  arrived  with  in- 
telligence that  the  Saxons  had  again  re- 
volted, had  retaken  Eresberg,  and  laid 
siege  to  Sigsberg.  He  speedily  returned 
back  into  Germany,  forced  his  way  through 
all  their  forest-defences  as  far  as  Lipp- 
spring,  when  the  Saxons  again  yielded,  and 
many  vowed  to  become  Christians,  and  of- 
fered themselves  to  be  baptized.  He  built 
a  fortress  on  the  Lippe,  perhaps  where 
Lippsstadt  at  present  stands. 

In  the  following  year  (777)  he  was  al- 
ready enabled  to  hold  a  diet  at  Paderborn, 
in  the  country  of  the  Saxons,  where  the 
majority  of  the  nation  swore  fidelity.  Their 
boldest  leader,  however,  Wittekind,  (Saxon, 
Widukind,)  had  fled  to  the  Danish  king, 
Sigfried.  It  was  at  this  diet  that  the  am- 
bassadors of  the  Arabian  governors  of  Sa- 
ragossa  and  Huesca,  in  Spain,  appeared 
before  Charles,  and  entreated  his  assistance 
against  the  king,  Abderam.  He  consider- 
ed it  worthy  of  his  dignity  not  to  allow 
;hose  who  placed  themselves  under  his  pro- 
ection  to  entreat  in  vain ;  besides,  these 
unbelievers,  who  had  pressed  onward  into 
Europe,  were  his  most  hated  enemies.  Ac- 
cordingly he  advanced  in  the  following 
year  (778)  into  Spain  ;  the  petty  Chris- 
tian princes  in  the  mountains  of  Navarre, 
who  had  maintained  themselves  independent 
of  the  Moors,  here  joined  him  ;  he  conquer- 
ed Pampeluna,  Saragossa,  Barcelona,  and 
Girona  ;  and  the  country  as  far  as  the  Ebro 
swore  allegiance  to  him.  Henceforward  it 
formed  part  of  his  empire,  under  the  name 
of  the  Spanish  marches  or  limits,  and  was 
a  land  of  protection  for  the  Christians  re- 
maining in  Spain. 

Upon  his  return,  however,  with  his  ar- 
my, winding  itself,  as  it  is  poetically  de- 
scribed, like  a  long  brazen  serpent  among 
the  rough  rocks  of  the  Pyrenees,  and 
through  the  obscure  forests  and  narrow 
paths,  the  rear-guard  became  separated 
from  the  main  body,  and  in  an  ambuscade 
/aid  by  the  mountaineers,  fell  i-nto  the  ra- 
vines of  lloncesvalles.  The  Franks  could 
not  fight  w  their  heavy  armor,  and  they  fell 
with  their  leader  Rutland,  the  Count  de  la 
Manche.  This  is  the  celebrated  knight, 
Roland,  \vlio  later,  as  well  as  his  king, 


Charles,  is  so  much  sung  in  the  legends 
and  heroic  lays  of  Europe. 

Meanwhile  the  Saxons,  according  to  cus< 
torn,  when  the  king  was  at  a  distance,  had 
again  seized  arms.  Under  Wittekind  they 
fell  upon  the  country  of  the  Franks,  and 
devastated  it  with  fire  and  sword  as  far  as 
Deuz,  opposite  Cologne.  This,  like  the 
earlier  revolts  of  the  Saxons,  was  not  so 
much  a  war  of  the  nation  and  of  the  heads 
of  families,  but  of  individual  leaders  with 
their  suite  or  Gefolge,  who  did  not  consider 
themselves  bound  by  the  treaties.  Charles 
returned,  drove  the  enemy  far  back  into 
their  country,  and  in  780  constructed  for- 
tresses on  the  Elbe  to  fix  a  strong  rein 
upon  them.  And  now  thinking  himself 
quite  secured  in  that  quarter,  he  made  a 
journey  in  781  to  Rome,  to  cause  his  sons 
Pepin  and  Louis  to  be  anointed  by  the 
pope,  the  former  king  of  Italy,  the  "latter 
kin£  of  Aquitaine,  (South  France.) 

The  Saxons  in  the  interim  had  maintain- 
ed themselves  perfectly  quiet,  but  the  re- 
membrance of  their  ancient  freedom  would 
not  quite  die  within  them,  and  Christianity, 
which  had  been  brought  to  them  with  the 
sword  by  their  hated  neighbors,  gained  no 
power  over  their  hearts.  It  appeared  in- 
supportable to  them  that  a  man  should  not 
himself  revenge  a  contumely,  and  that  a 
hero  should  not  have  a  particular  heaven. 
The  impost  of  tithes  which  they  were  obliged 
to  pay  to  the  church,  appeared  also  exces- 
sively oppressive  to  them.  As  Wittekind 
had,  therefore,  now  returned  and  placed 
himself  at  their  head,  they  thought  the 
present  was  the  best  moment  for  them  to 
shake  off  the  yoke,  and,  the  same  as  for- 
merly, when  their  nation  fell  upon  Varus 
in  the  Teutoburger  forest,  they  now  sur- 
rounded the  Prankish  leaders  Geilo  and 
Adalgis,  upon  Mount  Suntel,  on  the  We- 
ser,  just  as  they  were  about  to  march 
against  the  predatory  Serbians  dwelling  on 
the  Saale,  and  destroyed  them  as  well  as 
the  greatest  portion  of  their  army. 

This  deed  inflamed  the  wrath  of  the 
king,  (who  was  already  excessively  irrita- 
ted at  their  repeated  rebellion,)  to  the  de- 
gree, that  he  broke  into  the  country,  deso- 
lated it  far  and  wide,  and  caused  4,500  im- 
prisoned Saxons  to  be  beheaded  near  Yer- 
den  on  the  Aller,  as  a  terrible  example  to 
the  rest,  and  as  a  sacrifice  for  his  army  de- 
stroyed— as  it  appeared  to  him,  by  treache- 
ry ;  a  stain  in  his  history  which  cannot  be 


THE  BAVARIANS— THE  LONGOBAKDIANS— THE  A\  ARIANS. 


95 


ustified,  but  may  partly  be  excused  by  the 
rash  and  turbulent  manners  of  those  times, 
and  the  excited  passions  of  the  king.  As 
a  consequence  of  this  severe  act,  Charles, 
in  783,  beheld  the  whole  nation  of  the  Sax- 
ons, under  Wittekind  and  Alboin,  rise  si- 
multaneously  in  such  furious  rage  and 
madness  as  had  never  before  been  evinced. 
Two  severe  battles  were  fought  near  Thiet- 
melle,  now  Detmold,  and  on  the  river  Hase 
in  Osnaburg  ;  the  first  was  undecided,  but 
the  second  so  unfortunate  for  the  Saxons, 
that  Charles  advanced  as  far  as  the  Elbe, 
and  in  this  and  the  next  year,  when  with 
his  wife  and  children  he  passed  the  winter 
campaign  at  Eresburg,  he  progressively 
strengthened  his  power  in  their  country. 
Wittekind  and  Alboin  then  saw  that  Heaven 
had  decided  the  fate  of  their  nation,  and 
that  a  longer  resistance  would  completely 
annihilate  it.  They  promised  submission 
to  the  powerful  king,  and  took  an  oath  to  go 
themselves  to  France,  and  be  there  bap- 
tized ;  and  they  kept  their  word.  In  the 
year  785  they  came  to  Attigny,  and  Charles 
himself  was  sponsor  to  the  Saxon  duke, 
Wittekind,  and  his  wife  Gera. 

From  this  time  henceforward  Saxony  be- 
came more  tranquil,  and  submitted  to  the 
Prankish  institutions  as  well  as  to  those  of 
Christianity.  Charles,  for  the  purpose  of 
strengthening  this  doctrine  among  them, 
likewise  founded,  by  degrees,  several  bish- 
oprics and  religious  foundations,  which  con- 
tinued to  spread  light  around,  viz:  in  Os- 
naburg, in  783  ;  Verden,  in  786  ;  Bremen, 
in  788  ;  Paderborn,  in  795  ;  Halberstadt ; 
Elze,  (which  was  removed  in  822  to  Hil- 
desheim,)  and  Munster,  in  806.  Yet  the 
seeds  of  disquiet  were  not  quite  destroyed  ; 
small  disputes  still  frequently  arose,  and 
we  shall  shortly  come  to  one  of  greater  im- 
port. 

Charles's  next  dispute  was  with  Duke 
Tassilo  of  Bavaria,  of  the  ancient  race  of 
the  Agitolfingi.  Tassilo  had  still  old  of- 
tences  to  answer  for,  inasmuch  as  he  had 
never  supplied  Pepin  or  Charles  with 
troops,  and  he  was  now  charged  with  hav- 
ing incited  the  Avari  of  Hungary  to  war 
with  the  king.  His  consort  Luitberga,  a 
daughter  of  the  Longobardian  king,  De- 
fciderius,  may  have  enacted  her  part  like- 
vise  in  these  designs.  Tassilo  was  con- 
demned to  death  by  the  assembled  nobles  at 
the  diet  of  Ingelheim,  778,  but  pardoned 
by  Charles  ;  and  by  his  own  wish,  together 


with  his  son  Theodore,  banished  to  a  mon- 
astery. Bavaria  became  now,  like  the 
other  Frankish  countries,  ruled  by  royal 
counts  or  governors,  and  the  bishopric  of 
Salzburg  was  raised  to  an  archbishopric 
over  the  whole  of  Bavaria. 

In  the  year  787,  Arechis,  the  Longobar- 
dian Duke  of  Benevcnto  in  Lower  Italy, 
also  yielded  allegiance  to  the  king  as  his 
superior  feudal  lord.  He  ruled  that  beau- 
tiful country  as  far  as  Naples  and  Brindisi. 
He  made  it  a  condition,  however,  that  he 
himself  should  not  come  to  Germany  and 
appear  before  Charles,  which  was  granted. 
The  duke  received  the  ambassadors  of  the 
king  at  Salerno  ;  his  army  surrounded  the 
palace,  young  nobles,  with  the  falcon  on 
their  gauntlet,  formed  rows  upon  the  grand 
steps  leading  up  to  the  Burg,  while  the 
hall  was  filled  with  the  provosts  of  cities, 
and  their  council  in  state  dresses,  &c.  The 
duke,  seated  upon  the  gorgeous,  golden 
chair  of  state,  stood  up,  and  swore  to  be 
faithful  to  the  king,  to  maintain  peace,  and 
to  perform  feudal  service  to  the  extent  of  a 
league  beyond  the  frontiers  of  Benevento. 

After  this,  Charles  formed  the  resolution 
to  punish  the  A'vari  in  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary for  their  earlier  predatory  expedi- 
tions. Accordingly,  he  marched  against 
them  in  the  year  791 :  the  Franks  advanc- 
ed on  the  south  side  of  the  Danube ;  the 
Saxons,  with  the  Friesi,  who  were  both 
obliged  to  yield  feudal  service,  advanced 
upon  its  northern  bank  ;  and  upon  the  rivei 
itself  a  flotilla  conveyed  another  portion  of 
the  army.  Their  appearance  alone  drove 
the  Avari  away  full  of  terror  ;  they  left  to 
the  enemy  the  immense  booty  of  their  trea- 
sures, and  Charles  subjected  the  country 
to  his  dominion  as  far  as  the  river  Raab. 

In  the  following  years,  he  merely  sent 
detached  forces  against  them.  His  main 
army  remained,  meanwhile,  in  South  Ger- 
many, and  worked  at  a  canal  to  form  the 
junction  of  the  Altmuhl  with  the  Rednitz 
rivers,  between  the  Maine  and  the  Danube, 
which,  had  it  been  completed,  would  have 
united  the  North  Sea,  by  means  of  the 
Rhine,  with  the  Danube  to  the  Black  Sea  ; 
an  important  work,  replete  with  rich  com- 
mercial prospects.  Levantine  merchan- 
dise would  thus  have  found  a  direct  course 
from  their  repository  at  Constantinople  to 
the  very  heart  of  Charles's  states.  But 
unfavorable  weather,  and  the  difficulties  of 
the  ground,  but  chiefly  the  want  of  skill  in 


90 


THE  FRIESIANS— THE  SAXONS— THEIR  UNION  WITH  THE  FRANKS. 

of  these  princes  entered,  subsequently,  the 
ranks  of  the  princes  of  the  empire  ;  for 
Charles's  plans  and  regulations  in  these 
countries  operated  late  in  after  years  with 
beneficial  effect. 

The  disputes  with  the  Saxons  continued 
until  the  ninth  century ;  but  the  strength 
of  these  people  became  more  and  more 
weakened,  and  especially  after  Charles, 
forced,  by  their  obstinate  resistance,  to 
adopt  such  extreme  measures,  transplanted 
some  thousands  of  them  from  their  native 
land  into  other  parts  of  his  kingdom.  Thus 
they  were  gradually  reduced  to  a  state  oi 
peace,  even  without  any  formal  treaty  be- 
ing concluded — the  peace  of  Selz  in  803, 
as  hitherto  accepted,  not  being  admissible 
as  a  proof  of  treaty — and  Charles  was  ena- 
bled to  commence  upon  his  plans  and  ar- 
rangements in  Saxony.  He  proceeded  at 
once  to  strengthen  Christianity  among  them 
more  firmly,  while,  however,  he  granted 
them  greater  independence  than  he  had  to 
the  Allemanni  and  Bavarians.  They  re- 
tained their  ancient  privileges,  and  were 
chiefly  governed  by  native  counts,  who 
were,  it  is  true,  chosen  by  Charles,  and 
were  placed  under  the  imperial  envoys. 
This,  therefore,  may  rather  be  called  a 
union  of  the  Saxon  nation  with  that  of  the 
Franks,  as  Einhard  himself  terms  it,  than 
a  subjection  ;  and,  indeed,  they  well  merit- 
ed, by  the  persevering  consistency  with 
which  they  conducted  it,  so  honorable  a 
conclusion  to  their  long  struggle  for  free- 
dom. But,  on  the  other  hand,  Charles's 
perseverance  is  also  to  be  admired ;  for  al- 
though he  had  the  advantage  of  numbers 
and  great  superiority  in  the  art  of  war  on 
his  side,  still  the  Saxons  had  the  benefit  of 
their  country,  and  the  forests  and  morasses, 
as  formerly  in  their  battles  with  the  Ro- 
mans. 

Charles,  to  confirm  tranquillity  for  ever 
among  them,  transplanted  about  10,000  of 
the  most  violent  from  the  Elbe  and  the 
coasts  of  the  North  Sea  into  the  country 
of  the  Franks,  as  cultivators  of  the  impe- 
rial farms  ;  and  from  that  transplantation, 
no  doubt,  is  derived  the  names  of  Sachsen- 
hausen  near  Frankfort,  as  well  as  Sach- 
senheim  and  Sachsenflur,  in  Franconia. 
The  places  left  thus  void  on  the  Elbe  he 
gave  over  to  his  allies  the  Vandal  Obotriti, 
in  Mecklenburg,  and  the  Vagrian  Sclavi. 
from  whom  this  part  of  Hoi  stein  has  receiv 
ed  and  preserved  the  name  of  Vagria. 


his  workmen,  who  knew  not  how  to  drain 
the  water  from  the  places  that  were  dug, 
nor  to  secure  the  banks  of  the  canal  from 
falling  in,  rendered  the  work  nugatory. 
Charles,  therefore,  abandoned  the  under- 
taking ;  but  the  honor  of  completing  this 
great  plan,  originating  with  him,  has 
been  handed  down  and  conferred  in  our 
days  upon  another  sovereign  of  the  Ger- 
man race.  And  the  cause  why  he  did  not 
now  again  attack  the  Avari,  and  thus  open 
to  himself  the  road  to  Constantinople,  was 
produced  by  a  fresh  rebellion  of  the  Sax- 
ons, who,  not  liking  long  warlike  expedi- 
tions, but  only  short  excursions,  found  the 
hard  marching  feudal  service  in  such  dis- 
tant parts  particularly  trying.  They  re- 
sisted it  and  mutinied,  and  induced  the 
Friesi  to  do  the  same.  The  king  was, 
therefore,  obliged  to  make  several  incur- 
sions into  their  country,  in  the  course  of 
which,  in  797,  he  advanced  as  far  as  the 
ocean  between  the  mouths  of  the  Elbe  and 
Weser.  Meantime,  the  war  against  the 
Avari  was  continued  successfully  by  his 
generals,  and  then  by  his  son  Pepin,  to  the 
year  796 ;  the  seat  of  their  Chagan  or 
chief,  the  main  circle  of  their  land,  with 
all  its  treasures  were  conquered,  and  the 
country  thus  wrested  from  them  was  taken 
possession  of  by  fresh  inhabitants,  convey- 
ed from  other  German  states,  but  chiefly 
from  Bavaria.  Charles  distributed  the  im- 
mense booty  among  his  army,  by  which 
means  the  quantity  of  noble  metals  became 
suddenly  very  much  increased  in  the 
Prankish  country. 

The  object  of  Charles  in  this  expedition 
against  the  Avari,  as  well  as  in  those 
against  the  Sclavonian  nations,  was  chiefly 
to  secure  the  eastern  frontiers  of  the  king- 
dom. Thence  arose  a  long  line  of  frontier 
provinces,  from  the  Adriatic  -  Sea  to  the 
Elbe,  along  the  ancient  boundaries  of  the 
Longobardi,  Bavarians,  Swabians,  Franks, 
Thuringians,  and  Saxons.  To  these  were 
appointed  margraves,  who  bore  the  title  of 
marchio,  (dux  limitis,)  and  who  had  their 
seats  originally  fixed  in  the  most  strongly 
fortified  burgs  of  the  ancient  districts.  The 
inhabitants  of  these  frontier  provinces, 
through  wars  and  repeated  revolts,  became 
gradually  destroyed,  and  were  replaced  by 
German  colonists,  for  whose  protection  the 
burgs  were  usefully  adapted,  as  well  as  for 
bringing  either  into  subjection  or  alliance 
he  neighboring  Slavonic  princes.  Several 


RESULTS  OF  THE  WARS— CHARLEMAGNE  AT  AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 


97 


If  we  cast  back  our  glance  upon  these 
first  thirty  years  of  the  reign  of  Charles, 
thus  filled  with  wars,  we  must  admire  the 
great  rapidity  with  which  he  marched  from 
Saxony  to  Italy,  from  there  back  to  the 
Weser,  and  then  back  again  twice  the 
same  road  ;  then  into  Spain  along  the  Ebro, 
and  back  to  the  Elbe,  proceeding  on  to 
Hungary,  to  the  Raab,  and  again  returning 
into  "his  own  country ;  and  wherever  he 
arrived,  his  presence  immediately  deciding 
the  contest.  Herein  we  have  at  once  the 
true  character  of  a  hero ;  this  boldness  and 
rapidity  of  thought,  resolution,  and  action; 
this  impression  of  innate  personal  great- 
ness, which  nothing  could  resist,  and  which 
greatness  nobody  has  sought  to  deny.  But 
still  more  than  all  this,  it  was  not  absolutely 
the  love  of  war  and  conquest,  and  the  honor 
of  his  name,  which  inspired  him  to  drive 
his  armies  on  so  breathlessly  through  the 
countries  of  Europe,  but  his  plans  were 
regulated  by  one  grand  creative  idea  for 
which  lie  considered  himself  called  upon  to 
make  these  sacrifices. 

What  already  the  great  Ostro-Gothic 
king,  Theodoric,  had  in  contemplation, 
prospective,  as  it  were,  of  future  times, 
but  which  it  was  not  allowed  him  to  ac- 
complish, viz.,  the  union  of  the  Christian 
Germanic  nations  into  one  empire,  Charle- 
magne executed  ;  not  certainly  in  Theo- 
doric's  manner,  by  the  gentle  force  of  per- 
suasion and  conviction,  for  by  that  means 
the  end  was  not  to  be  attained,  but  accord, 
ing  to  the  custom  of  his  nation  and  of  his 
age,  by  the  terror  of  arms.  Yet,  he  can- 
not be  charged  with  having  capriciously 
sought  war  more  urgently  than  was  neces- 
sary for  the  attainment  of  his  object. 

The  central  point  01  this  great  Germanic 
empire  was  to  be  the  beautiful  country  of 
the  Rhine,  and  Ingelheim  near  Mentz  was, 
therefore,  made  the  royal  seat,  but  which 
was  afterwards  transferred  to  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  and  Nimwegen.  No  doubt  he  might 
have  found  richer  and  more  attractive  spots 
in  Italy  and  France,  to  induce  him  to  fix 
his  residence  there,  but  his  constant  mind 
was  more  attached  to  his  ancient  father- 
land than  to  the  most  beautiful  countries 
of  the  earth.  He  was  no  Prankish  king, 
as  it  has  frequently  been  wished  to  repre- 
sent him  ;  but  he  belonged  to  the  Austra- 
sian  Franks,  which  is  the  country  of  the 
Rhine,  and  where  the  Franks  had  their 
chief  intercourse  with  the  Germans  still 
13 


remaining  there,  and  thus  continuing  most 
pure  and  unmixed.  This  country  he  in- 
tended should  form  the  main  and  central 
seat  of  his  empire,  and  the  noble  stream  of 
his  fatherland,  as  it  were,  its  great  vital 
artery,  which  should  unite  all  its  different 
sections.  This  is  indicated  by  the  canal 
by  means  of  which  he  purposed  connecting 
the  Rhine  and  the  Danube. 

But  if  the  Lower  Rhine  and  Aix-la-Cha- 
pellc  were  to  form  the  centre  and  seat  of 
his  empire,  it  becomes  evident  that  his  chief 
contest  must  be  with  the  Saxons,  who  were 
here  too  close  and  unquiet  neighbors  of  his 
residence  for  him  to  tolerate.  He  neces- 
sarily, therefore,  extended  the  limits  of  his 
empire  farther  to  the  north  and  northeast. 
But  his  war  with  the  Saxons  had  a  still 
different  but  equally  serious  object ;  it 
being  essentially  a  religious  war,  for  the 
honor  and  diffusion  of  the  Christian  faith. 
Charles  was  eminently  a  champion  of  the 
church,  and  therein  a  type  of  the  chivalric 
middle  ages.  It  is  true  the  mild  doctrines 
of  Christianity  should  not  be  diffused  by 
fire  arid  the  sword  ;  and  Charles  sufficiently 
experienced  how  little  durable  was  the 
conversion  when  at  his  command  hundreds 
at  the  same  moment  stepped  into  a  river 
and  had  water  poured  over  them  in  sign  of 
baptism ;  but  in  this  he  followed  less  his 
own  wishes  than  the  character  of  his  nation, 
which  had  itself  been  converted  suddenly 
and  during  the  external  excitement  of  the 
tumult  of  battle.  To  him,  however,  be- 
longs the  fame  and  glory  that  he  also  knew 
and  honored  the  right  mode  of  igniting  the 
light  of  faith.  For  besides  this,  he  founded 
monasteries,  churches,  and  bishoprics  in 
Saxony,  and  that  these  doctrines  might  be 
more  fully  developed  and  propagated,  he 
caused  also  all  the  young  Saxons,  received 
as  hostages,  to  be  assiduously  instructed 
with  others,  that  they  might,  as  teachers, 
enlighten  their  nation.  And  so  perfectly 
did  he  succeed  in  his  plans,  that  this  same 
Saxon  nation,  which  had  hitherto  so  obsti- 
nately resisted  Christianity,  was  speedily 
filled  with  the  greatest  zeal  for  it,  and 
made  in  every  respect  a  flourishing  pro- 
gress. 

The  confidential  and  beloved  friend  of 
the  king,  PopeAdrian,  died  in  795.  Charles 
mourned  for  him  as  for  a  father,  and  caus- 
ed an  inscription  to  be  placed  over  his  tomb 
which  contains  the  expression  of  his  vene- 
ration. H?s  successor,  Pope  Leo  III.,  wt* 


POPE  LEO  III.— CHARLEMAGNE  CROWNED  EMPEROR  OF  ROME. 


misused  in  a  revolt  of  the  Romans,  and 
sought  protection  from  Charles,  who  re- 
ceived him  in  solemn  state  at  Paderborn,* 
whither  the  pope  came  in  799,  amiist  an 
almost  incredible  concourse  of  venerating 
people,  when  he  gave  him  his  promise  to 
go  himself  to  Rome  to  punish  the  evil-doers; 
and  which  promise  he  fulfilled  in  the  year 
800.  At  the  Christmas  festival  of  that 
same  year,  Charles  was  present  at  the  ser- 
vice in  St.  Peter's  church  at  Rome.  On 
this  great  occasion  individuals  from  almost 
every  nation  of  the  west  were  collected 
together  in  the  metropolis  of  the  Christian 
church,  and  an  innumerable  concourse  of 
people  filled  the  temple.  After  high  mass, 
when  Charles  knelt  at  the  altar,  Pope  Leo 
brought  forth  an  imperial  crown  and  placed 
it  upon  his  head,  when  the  whole  assem- 
bled multitude  exclaimed  :  "  Charles  Au- 
gustus, crowned  by  the  Almighty,  the  great 
and  peace-bringing  emperor  of  the  Romans. 
Hail,  all  hail,  and  victory!"  At  the  same 
time  the  pope  knelt  down  before  him.'f' 


*  Pope  Leo  consecrated  at  Paderborn.  among  other 
objects,  the  altar  of  St.  Stephen,  which  is  still  to  be 
found  in  the  vault  under  the  choir  of  the  cathedral. 

t  Eginhard,  the  biographer  and  friend  of  Charles, 
says  indeed— and  we  may  presume  as  received  direct 
from  the  mouth  of  the  emperor  himself— that  the  latter 
had,  at  first,  adopted  the  title,  Augustus  Imperator,  with 
very  great  reluctance,  and  that  he  assured  him  he 
would  not  even  have  entered  the  walls  of  the  church 
on  that  grand  day  of  festival,  had  he  foreseen  the  in- 
tention of  the  pope.  Nevertheless,  it  is  scarcely  to  be 
conceived  that  a  proceeding  so  grave  and  highly  impor- 
t  ant  could  have  been  arranged  without  the  knowledge 
and  concurrence  of  Charles,  who,  indeed,  in  all  his  ac- 
tions never  allowed  himself  to  be  led  by  others.  Besides. 
it  is  already  evident,  from  what  is  shown  by  other  good 
testimonies^  Annul.  Lauris.  ham,)  that  the  renewal  of 
the  imperial  dignity  had  been  discussed  and  resolved 
upon,  for  Alcuin  himself  knew  of  it  beforehand,  he 
having  given  to  one  of  his  pupils  a  Bible  and  a  letter, 
both  of  which  he  was  deputed  to  present  to  the  emperor 
at  the  Christmas  festival  in  Rome,  and  in  which  letter 
the  learned  master  wished  the  mighty  sovereign  all 
happiness  ad  splendorem  imperialis  potentia.  But  what 
"truck  Charles,  no  doubt,  with  sudden  surprise  and  mo- 
mentary vexation  was,  that  the  pope  should  merely 
have  present ed  to  him  the  imperial  crown,  and  that 
it  had  not  been  left  to  him,  the  sovereign,  to  place  it 
upon  his  own  head  himself,  or  to  command  it  to  be  done 
by  the  pope,  (as  his  bishop,)  as  was  the  custom  with  the 
Greek  emperors,  who  were  crowned  by  their  patriarchs ; 
thence,  there  is  little  doubt,  arose  the  expressions  attri- 
buted to  him  by  Eginhard.  This,  indeed,  is  clearly 
shown  subsequently,  when,  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  or- 
dered Louis  to  place  the  crown  upon  his  own  head 
Charles  always  considered  himself  as  chief  ruler  over 
Rome,  and  styled  the  Romans  in  his  decrees  as  his  sub- 
jects, and  included  Rome  in  his  will  among  the  chief 
cities  of  his  empire.  The  popes  again,  on  their  part, 
placed  his  own  name,  as  well  as  those  of  his  successors, 
on  their  coins,  and  included  them  in  their  bulls.  In 
nis  letters,  Charles  henceforth  calls  himself:  "Carolus 
serenissimus  augustus  a  Deo  coronatus  magnus  pacifi- 
cus  imperator  Romanum  gubernans  imperium,  qui  et 
per  misericordiam  Dei  rex  Francorum  et  Langobardo- 
rum."  To  him  it  was  important  to  hold  dominion 
oyer  those  other  nations  which  had  not  devolved  upon 
Uim  by  hereditary  right,  by  some  other  means  than  the 


Thus  in  324,  the  year  after  Romulus 
Augustulus  had  lost  the  Roman  imperia 
dignity,  it  was  again  renewed  by  Charle. 
magne,  who,  as  a  patrician,  was  already 
chief  protector  of  Rome.  He  himself  at- 
tributed so  much  importance  to  the  impe- 
rial coronation,  that  all  his  subjects,  from 
twelve  years  of  age  upwards,  were  obliged 
to  renew  their  oath  of  allegiance.  His 
power  was  now  extended  over  Italy, 
France,  Catalonia,  the  Balearic  islands, 
and  on  the  other  side  as  far  as  the  North 
Sea,  the  Elbe,  the  Bohemian  forest,  the 
Raab,  and  the  mountains  of  Croatia,  thus 
even  over  the  greatest  portion  of  the  an- 
cient  Roman  empire  in  Europe. 

By  this  solemn  act,  Charles's  grand  un- 
dertaking was  completed,  according  to  its 
outward  form.  All  the  Christian  nations 
of  German  origin,  excepting  England, 
were  united  in  one  large  body,  and 
Charles,  as  their  temporal  chief,  was 
crowned  under  the  ancient  and,  by  God's 
guidance,  renewed  title  of  Roman  empe- 
ror. As  such,  he  was  the  chief  protector 
of  the  church — by  the  Franconian  synod 
he  was  styled  the  regent  of  true  reli- 
gion— as  well  as  the  guardian  of  justice 
and  peace  in  Europe ;  and  under  his  pow- 
erful protection,  the  recently  planted  germ 
of  fresh  life  and  new  moral  cultivation 
could  safely  develop  itself,  without  being 
trampled  upon  by  the  destructive  conten 
tion  of  nations.  Accordingly,  this  was 
the  great  aim  and  purpose  of  the  Roman 
imperial  dignity,  as  renewed  by  the  Ger- 
mans, and  as  Theodoric  had  contemplated, 
which  Charles  alone,  however,  was  ena- 
bled, by  his  power,  to  call  into  existence — 
an  object  which  has  ever  continued  to  be 
fostered  in  the  heart  of  every  noble  and 
magnanimous  emperor  succeeding  to  the 
throne  of  the  Germanic  empire. 

Charles's  empire  was  therefore  not  what 
it  has  been  endeavored  by  a  new  name  to 
call — a  universal  monarchy  ;  not  one  em. 
pire  wherein  all  the  nations  and  countries 
within  his  reach  were  subject  to  his,  the 

mere  sway  of  conquest,  and  he  well  knew  that  among 
the  German  tribes  the  title  of  Roman  emperor  always 
connected  itself  with  the  idea  of  supreme  govern- 
ment. Besides,  to  the  emperor  all  were  equally  bound 
to  yield  allegiance — counts,  bishops,  freemen,  and  ser- 
vitors ;  while  in  obedience  to  the  king,  the  freemen 
varied  materially  from  the  vassal,  and  the  bishop  from 
the  layman.  It  likewise  established  his  position  to- 
wards the  clergy,  for  the  pope  became  now  the  first 
bishop  of  the  empire,  and  Alcuin  says  distinctly,  (cap 
ii.,)  that  the  imperial  power  is  higher  than  any  othert 
even  that  of  the  pope. 


STATE  OF  THE  EMPIRE— LOUIS  C£OW£J-£D  KING  OF  THE  FRANKS.        99 


individual's  will,  and  by  one  law,  custom, 
and  language,  united  into  one  uniform, 
circumscribed  whole.  Such  was  not 
Charles's  wish.  He  honored  the  pecu- 
liarities of  nations,  left  them  their  laws, 
which  were  based  upon  their  ancient  cus- 
toms and  modes  of  living ;  he  left  them 
their  manners  and  their  language,  which 
a  nation  could  not  be  deprived  of  without 
inflicting  the  most  grievous  wound.  He 
was  even  so  widely  distant  from  the  idea 
of  an  empire  strongly  and  despotically 
ruled  by  the  will  oif  one  individual,  that 
during  his  life,  in  the  year  806,  at  Dieten- 
hofen,  he  divided  his  countries  between  his 
three  sons,  so  that  Pepin  should  take  Italy, 
Louis  Aquitaine,  and  Charles  the  remain- 
der, consisting  chiefly  of  German  coun- 
tries. They  and  their  successors  were 
bound  to  consider  themselves  as  the  mem- 
bers  of  one  race,  and  under  the  superior 
guidance  of  the  emperor  for  the  time  be- 
ing, or  the  head  of  the  family,  hold  fra- 
ternally together,  and  accustom  their  na- 
tions to  a  similar  unity. 

His  soul  was  full  of  such  good  and  noble 
thoughts,  that  Europe  would  soon  have 
flourished  upon  the  basis  he  thus  laid,  had 
but  a  portion  of  his  spirit  fallen  to  the 
share  of  his  descendants. 

But  Charles  partially  foresaw  with  his 
own  eyes  the  destruction  of  his  plans. 
Both  of  his  most  promising  sons  died  shortly 
after  each  other,  even  before  their  father, 
and  Louis,  the  weakest,  alone  remained. 
The  eldest,  Charles,  had  made  several 
successful  campaigns  against  the  Sor- 
bians  beyond  the  Elbe.  The  father  hoped 
every  thing  from  this  son,  but  unhappily 
these  hopes  were  frustrated. 

As  Cnarles  now  felt  his  own  end  ap- 
proaching more  and  more  near,  he  sent  for 
his  son  Louis  to  come  to  him  in  the  year 
813  to  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  there  on  a 
Sunday,  when  in  the  cathedral  together, 
ne  reminded  him  of  all  the  duties  of  a 
good  monarch,  and  he  then  caused  Louis 
to  place  the  golden  crown  (which  lay  upon 
the  altar)  upon  his  head,  and  thus  crown- 
ed, his  venerable  iither  presented  him  to 
the  assembly  as  the  future  king  of  all  the 
Franks.  By  this  act  Charles  wished  to 
show  that  his  crown  was  independent  of 
the  papal  chair,  and  the  Franks  were 
greatly  pleased  with  this  determination 
evinced  by  their  prince  at  the  close  of  his 
career. 


The  venerable  emperor,  however,  re- 
mained  still  active;  he  continued  to  hold 
imperial  diets  and  church  convocations, 
and  regulated  all  other  affairs  of  the  state. 

In  January  of  the  year  814  he  was  at- 
tacked  by  a  fever,  which  was  followed  by 
pleurisy.  Charles,  who  up  to  his  latter 
days  had  never  been  ill,  and  was  always 
an  enemy  to  medicine,  wished  to  cure  him- 
self by  his  usual  remedy  of  fasting,  but 
his  body  had  now  become  too  weak. 
About  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
eighth  day  of  his  illness,  (the  28th  of  Jan- 
uary,) he  felt  the  approach  of  death,  and 
energetically  raising  his  right  hand,  mark- 
ed upon  his  forehead,  bosom,  and  even  to 
the  feet,  the  sign  of  the  cross.  He  then 
stretched  forth  his  arms  once  more,  folded 
them  over  his  bosom,  closed  his  eyes,  and 
murmuring  softly  and  in  broken  tones, 
"  Lord,  into  thy  hands  do  I  commit  my 
soul,"  he  breathed  his  last  sigh  in  the  sev- 
enty-second year  of  his  age,  and  the  forty- 
sixth  of  his  reign.  On  the  very  day  of 
his  death  the  body  of  the  deceased  empe- 
ror was  solemnly  cleansed,  laid  out,  and 
anointed,  and  conveyed  amidst  the  sorrow 
and  mourning  of  the  whole  nation,  to  the 
vault  of  the  church  built  by  himself.  He 
was  there  clothed  in  all  the  imperial  robes, 
with  a  golden  gospel  spread  out  on  his 
knees,  a  piece  of  the  original  holy  cross 
upon  his  head,  and  a  pilgrim's  golden 
scrip  around  his  loins,  and  placed  thus  in 
an  upright  position  upon  a  marble  chair; 
when,  filling  the  vault  with  frankincense, 
spices,  balsam,  and  many  costly  articles, 
they  dosed  and  sealed  it  up. 

So  much  veneration  for  the  emperor 
existed  throughout  all  his  dominions,  arid 
so  .much  were  all  eyes  directed  upon  him, 
that  every  thing  which,  during  the  last  few 
years  of  his  existence,  had  happened  to 
him  either  wonderful  or  extraordinary,  was 
considered  as  prophetic  of  his  death.  His 
biographer,  Eginhard,  mentions  many  such 
phenomena.  During  the  three  years  pre- 
ceding his  death,  there  were  frequent 
eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon  ;  the  arcade 
of  columns,  which  Charles  had  caused  tc 
be  erected  between  the  minster  and 
the  imperial  palace,  sank  by  a  sudden 
revolution  of  nature,  upon  Ascension  Day, 
into  the  earth,  and  was  destroyed  to  its 
very  foundation.  Besides  which  the  Rhine 
bridge,  near  Mentz,  which  in  the  course 
of  ten  years  he  had  built  of  wood  with 


100 


PORTRAITURE  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


great  ingenuity  and  art,  so  that  it  was  ren- 
dered fit  to  last  for  ages,  was  entirely  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  the  short  space  of  three 
hours.  He  himself  in  his  last  campaign 
against  Godfrey,  king  of  the  Danes,  upon 
marching  forth  one  day  before  sunrise, 
beheld  a  fiery  meteor  fall  suddenly  from 
heaven,  passing  from  the  riffht  to  the  left 
through  the  clear  air.  At  this  moment  his 
horse  plunged,  and  falling  to  the  earth, 
overthrew  him  so  violently  that  the  clasp 
of  his  mantle  broke,  his  sword-belt  was 
torn  asunder,  so  that  he  was  lifted  from 
the  ground  by  his  alarmed  attendants  with- 
out a  mantle  and  without  his  sword.  To 
which  may  be  added  a  variety  of  other 
signs,  equally  alarming  in  their  indication, 
but  in  which  the  great  emperor  was  too 
wise  to  place  any  faith. 

In  order  that  we  may  completely  com- 
prehend the  extraordinary  man  whose  his- 
tory thus  calls  forth  our  admiration,  we 
necessarily  desire  to  be  acquainted  with 
his  outward  form,  wherein  the  mighty 
spirit  was  encased.  We  are  anxious  to 
know  how  the  eye  reflected  the  internal 
sentiments ;  whether  the  brow  and  coun- 
tenance depicted  dignity  and  repose,  or 
whether  they  expressed  the  animated,  im- 
petuous emotions  of  the  mind  ;  and  final- 
ly, whether  the  elevation  and  power  of  the 
spirit  were  equally  displayed  throughout 
the  entire  corporeal  form.  Eginhard,  the 
friend  of  Charlemagne,  and  whom  the  lat- 
ter had  brought  up  in  his  palace  as  his 
adopted  son,  has  drawn  up  for  us  a  beau- 
tiful and  affectionate  description  of  his 
noble  fosterfather  : 

"  In  person,"  he  says,  "  the  emperor 
was  robust  and  strong,  and  of  great  height, 
for  he  measured  seven  of  his  own  feet.* 
His  head  was  round,  his  eyes  large  and 
animated  ;  his  nose  somewhat  exceeded 
moderate  proportions;  his  gray  hair  was 
beautiful  to  behold,  and  his  countenance 
joyous  and  cheerful,  whence  his  figure 
derived  peculiar  dignity  and  charm.  He 
had  a  firm  step,  and  a  perfect  manly  bear- 
ing. He  practised  riding  and  hunting  in- 
cessantly, according  to  the  customary 
habits  of  his  nation,  for  scarcely  a  people  I 
existed  upon  earth  that  could  rival  the 
Franks  in  these  arts.  Besides  this,  he 


*  A  staff  or  lance  of  iron  has  been  preserved,  which 
is  said  to  give  the  exact  height  of  Charlemagne,  and 
according  to  which  he  measured  six  feet  three  inches 
by  tho  Rhenish  measuremeit 


was  such  a  skilful  swimmer,  that  nons 
could  justly  be  said  to  surpass  him. 

"  He  enjoyed  constant  good  health,  with 
the  exception  of  the  last  four  years  of  his 
life,  when  he  was  frequently  attacked  by 
fever,  which  at  last  occasioned  him  to  limp 
slightly  on  one  foot.  During  these  attacks., 
he  continued  nevertheless  to  follow  his 
own  counsel,  rather  than  the  advice  of  his 
doctors,  with  whom,  in  fact,  he  was  sorely 
vexed,  for  they  prohibited  him  from  eating 
roasted  meat,  which  he  himself  considered 
the  most  wholesome  of  all  food. 

"  He  was  exceedingly  temperate  in  both 
eating  and  drinking,  but  especially  so  in 
the  latter,  for  intoxication  was  his  abhor- 
rence, in  any  person,  and  particularly  in 
his  own  palace.  His  daily  meal  consist- 
ed of  four  dishes  only,  exclusive  of  the 
roasted  joint,  which  his  yagers  or  squires 
brought  upon  the  spit,  and  which  he  pre- 
ferred and  relished  before  every  other 
dish.  During  his  meals  he  listened  with 
great  pleasure  to  the  lays  of  his  minstrels 
on  the  lute,  or  to  a  reader,  the  subjects 
sung  or  read  being  always  the  histories 
and  events  of  heroic  men.  He  also  took 
much  delight  in  the  books  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, particularly  in  those  on  the  divine 
government  of  God. 

"  In  summer  it  was  his  custom  after  din- 
ner, to  enjoy  a  little  fruit,  and  to  drink 
once  ;  then  to  undress  himself  as  at  night, 
and  thus  repose  for  three  or  four  hours. 
His  nights  were  very  restless,  not  merely 
by  his  awaking  up  several  times,  but  like- 
wise by  his  getting  up  from  his  couch  and 
walking  about.  During  his  toilet,  not  only 
were  his  friends  admitted,  but  likewise,  if 
his  Count  Palatine  had  to  present  to  him 
any  appeal,  which  could  not  be  decided 
without  his  opinion  and  determination  there- 
upon, he  forthwith  caused  the  disputants  to 
be  brought  before  him,  and  then  investi- 
gated the  affair  and  gave  judgment  at 
once. 

"  His  dress  consisted  of  the  national  cos- 
tume, and  was  but  little  different  from  that 
of  the  common  people.  He  wore,  next  his 
skin,  a  linen  shirt,  over  which  a  garment 
with  a  silken  cord,  and  long  hose.  His 
feet  were  enclosed  in  laced  shoes,  and,  in 
winter,  for  the  protection  of  his  shoulders 
and  chest,  he  wore  a  waistcoat  of  otter- 
skin.  As  upper  garment,  he  wore  a  man- 
tle, and  had  always  his  sword  girded  on, 
the  haft  and  defence  of  which  were  of  gold 


PORTRAITURE  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


101 


and  silver ;  and  at  times  he  wore  a  sword 
inlaid  with  jewels,  but  only  on  particular 
festivals,  or  when  he  gave  audience  to  for- 
eign ambassadors.  His  raiment  likewise, 
on  these  occasions,  was  of  golden  cloth, 
and  he  wore  a  crown  adorned  with  gold 
and  precious  stones.  Foreign  dress,  even 
the  most  beautiful,  he  disliked  and  de- 
spised, and  would  never  clothe  himself  in 
such  ;  except  when  at  Rome,  where,  firstly 
at  the  express  wish  of  Pope  Adrian,  and 
-econdly,  at  the  request  of  Leo,  his  suc- 
cessor, he  wore  a  dress  with  a  long  train, 
and  a  broad  mantle,  with  shoes -made  ac- 
cording to  the  Roman  fashion. 

"  Charles  possessed  a  style  of  rich  and 
flowing  eloquence,  and  whatever  he  wish- 
ed, was  expressed  by  him  in  the  most  clear 
and  concise  manner.  He  did  riot  content 
himself  with  his  mother  tongue  alone,  but 
applied  himself  industriously  to  the  ac- 
quirement of  the  classical  and  foreign  lan- 
guages generally.  Of  the  former,  he  was 
so  perfectly  master  of  the  Latin,  that  he 
spoke  it  equally  as  well  as  his  native  tongue ; 
and  the  Greek,  although  he  did  not  speak 
it.  he  nevertheless  perfectly  well  under- 
stood, and  was  so  proficient  in  it,  that  he 
could  himself  have  become  its  teacher. 
He  practised  the  superior  arts  very  zeal- 
ously, and  was  extremely  liberal  in  the 
honors  and  rewards  he  conferred  upon 
their  professors.  In  learning  grammar, 
he  had  the  attendance  of  the  venerable 
deacon,  Peter  of  Pisa ;  and  in  other  sci- 
ences, his  instructor  was  Albin,  with  the 
surname  of  Alcuin,  who  was  a  native  of 
Britain,  butof  Saxon  origin  ;  a  very  learned 
man,  and  Charles  devoted  much  labor  and 
time  in  acquiring  from  him  a  knowledge  of 
astronomy.  He  also  endeavored  to  attain 
the  art  of  writing,  and  was  even  accus- 
tomed to  have  his  tablets  under  his  pillow 
in  bed,  so  that  when  he  had  a  leisure  mo- 
ment he  might  practise  his  hand  in  the 
imitation  of  letters.  In  this,  however,  ow- 
ing to  his  commencing  it  at  so  late  a  pe- 
riod, he  made  but  little  progress. 

"  The  minster  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  which 
is  of  extreme  beauty,  is  a  monument  of 
his  love  for  the  arts,  as  also  of  his  great 
piety,  and  which  he  caused  after  he  had  it 
built,  to  be  ornamented  with  gold  and  sil- 
ver, together  with  windows,  lattices,  and 
gates  of  solid  brass.  He  had  all  the  pil- 
lars and  marble  stones  used  for  its  con- 
Btruction,  brought  from  Rome  and  Raven- 


na, as  he  could  not  obtain  them  in  any 
other  quarter.*  His  piety  displayed  itself 
in  the  support  of  the  poor,  and  in  gifts  and 
donations  which  he  sent  to  distant  lands 
across  the  sea,  and  wherever  he  heard 
Christians  to  be  in  want ;  and  thence  it 
was  that  he  sought  the  friendship  of  princes 
ruling  in  those  distant  countries,  in  order 
that  some  portion  of  nourishment  might  be 
dispensed  to  the  Christians  living  under 
their  dominion.  It  was  thus  he  maintained 
a  cordial  friendship  with  Aaron,  the  king 
of  the  Persians,  (Haroun  al  Raschid,  ca- 
liph of  Bagdad,)  who  ruled  over  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  east,  with  the  exception  of 
India.  When,  therefore,  Charles  sent  hi.s 
envoys  with  rich  offerings  to  the  holy  tomb 
of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  they  were  not 
only  very  kindly  received  by  Aaron,  but, 
on  their  return,  he  sent  with  them  his  own 
ambassador  to  accompany  them  to  the  court 
of  Charles,  and  who  conveyed  from  him 
the  choicest  of  the  shawls,  spices,  and  other 
costly  rarities  of  the  east,  as  presents  to 
the  emperor,  to  whom  be  it  mentioned,  he 
had  already,  in  proof  of  their  good  under- 
standing, sent  some  few  years  previously, 
the  only  elephant  he  then  had  in  his  pos- 
session." 

From  another  source  we  learn  that  this 
elephant,  which  was  called  Abulabaz,  or 
the  destroyer,  by  its  monstrous  and  un- 
exampled size,  amazed  the  whole  world, 
and  was  Charles's  especial  favorite  ;  and 
that  among  the  presents  sent  with  it  there 
was  a  costly  tent,  together  with  a  clock 
made  of  brass  with  astonishing  skill  and 
ingenuity.  This  latter  contained  a  hand 
or  indicator,  moved  round,  during  twelve 
hours,  by  the  power  of  water,  together 
with  an  equal  quantity  of  brass  balls, 
which,  when  the  hours)  were  completed, 
dropped  into  a  brass  cup  placed  beneath, 
by  their  fall  indicating  the  hour,  upon 
which  mounted  knights,  fully  armed,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  hours,  galloped 
forth  from  twelve  windows — a  work  as- 
suredly of  great  and  extraordinary  inge- 
nuity for  that  period.  Charles,  on  his  pail, 
made  presents  in  return  to  the  Persian  ru. 


*  Tho  church  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  imperja.. 
palace  are,  as  far  as  we  know,  the  first  extensive  build- 
in;:*  founded  by  a  German  prince.  Charles's  structures 
are  based  upon  the  Roman  style  of  North  Italy  and 
£outh  France,  whence  he  procured  his  architects.  The 
palace  in  Aix-la-Chapelle  has.  with  the  excen'ion  of  « 
few  remaining  stones,  entirely  disappeared  but  St 
Mary's  church  still  exists 


102 


PORTRAITURE  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


ler,  of  Spanish  horses,  mules,  and  Frisian 
mantles,  which  in  the  east  were  very  rare 
and  expensive,  and  finally,  were  added  to 
these  a  number  of  dogs  for  hunting  the 
lion  and  tiger,  unsurpassed  for  swiftness 
and  ferocity. 

We  have  previously  mentioned  his 
friendly  connection  with  the  emperor  in 
Constantinople,  and  his  amicable  relations 
with  the  princes  of  England  and  Scotland, 
by  whom  he  was  highly  esteemed  ;  and 
thus  the  impression  of  his  personal  great- 
ness was  reflected  throughout  the  age  in 
which  he  lived,  as  well  in  the  descriptions 
given  by  those  who  were  about  him,  as 
also  in  the  veneration  of  distant  nations. 
His  own  grandson,  Nithard,  who  has  de- 
scribed the  disputes  of  the  sons  of  Louis 
the  Pious,  says  of  him  with  great  justice  : 
"  Charles,  justly  called  by  all  nations  the 
great  emperor ;  a  man  who  by  true  wis- 
dom and  virtue  rises  so  high  above  the  hu- 
man race  of  his  own  age,  that  while  he 
appears  to  all  equally  awe-striking  and 
amiable,  is  at  the  same  time  universally 
acknowledged  to  be  wonderful  and  admi- 
rable." 

In  the  subsequent  generations,  still  filled 
with  veneration  towards  him,  his  figure 
became  so  irradiated  by  tradition  and  fic- 
tion, that  its  proportions  appear  gigantical- 
ly magnified.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  a 
legend  of  Low  Germany  he  is  described 
as  follows  :  "  The  emperor  Charles  was  a 
handsome,  tall,  strong  man,  with  power- 
ful arms  and  legs:  his  face  was  a  span 
and  a  half  long,  and  his  beard  a  foot  in 
length.  His  eyes,  to  those  at  whom  he 
attentively  looked,  appeared  so  bright  and 
searching,  that  the  effect  therefrom  was  to 
strike  with  awe  and  terror ;  while  his 
strength  was  so  mighty,  that  with  one 
hand  he  could  raise  a  fully-armed  man 
above  his  head." 

Another  ancient  Chronicle  says  of  his 
expedition  against  Desiderius  :  "  When  the 
Longobardian  king  from  his  castle  in 
Pavia  observed  the  entire  body  of  the 
Prankish  army  in  full  march  against  him, 
his  eyes  searched  everywhere  among  the 
ranks  to  find  the  king.  At  length  the  ma- 
jestic monarch  appeared  to  view,  mounted 
on  his  war-horse,  (which  both  in  durability 
and  color  resembled  iron  itself,)  with  a 
brazen  helmet  on  his  head,  his  entire  lofty 
figure  encased  in  iron  armor,  and  a  shin- 
ing breast-plate  spread  over  his  chest.  In 


his  left  hand  he  held  his  heavy  iron  spear 
and  his  right  grasped  his  massive  sword ; 
and  when  at  this  moment  Nosker,  a  noble, 
exiled  by  Charles,  and  who  was  standing 
near  the  king  of  the  Longobardians, 
pointed  to  him,  and  said,  «  Behold,  O  king, 
there  is  he  whom  thou  hast  sought/  Desi- 
derius almost  fell  to  the  ground  in  wonder 
and  dread,  faintly  exclaiming,  '  Away, 
away  !  Let  us  descend  and  bury  ourselves 
in  the  earth  from  the  wrathful  countenance 
of  that  terrible  and  mighty  foe  !' " 

As  a  testimony  that  the  admiration  ex- 
cited by  true  greatness  extends  far  beyond 
the  present  and  immediately  succeeding 
periods,  and  maintains  its  estimation  in  all 
susceptible  and  glowing  minds,  even  to  the 
latest  ages,  we  will  here  quote  the  opinion 
of  a  modern  writer*  upon  the  character  of 
the  great  Charles :  "  The  whole  appear- 
ance and  bearing  of  the  emperor  evince 
the  true  and  original  model  of  his  energetic 
age — full  of  manly,  yet  cheerful  virtue. 
Combined  with  the  exuberance  of  power, 
which  remodelled  an  entire  world,  were 
united  mildness  and  placidity,  and  with  all 
his  dignity  and  elevation,  we  find  consort- 
ed, simplicity,  purity  of  mind,  and  a  pro- 
found and  noble  fire  of  feeling.  The 
mixture  of  serenity  and  childlike  mildness 
in  his  deportment  was  the  mystery  where- 
by he  filled  all  at  the  same  time  with  ven- 
eration and  love  j  retaining  in  faithful 
adherence  to  him  even  those  who  had  been 
severely  provoked,  so  exquisitely  shown  by 
the  act  of  the  noble  Frank,  Isenbart,  who, 
although  deprived  by  Charles  of  all  honors 
and  possessions,  became,  nevertheless,  the 
unexpected  but  sole  saviour  of  his  life 
when  threatened  with  great  danger.  There 
lay  in  the  fire  of  his  piercing  eye  so  much 
power,  that  a  punishing  glance  prostrated 
the  object,  so  that  to  him  might  be  applied 
the  words  of  scripture  :  '  The  king  when 
he  sits  upon  the  throne  of  his  majesty, 
chases  by  a  glance  of  his  countenance 
every  evil  thing;'  while  in  the  thunder  of 
his  voice  there  was  such  force,  that  it 
struck  to  the  earth  whomsoever  he  ad- 
dressed in  anger.  On  the  other  hand, 
again,  we  find  that  his  countenance  re- 
flected such  unutterable  pleasure  and  glad- 
ness, and  his  voice  was  so  harmonious  and 
of  such  delightful  clearness,  that  a  writer 
styles  him  the  joyful  king  of  the  Germans 

*  M.  Silvern :  "  Abhandlunsf  iiber  Karl  der  Groese  " 


PORTRAITURE  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


102 


assuring  us  that  he  was  always  so  full  of 
grace  and  gentleness,  that  he  who  came 
before  his  presence  in  sorrowful  mood,  was 
by  a  mere  look  and  a  few  words  so  com- 
pletely changed,  that  he  departed  joyful 
and  happy.  In  his  countenance  was  re- 
flected the  full  expression  of  a  tranquil 
and  clear  mind,  and  in  all  these  outlines 
of  his  character  he  is  the  perfect  ideal  of 
a  true  German  hero  and  prince,  worthy  to 
be  called,  what  he  really  was,  the  father 
and  creator  of  the  Germanic  age,  which 
he  brought  upoa  the  stage  of  history,  after 
it  had  attained  ripeness  and  perfection  in 
the  womb  of  humanity.  It  WAS  not 
merely  in  his  works  and  external  cre- 
ations that  he  founded  the  Germanic 
age,  but  its  greatness  and  simplicity, 
its  heroism  in  war  and  friendship  in 
peace,  were  ingrafted  in  his  profound  soul 
entire !" 

We  have  already  spoken  of  his  friend- 
ship with  Pope  Adrian,  founded  on  mutual 
esteem,  and  his  paternal  devotion  to  Ein- 
hard.  But  to  none  was  he  attached  so 
affectionately  as  to  Angilbert,  or  Engel- 
bert,  a  young  man  of  noble  family,  who 
was  his  constant  companion  in  all  his 
travels  and  campaigns,  and  to  whom  he 
confided  his  most  important  affairs.  En- 
gelbert  was  an  excellent  poet,  and  for 
some  time  appointed  prime  minister  in 
Italy ;  h  then  became  Charles's  private 
secretary,  and  likewise  married  his  daugh- 
ter Bertha,  from  which  marriage  descend- 
ed the  before-named  historian,  Nithard. 
Charles  was  a  reverential  son  to  his  mother 
Bertrande,  a  faithful  brother  to  his  only 
sister  Gisla,  and  of  his  consorts  he  chiefly 
loved  the  second,  Hildegarde,  who  bore 
him  his  three  sons,  besides  three  daughters. 
He  caused  his  children  to  have  the  best 
education,  and  he  even  dedicated  much  of 
his  own  time  to  them  with  paternal  watch- 
fulness. His  sons  learned  not  only  all 
chivalric  accomplishments,  but  studied  also 
the  sciences.  The  daughters  were  taught 
10  work  in  wool,  sewing,  and  spinning,  ac- 
cording to  the  prevalent  simple  German 
custom.  He  never  took  his  meals  without 
his  children  ;  they  accompanied  him  in  all 
his  travels,  his  sons  riding  beside  him,  and 
his  daughters  following  him.  His  heart 
w&s  so  attached  to  these,  that  he  could 
never  prevail  upon  himself  to  part  with 
them.  He  superintended  his  domestic 
economy  most  carefully.  To  him  even, 


the  legislator  of  an  extensive  empire,  it 
did  not  appear  too  trifling  to  overlook  with 
prudent  care  his  estates  and  farms,  so  that 
any  father  of  a  family  might  have  learned 
from  him  how  to  regulate  his  household 
affairs.  Some  of  his  laws  are  still  extant, 
and  therein  we  find  especially  indicated, 
how  many  of  every  description  of  domes- 
tic  animals,  and  how  many  peacocks  and 
pheasants  shall  be  reared  and  maintained 
for  ornament  on  his  farms  ;  as  likewise- 
how  wine  and  beer  were  to  be  prepared, 
and  how  the  cultivation  of  bees,  fisheries, 
orchards,  and  plantations,  was  to  be  pur- 
sued. 

"  If  Charles's  general  greatness  im- 
presses us  with  reverence  and  admira- 
tion," so  says  the  modern  historian  of  his 
life,  "  this  participation  in  the  inferior  con- 
cerns of  life,  not  smothered  by  higher 
cares,  brings  him  more  closely  in  connec- 
tion with  us  ;  this  especial  care  of  the  do- 
mestic hearth,  so  peculiar  to  the  genuine 
German,  wherein  he  has  grown  up  as  the 
plant  in  the  earth  which  bears  and  nour- 
ishes it,  while  his  active  power  strives  out- 
ward into  the  world  of  deeds  and  works, 
and  his  bold  mind  soars  towards  heaven, 
as  the  plant  shoots  its  blossom  forth  to- 
wards the  sun."  And  in  truth,  Charles's 
mind  was  directed  towards  the  light  of 
truth  ;  he  was  animated  with  the  love  of 
the  glorious  and  the  beautiful,  and  planted 
both  wherever  he  was  able,  and  by  all  the 
means  in  his  power.*  He  had  formed 
with  the  wise  Englishman,  Alcuin,  and 
other  learned  men  a  scientific  society,  and 
he  maintained  with  them  a  regular  corre- 
spondence, which  was  rendered  more  free 
and  intellectual,  inasmuch  as  a  happy  idea 
from  Alcuin  enabled  it  to  be  conducted 
without  any  interference  with  personal  re- 
lations. The  communications  were  not 
made  in  the  ordinary  names  of  the  mem- 
bers, but  in  those  of  adoption,  in  which 
Charles  himself  bore  the  name  of  King 
David,  his  friend  Engelbert  that  of  Homer, 
Alcuin  that  of  Horace,  Eginhard  that  of 
Bezaleel,  and  the  rest,  other  equally  select 
names,  whence  the  cheerful  disposition  of 
this  union,  breaking  the  restrictive  chains 
of  ordinary  life,  sufficiently  displays  itself. 

*  As  regards  the  benefits  produced  by  Charles's  zeal 
for  education  and  science,  we  find  already  that  in  the 
years  650  to  770,  there  were  in  Germany  and  France 
some  twenty-six  writers,  while  in  the  years  770  to  850, 
there  were  already  in  Charles's  kingdom  more  than  on? 
hundred 


104 


PORTRAITURE  OF  CHARLEMAGNE 


Its  immediate  purpose,  besides  the  cultiva- 
tion of  both  the  ancient  languages,  may 
possibly  have  been  tc  reanimate  and  draw 
forth  from  its  obscurity  the  ancient  Ger- 
man language  and  its  poetry.  Charles 
himself  either  sketched,  or  caused  to  be 
sketched,  a  German  grammar,  gave  to  the 
months  and  the  seasons  German  names, 
and  collected  the  aboriginal  songs,  wherein 
wore  recited  the  noble  deeds  and  the  wars 
of  ancient  heroes,  (as  formerly  Lycurgus 
ana  Pisistratus  collected  the  songs  of  Ho- 
mer.) But  there  is  not  a  more  affecting 
trait  of  his  own  love  for  the  sciences  extant 
than  that  already  related,  when  in  extreme 
age-  he  endeavored  carefully  to  accustom 
his  once  powerful  hand,  which  had  been 
used  only  to  wield  the  sword,  to  the  prac- 
tice of  writing,  and  that  even  during  the 
sleepless  hours  of  the  night.  And  how 
far  he  esteemed  educated  and  scientific 
men  is  proved,  besides  the  instances  al- 
ready cited,  by  his  example  shown  towards 
the  Longobardian  historian,  Paul  Diaco- 
nus.  He  was  private  secretary  to  King 
Desiderius,  and  after  the  latter  was  con- 
quered, the  former  participated  in  the 
subsequent  revolt  of  the  Lombards,  upon 
which  he  was  sentenced  to  have  his  hands 
chopped  off.  Charles,  however,  interfered 
and  said,  "  If  these  hands  are  chopped  off, 
who  will,  like  him,  be  able  to  write  us 
such  charming  histories  ?"  and  according- 
ly he  pardoned  him.  The  learned  Alcuin 
already  mentioned — in  possessing  whom  at 
his  court  Charles  felt  more  pride  than  in 
naving  a  kingdom — had  been  previously 
provost  of  the  high  school  of  York  in  Eng- 
land, where  almost  all  the  learned  men  of 
that  period  had  received  their  education 
and  had  imbibed  their  zeal  for  the  sciences, 
and  which  contained  one  of  the  few  then 
existing  libraries  of  the  west  of  Europe. 
In  793  he  was  induced  by  the  repeated 
entreaties  of  the  king  to  go  over  to  France, 
where  he  founded  the  celebrated  school  of 
Tours.  Charles  esteemed  him  so  much 
that  he  called  him  his  beloved  instructor 
in  Christ,  and  presented  him  as  his  friend 
to  the  grand  imperial  diet  and  church  con- 
vocation at  Frankfort.  And  Alcuin  proved 
hirr  self  worthy  of  this  honor,  for  when  all, 
from  fear  or  doubt,  were  silent,  he  alone 
candidly  told  the  king  the  truth.  The 
jorrespondence  of  Charles  with  Alcuin  is 
worthy  of  high  estimation,  and  of  which, 
happily,  we  still  possess  a  considerable 


portion.  Charles,  on  his  part,  there  ex. 
presses  the  greatest  respect  and  friendship 
for  Alcuin,  and  the  latter  is  full  of  true 
affection,  nay,  at  times,  of  inspiration  to- 
wards his  king  and  friend.  Charles's 
wife  and  his  sons  and  daughters  received 
instruction  from  Alcuin,  and  he  was  styled 
by  them  all  their  master  and  father,  he, 
on  his  part,  calling  them  his  sons  and 
daughters. 

Combined  with  his  anxiety  for  the  af 
fairs  of  the  Church,  Charles  likewise,  with 
proper  foresight  and  penetration,  felt  deep 
interest  for  the  instruction  of  the  people  ; 
thence,  wherever  it  was  possible,  he  found- 
ed schools  and  investigated  their  progress 
with  great  solicitude  himself.  It  is  related 
that  he  once  entered  the  school  which  was 
established  at  his  own  court,  and  examined 
the  studies  of  the  boys.  The  skilful  he 
placed  on  his  right  and  the  unskilful  on  his 
left,  and  then  it  was  found  that  the  latter 
consisted  chiefly  of  the  sons  of  noble  fami- 
lies. Charles  then  turned  to  the  industri- 
ous class,  praised  them  much,  and  assured 
them  of  his  particular  regard  ;  the  others 
he  admonished  and  scolded  severely, 
threatening  them,  notwithstanding  their 
noble  descent,  to  reduce  them  to  the  lowest 
rank  in  the  school  unless  they  speedily  re- 
paired, by  zealous  industry,  the  negligence 
shown. 

The  study  of  the  Latin  tongue  was 
especially  promoted  by  Charles  for  the 
sake  of  the  church ;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
he  acknowledged  the  value  of  the  Greek 
language,  as  he  proved  by  founding  in 
Osnaburg  a  Greek  school.  In  a  royal  de- 
cree addressed  to  all  monasteries,  in  which 
he  exhorts  them  to  apply  themselves  to  the 
sciences,  he  says  expressly,  that  he  has 
been  led  to  make  this  exhortation,  because 
their  communications  are  written  in  such 
bad  Latin.  Another  important  result 
arising  from  the  scientific  labors  of  Charles 
and  his  friends,  was  the  establishment  of 
libraries  in  the  chief  schools.  Alcuin  laid 
the  foundation  of  such  a  one  in  the  school 
at  Tours,  by  sending  scholars  to  York  for 
the  purpose  of  making  copies  from  the  books 
there,  and  thus  "  transplanting  the  flowers 
of  Britain  to  Franconia."  This  example 
was  soon  followed,  the  desire  to  possess 
books  awoke,  the  office  of  extracting  from 
waitings  now  became  a  favorite  occupation 
and  duty  in  the  monasteries  and  schools, 
and  indeed,  we  have  to  thank  this  in- 


PORTRAITURE  OF  CHARLEMAGNE. 


105 


dustry  of  the  copyists  for  what  has  been 
preserved  to  us  from  ancient  times.* 

The  sacred  dignity  of  divine  worship 
concerned  him  much ;  he  .gave  himself 
particular  trouble  to  introduce  a  good 
psalmody,  and  caused  for  that  purpose 
organ  players  and  singers  to  come  from 
Italy  ;  and  at  Soissons  and  Metz  he  in- 
stituted singing  schools.  Besides  this,  he 
ordered  a  number  of  good  sermons  by  the 
Greek  fathers  to  be  translated  into  the 
Prankish  tongue,  and  read  to  the  people  ;f 
and  he  made  a  general  regulation,  that 
sermons  should  be  preached  in  the  national 
language,  for  King  Charles  well  knew  that 
civil  order  reposed  upon  the  religious  and 
moral  dignity  of  the  people,  and  without 
which  it  can  have  no  solid  basis.  He  con- 
sidered church  and  state  not  as  separated 
from,  or  inimical  to  each  other,  but  con- 
ceived that  they  both  had  one  great  aim, 
that  of  the  ennoblement  and  perfection  of 
mankind.  He,  therefore,  in  his  extensive 
empire,  linked  both  these  institutions  still 
more  closely  together. 

Even  under  the  earlier  Prankish  kings, 
the  clergy  formed  an  essential  portion  of 
the  constitution  of  the  kingdom.  The 
bishops,  as  well  as  the  dukes,  participated 
in  state  affairs,  ar.d  had  a  seat  and  a  voice 
in  the  national  assembly.  Charles  made 
this  a  fixed  principle,  and  this  raised  the 
clerical  body  to  rank  as  one  of  the  orders  of 
the  state.  The  constitution  had  already  now 
formed  two  of  its  chief  orders,  that  of  the 
clergy  and  nobility ;  the  civil  order,  as 
the  third  component,  did  not  yet  exist ; 
later  centuries  brought  it  to  perfection,  and 
thereby  completed  the  constitution  of  the 

*  Alcuin  took  especial  pains  to  form  and  establish 
classes  for  the  improvement  and  perfection  of  writing, 
la  Tours,  Fulda,  and  Treves,  particular  and  distinct 
hulls  were  appropriated  for  transcribers,  provided  with 
inscriptions,  which  impressed  upon  the  mind  the  im- 
prtant  duties  of  a  writer.  In  fact,  the  art  of  writing 
in  books  and  ancient  documents  appears,  under 
Charles,  to  have  undergone  a  change,  completely 
Biidden,  in  improvement.  For,  to  the  unsightly  Mero- 
vingian stylo  of  italic  character  previously  m  use — 
even  to  the  (irst  years  of  Charles's  reign— we  rind  suc- 
ceeding as  it  were,  with  one  spring,  a  fine  and  legible 
form  of  round  hand,  called  the  Carolingian  minuskel, 
or  neatly  reduced  writing.  This  style  became  the 
legitimate  source  whence  we  derived  all  our  present 
forms,  both  in  writing  and  printing,  in  German  as  well 
as  Latin.  In  the  coins  of  the  year  774,  we  likewise 
find  displayed  an  improvement  equally  striking,  thus 
•lowing  that,  even  in  minor  objects,  the  great  Charles 
operated  efficaciously. 

t  He  directed  Paulus  Diaconus  to  prepare  extracts 
from  the  fathers,  in  the  form  of  a  collection  of  homilies 
throughout  the  year.  This  collection,  from  the  usual 
opening  of  the  pieces,  "  post  ilia,"  received,  subse- 
quently, ths  name  postille. 


state.  But  it  was  important  for  that  period, 
that  the  feudal  nobility,  which  had  already 
become  too  powerful,  should  receive  a 
counterbalance  in  the  clerical  order,  which 
must  necessarily  become  the  preservation 
of  Christian  cultivation  throughout  Europe, 
and  thereby  unite  Europe  into  one  great 
whole.  Besides,  Charles  felt  himself  suffi- 
ciently powerful  to  fear  no  misuse  of  such 
spiritual  influence  in  his  realms.  Although 
he  increased  the  possessions  and  the  con- 
sideration of  the  clergy,  he  yet  maintained 
his  imperial  power  so  much  above  them, 
that  his  quick  eye  was  everywhere  feared, 
so  much  so,  that  one  of  his  historians  call? 
him  the  bishop  of  bishops. 

We  frequently  find  in  his  decrees  re- 
proaches made  against  the  clergy,  when 
they  commenced  exceeding  the  limits  of 
their  power,  and  many  of  his  laws  gen- 
erally allude  to  an  ameliorated  state  of 
discipline  among  the  ecclesiastical  body, 
to  a  restraint  being  put  to  their  worldliness, 
and  commanding  them  to  perform  the  du- 
ties of  their  office  with  zeal  and  activity. 
In  fact,  he  may  be  regarded  as  the  true 
reformer  of  the  clergy,  especially  when 
we  refer  to  the  condition  of  that  body 
under  the  Merovingians.  Of  the  tithes 
which  were  to  be  paid  to  the  church,  he 
appointed  for  the  bishops  one  fourth,  for 
the  inferior  clergy  one  fourth,  for  the  poor 
one  fourth,  and  for  the  church  itself  "one 
fourth,  especially  towards  the  building  of 
fresh  edifices.  And  as  these  taxes  were  al- 
together hateful  alike  both  to  the  Franks  and 
Saxons,  he  at  once  set  the  example  himself  of 
subscribing  to  them,  by  having  them  levied 
equally  upon  the  royal  estates.  They  were 
rendered  less  obnoxious  and  more  mode- 
rate likewise  by  his  subsequent  decrees, 
that  all  church  offices,  such  as  baptisms, 
communions,  and  burials,  should  be  per. 
formed  gratuitously. 

With  respect  to  the  administration  of  the 
state,  Charles  dispensed  with  the  power  of 
the  grand  dukes  as  governors  of  entire 
provinces,  and  divided  the  latter  into  small- 
er districts,  causing  them  to  be  ruled  by 
counts,  whose  chief  occupation  was  the 
superintendence  of  the  judicial  office  ;  but 
the  dignity  of  count  was  not  hereditary. 
The  dukes,  whom  he  himself  appointed, 
were  merely  his  lieutenant-generals  in  wai 
and  leaders  of  the  arriere  ban  of  a  prov- 
ince. Besides  which  he  dispatched,  as 
often  as  he  thought  it  necessary,  royal  en- 


100 


LOUIS  THE  PIOUS— DIVISION  OF  HIS  EMPIRE. 


roys  (rnissi  regii)  into  the  provinces,  who 
inspected  their  condition,  and  examined 
how  they  were  governed,  and  were  obliged 
to  draw  up  written  reports  thereof.  These 
envoys  consisted  generally  of  a  bishop  and 
a  count,  as  the  proceedings  of  the  spiritual 
as  well  as  temporal  administrators  were  to 
be  examined  at  the  same  time.  The  dis- 
trict of  a  Missus  was  called  Missaticwn. 
When  any  person  believed  he  had  ex- 
perienced an  avoidance  in  law  from  the 
count,  he  could  appeal  to  the  Missus ;  and 
again  from  this  there  was  an  appeal  to 
the  Comes  palatii.  The  appointment  of  the 
judges  in  the  courts  was  removed  from  the 
power  of  the  counts  by  Charles,  and  trans- 
ferred to  the  Missus. 

He  expressly  and  earnestly  exhorted  all 
his  officials,  and  particularly  the  judges, 
to  the  fulfilment  of  their  duties,  as  in  fact 
the  grand  endeavor,  shown  throughout  his 
entire  government,  had  for  its  object  the 
improvement  of  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, and  especially  the  protection  of  the 
poorer  classes  and  the  common  free  peo- 
ple, against  the  pressure  of  the  higher 
ranks.  It  seemed  as  if  in  the  latter  period 
of  his  reign  he  had  more  and  more  per- 
ceived the  danger  with  which  the  com- 
mon freedom  of  his  subjects  was  threat- 
ened by  the  feudal  system.  All  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  however,  was  in  vain. 
He  was  forced  himself  to  attend  in  person, 
twice  in  the  year,  national  assemblies  or 
diets,  the  one  in  spring,  called  the  May 
Field,  (Campus  Madius,)  in  which  the  king, 
with  his  estates,  gave  the  decisions ;  the 
other  in  autumn,  composed  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  his  nobles  and  confidential 
friends,  with  whom  he  regulated  the  most 
urgent  matters,  and  prepared  those  affairs 
to  be  settled  at  the  ensuing  May  meeting. 
The  regulations  made  at  these  diets,  par- 
ticularly those  passed  in  the  Spring  meet- 
ings, which,  after  their  division  into  chap- 
ters, became  known  under  the  name  of 
capitulars,  produced  for  the  entire  king- 
dom a  great  combining  power. 

The  envoys,  each  in  their  division,  called 
together  the  communities  four  times  every 
year,  who,  besides  attending  to  their  own 
matters,  had  to  approve  and  confirm  the 
resolutions  passed  at  the  grand  assemblies, 
if  they  concerned  the  interests  of  the  peo- 
ple :  so  little  power  had  the  king  and  his 
nobles  to  affect  or  alter  their  rights.  Thus 
by  means  of  all  these  institutions,  Charles, 


who  was  still  greater  as  a  legislator  than 
a  warrior,  was  enabled  to  keep  in  order 
without  garrisons  and  a  standing  army,  at . 
the  people  subjected  to  obedience,  as  wel, 
as  his  whole  extensive  empire,  allhougi 
composed  of  such  a  variety  of  nations. 
He  himself  remained  within  the  boundaries 
of  the  constitution,  honored  the  laws,  list- 
ened willingly  to  the  voice  of  his  people, 
and  showed  in  every  thing,  but  especially 
in  this,  his  noble  genius  and  magnanimity, 
and  the  dignified  superiority  of  his  nature. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

814—918. 

Louis  the  Pious,  814-840— Division  of  the  Empire 
among  his  Sons,  Louis,  Lothaire,  and  Charles  the 
Bald,  843— The  German  Sovereigns  of  the  Race  of 
the  Carlovingians,  843-911 — Louis,  01  Ludwig,  the 
German— Charles  the  Fat— Arnulf— Louis  the  Child— 
The  later  and  concluding  period  of  the  Carlovingiana 
— Conrad  I.  of  Franconia,  911-918. 

AFTER  the  race  of  the  Carlovingians  had 
produced  consecutively  four  great  men — a 
rare  occurrence  in  history — its  energy 
seemed  to  become  exhausted.  Louis  the 
Pious  did  not  resemble  his  ancestors. 
However,  his  personal  appearance  was  by 
no  means  insignificant,  for  he  is  described 
as  well  made,  with  a  prepossessing  counte- 
nance, of  a  strong  frame,  and  so  well  prac- 
tised in  archery  and  the  wielding  of  the 
lance,  that  none  about  him  equalled  him. 
But  he  was  weak  in  mind  and  will,  and  hi? 
by-name,  "the  Pious/'  implies  not  only 
that  he  was  religious,  but  principally  that 
he  was  so  easy  tempered,  that  it  required 
much  to  displease  him.  A  ruler  of  this 
description  was  not  adapted  to  hold  in 
union  the  vast  empire  of  his  father ;  never- 
theless, the  chief  misfortunes  of  his  whole 
life  arose  solely  from  his  own  sons. 

He  had  three  sons  by  the  first  marriage, 
Lothaire,  Pepin,  and  Louis  ;  and  he  very 
early  divided  his  empire  between  these 
three,  retaining  for  himself  nothing  but  the 
title  of  emperor.  He,  however,  soon  after, 
wards  espoused  as  second  consort,  Judith, 
of  the  family  of  the  Guelfs,  who  bore  to 
him  his  fourth  son,  Charles,  and  was  a 
proud,  ambitious  woman,  who  would  will- 
ingly have  transferred  all  to  her  own  child. 
Upon  her  persuasion  Louis  was  induced  to 
take  a  portion  of  the  countries  from  his 


HIS  ILL-TREATMENT— HIS  DEATH. 


107 


other  sons,  and  give  it  to  Charles.  Where- 
upon  open  war  arose  between  the  emperor 
and  his  children,  who  took  their  father 
twice  prisoner.  The  last  time  it  occurred 
was  near  Colmar,  in  Alsace,  and  because 
most  of  the  nobles  of  Louis's  suite,  who  had 
sworn  allegiance  to  him,  passed  over  to  his 
sons,  the  place  has  retained  the  name  of 
Liigenfeld,  or  the  Field  of  Lies.  The 
good-natured  Louis,  turning  to  those  who 
remained  still  with  him,  said,  "Go  ye, 
also,  to  my  sons ;  I  will  not  allow  that  even 
a  single  individual  lose,  on  my  account, 
life  or  limb."  They  wept  and  departed, 
and  Louis  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  his 
sons.  Lothaire,  who  was  the  worst  among 
them,  had  him  conveyed  to  a  cloister  at 
Soissons  in  France,  and  urged  him  so  in- 
cessantly, until  he  at  last  resolved  to  do 
public  penance  in  the  chapel.  Lothaire's 
objec;  in  this  was,  that  his  father  might 
thereby  be  made  incompetent  to  take  arms, 
for  it  was  ordained  by  the  canon  law,  that 
any  one  who  had  done  penance  was  ren- 
dered incapable  of  bearing  arms,  and  the 
Franks  could  not  endure  among  them  a 
king  without  a  sword. 

The  pious  Louis,  who  was  easily  per- 
suaded that  his  own  sins  were  the  cause 
of  all  his  misfortunes,  absolutely  allowed 
himself  to  be  conducted  into  the  chapel  of 
the  monastery,  and  after  he  had  been  di- 
vested of  his  sword  and  military  accoutre- 
ments, he  was  clothed  in  a  sack  of  pen- 
ance, and  was  forced  to  read  a  paper  aloud, 
whereon  his  son  and  his  accomplices  had 
inscribed  all  his  sins,  thus  :  "  That  he  had 
unworthily  filled  his  office,  frequently  of- 
fended God,  vexed  the  church,  was  a  per- 
jurer, the  originator  of  dissensions  and 
turbulences,  and,  at  last,  had  even  wished 
to  make  war  upon  his  sons."  And  while 
he  made  this  confession,  the  clergy,  con- 
sisting of  the  Archbishop  Ebbo,  of  Rheims, 
whom  Louis  himself  had  raised  from  a 
servitor  to  an  archbishop,  and  with  him 
thirty  bishops,  spread  out  their  hands  over 
him,  and  chanted  penitential  psalms ;  Lo- 
thaire himself  sitting  close  by  upon  a  throne, 
and  feasting  his  eyes  upon  the  degradation 
of  his  father,  who  was  immediately  after- 
wards led  away  in  the  garment  of  repent- 
ance, and  immured  within  a  solitary  cell, 
where  he  was  left  to  remain,  without  any 
consolation. 

This  misusage  of  the  emperor  enraged 
his  son,  Louis  of  Bavaria,  who  was  after- 


wards called  Ludwig  the  German,  and 
who  was  the  best  of  the  sons  ;  he  confer- 
red with  his  brother  Pepin,  and  they  forced 
Lothaire  to  emancipate  their  father,  who 
was  formally  absolved  by  the  bishops,  and 
received  from  their  hands  his  sword  and 
accoutrements  back  again. 

But  his  misfortunes  had  not  made  him 
wiser,  for,  on  the  contrary,  he  allowed 
himself  to  be  immediately  persuaded  by 
Judith  to  prefer  his  son  Charles  before  the 
rest,  and  to  give  him  his  most  beautiful 
countries,  causing  him  to  be  crowned  King 
of  Neustria.  He  treated  his  best  son, 
Louis,  the  worst,  who  consequently,  in  his 
irritation,  seized  arms  against  his  father, 
and  the  old  king  could  nowhere  find  a  tran- 
quil spot  for  his  death-bed  ;  for,  as  he  was 
proceeding  to  Worms,  to  hold  a  diet  there 
against  his  son,  and  was  just  passing  over 
the  Rhine,  near  Mentz,  he  suddenly  felt 
his  quickly-approaching  end.  He  remain- 
ed upon  an  island  of  the  Rhine,  near  Ingel- 
heim,  caused  a  tent  to  be  there  pitched  for 
him,  and  sank  down  upon  his  death-bed. 
He  pardoned  his  son  before  his  death,  in 
these  words :  "  As  he  cannot  come  to  me 
to  offer  satisfaction,  I  acquit  myself  thus 
towards  him,  and  take  God  and  all  of  you 
to  witness,  that  I  forgive  him  every  thing. 
But  it  will  be  your  office  to  remind  him, 
that  although  I  have  so  often  pardoned 
him,  he  must  not  forget  that  he  has  brought 
the  gray  hairs  of  his  father  to  the  grave  in 
bitter  grief."  Thus  died,  in  the  year  840, 
King  Louis,  who  was  of  a  kind  disposition, 
but  whose  life  was  one  continued  scene  of 
trouble  and  affliction,  because  he  knew  not 
how  to  govern  his  own  house,  much  less 
his  empire. 

The  most  celebrated  acts  of  his  life  con- 
sist in  the  foundation  of  two  religious  insti- 
tutions ;  viz.,  the  monastery  of  Corvey, 
and  the  archbishopric  of  Hamburg.  The 
first  originated  from  the  cloister  of  the 
same  name,  at  Amiens  in  France.  It  was 
hither  that  Charlemagne  caused  many  of 
the  imprisoned  Saxons  to  be  brought,  that 
they  might  be  instructed  in  the  Christian 
religion,  and  become  thereby  the  future 
teachers  of  their  fellow-countrymen  in  the 
same  doctrines.  Louis  the  Pious  caused  a 
religious  colony  of  these  Saxons  to  settle 
in  their  native  country,  on  the  Weser,  and 
he  commenced  building  the  new  monaste- 
ry as  early  as  the  year  815.  It  was  com- 
pleted  in  822,  and  the  abby  was  enriched 


108 


LOTHAIRE,  LOUIS,  AND  CHARLES  THE  BAJ/D. 


with  many  crown  endowments.  It  speedi- 
ly became  the  best  school  for  education  in 
that  country. 

Louis  founded  the  archbishopric  of  Ham- 
burg in  832,  principally  for  the  conversion 
of  the  heathens  of  the  north.  The  first 
bishop  was  Ansgar,  from  the  abbey  of 
Corvey,  one  of  the  most  zealous  propaga- 
tors of  the  Christian  religion,  and  who  had 
already  taught  the  doctrine  in  Denmark 
and  Sweden.  But  Hamburg,  unfortunate- 
ly, was  destroyed  by  the  Romans,  in  845, 
on  which  account  the  archbishopric  was 
transferred  to  Bremen. 

The  brothers,  who  had  not  hesitated  to 
take  up  arms  against  their  own  father,  could 
much  less  remain  united  among  themselves. 
In  particular,  Lothaire  assumed,  as  em- 

Eiror,  great  privileges  over  his  brothers, 
ouis  and  Charles,  Pepin  being  alrea- 
dy dead,  consequently  armed  themselves 
against  him  ;  and  as  he  would  not  agree 
to  a  treaty  of  peace,  a  battle  was  fought  in 
841,  near  Fontenay,  in  France.  It  was 
very  sanguinary  ;  forty  thousand,  accord- 
ing to  others  a  hundred  thousand,  men  were 
left  on  the  field.  Lothaire  was  conquered, 
and  his  great  pretensions  were  thus  dissi- 
pated, and  in  consequence,  in  the  course 
of  two  years,  an  important  treaty  took 
place,  which  divided  the  great  Prankish 
empire,  and  separated  Germany  forever 
from  France.  This  is  called  the  treaty  of 
Verdun,  concluded  on  the  llth  of  August, 
843. 

1.  Louis  received  Germany  as  far  as 
the  Rhine ;  and  across  the   Rhine,  Mentz, 
Spires,  and  Worms,  for  the  sake  of  the  cul- 
ture of  the  vine,  (propter  vini  copiam.)  as 
it  is  said  in  the  original  record.  Thus  were 
united  all  the  countries  wherein  a  pure  Ger- 
man race,  unmixed  with  the  Romans,  had 
remained,  and  the  Germans  may  consider 
the  treaty  of  Verdun  as  a  great  national  ben- 
efit.   For  had  that  country  remained  united 
with  France,  and  had  the  king  made  Paris, 
perhaps,   the   metropolis,  or  even  changed 
about  in  the  chief  cities  of  that  country,  it 
is  probable  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  a 
ruinous  mixture  of  the  German  and  French 
languages,    manners,    modes  of  life,  and 
idiosyncrasies   of  the    two  nations  would 
have  taken  place. 

2.  Lothaire    retained  the  imperial  dig- 
nity and  Italy,  and   acquired,   oesides,  a 
long  narrow  strip  of  land  between  Gerrna- 
oy  a**d  France,  from  !he  Alps  as  far  as  the 


Netherlands,  namely,  the  country  of  Va 
lais  and  Vaud  in  Switzerland,  the  south 
east  of  France,  as  far  as  the  Rhone  ;  and 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  Alsace,  and 
the  districts  of  the  Moselle,  Meuse,  anc 
Scheldt.  This  long  and  narrow  strip  be- 
tween the  two  other  brothers  was  probably 
apportioned  to  the  emperor  that  he  might  be 
near  them  both,  and  that,  according  to  the 
wish  of  the  father  and  grandfather,  the  im- 
perial control  might  tend  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  the  whole.  It  likewise  seemed 
that  Italy  and  the  ancient  city  of  Rome,  as 
well  as  ancient  Austrasia,  namely,  the 
Rhenish  districts,  which  Charlemagne  had 
selected  for  his  residence,  with  his  capital, 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  were  not  separable  from 
the  imperial  dignity.  But  although  Lo- 
thaire received  beautiful  and  productive 
provinces,  yet  his  portion  was  the  weakest, 
for  his  empire  on  this  side  of  the  Alps  had 
no  natural  frontiers,  either  in  mountains  or 
in  a  distinct  national  race.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  his  countries  on  the  Rhone  and 
down  the  Rhine  were  .composed  of  very 
different  tribes ;  thence  as  there  was  no 
natural  necessity  for  this  division  of  coun- 
tries, it  was  merely  produced  by  human 
caprice,  consequently,  there  was  no  dura- 
bility in  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  became 
the  source  of  great  misfortune.  After  the 
emperor  Lothaire,  pursued  as  it  were  by  the 
spirit  of  his  injured  father,  against  whom 
he  had  chiefly  offended,  had  laid  down  the 
sceptre  and  retired  into  a  convent,  where 
he  died  in  862,  his  three  sons  took  up  arms 
in  contest  for  the  land,  and  divided  it 
among  themselves ;  but  neither  of  them 
transmitted  it  to  his  descendants.  The 
countries  of  Burgundy,  Alsace,  and  the 
province  of  Lorraine  proper,  which  Lo- 
thaire II.  had  received,  and  which  had  from 
him  received  its  name,  were,  after  his  early 
death,  divided  by  his  two  uncles,  Louis  the 
German,  and  the  French  king,  Charles  ; 
so  that  the  land  to  the  east  of  the  Meuse, 
with  the  cities  of  Utrecht,  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
Liege,  Metz,  Treves,  Cologne,  Strasburg, 
Basle,  &c.,  fell  to  Germany.  But  this  di- 
vision did  not  terminate  the  dispute  for  the 
Lorraine  inheritance,  for  it  has  remained 
through  every  century  n  bone  of  conten- 
tion  between  the  Germans  and  the  French, 
and  many  sanguinary  wars  have  take? 
place  in  consequence. 

3.  Charles  the  Bald  received,  lastly,  the 
western    division    of   the    whole    Frankish 


LOUIS,  OR  LUDWIG,  THE  GERMAN— THE  NORMAN  PIRATES. 


109 


Kingdom,  and  which  has  continued  to  pre- 
serve its  title. 

Louis  the  German,  (840-876,)  who  was 
an  energetic  prince,  oflofty  stature  and  no- 
ble figure,  with  a  fiery  eye  and  a  pene- 
trating mind,  and  who  a.so  possessed  an 
active  disposition  for  education  and  science, 
(which  the  schools  of  eloquence  that  he 
founded  at  Frankfort  and  Ratisbonne  have 
proved, ^  had  constantly  to  contend  for  the 
tranquillity  of  his  realm;  for  the  Slavonian 
tribes  made  incursions  on  the  eastern  fron- 
tiers, and  the  Normans  on  the  north  and 
northwest.  These  bold  sailors,  of  ancient 
German  origin,  wild  as  their  sea  and  its 
northern  coasts,  coming  from  the  Norwegi- 
an, Swedish,  and  Danish  waters,  appeared 
with  the  rapidity  of  the  wind,  at  the  mouths 
of  the  rivers,  and  frequently  advanced  deep 
into  the  country.  They  ascended  the  Seine 
as  far  as  Paris,  flew  along  the  Garonne  to 
Toulouse,  and  sailed  up  the  Rhine  to  Co- 
logne and  Bonn.  And  it  was  not  the  banks 
merely  of  these  rivers  which  suffered  from 
their  devastations,  but  they  knew  also  how 
to  convey  their  vessels  many  thousand  paces 
across  the  country  into  other  rivers,  so  that 
no  place  afforded  security  against  them. 
So  great  was  the  terror  of  their  name,  that 
the  mere  report  of  their  coming  drove  to 
flight  all  before  them.  Their  numbers 
were  generally  small,  for  a  fleet  of  the 
small  ships  of  that  period  could  not  convey 
large  armies  ;  but  their  courage,  as  well  as 
their  strength  of  body  and  their  weapons, 
testified  to  their  true  northern  origin  ;  while 
in  wielding  the  powerful  spear,  no  race 
equalled  them.  A  few  ships,  manned  with 
valiant  men,  formed  frequently  the  equip- 
ment of  their  royal  princes;  and  as  in  an- 
cient Germany,  a  noble  leader  with  his 
company,  in  bold  excursions,  acquired  honor 
and  booty,  and  with  his  suite,  even  contest- 
ed for  the  possession  of  a  whole  country ; 
so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  squadron  of  the 
bold  sea-hero,  manned  with  warlike  and 
pillage-seeking  adventurers,  was  the  source 
of  his  riches,  forming  often  the  moving  ba- 
sis upon  which  he  erected  his  kingdom. 
It  was  thus  they  founded  similar  kingdoms 
in  Normandy,  France,  Sicily,  and  in  Rus- 
sia. Louis  the  German  succeeded  in  pro- 
tecting his  kingdom  against  them,  and 
against  the  Slavonians ;  but  not  so  his  son, 
Lp.uis  the  Fat,  (876-887,)  who,  after  the 
death  oHltsHmMners,  Carloman  and  Louis, 
by  the  intervention  of  particular  circum- 


stances, again  united  for  a  short  time  the 
three  portions  of  the  Frankish  empire,  in 
Italy,  Germany,  and  France.  In  France 
there  was  a  minor  king,  Charles  the  Sim- 
pie,  six  years  of  age,  for  whom  he  was  to 
have  protected  the  country  against  the  Nor- 
mans ;  but  not  possessing  the  qualifications 
necessary,  this  he  was  not  able  to  do,  and 
thence  he  was  forced  twice  to  purchase 
peace  from  them  at  the  price  of  many 
pounds  of  gold  :  the  first  time  when  they 
had  advanced  upon  the  Meuse  as  far  as 
HaslofF,  and  the  second  time  when,  with  700 
vessels,  they  had  ascended  the  Seine  as  far 
as  Paris  itself,  and  closely  besieged  that 
city.  Such  cowardly  conduct,  and  the 
weakness  of  his  whole  government,  brought 
him  into  contempt,  and  was  the  cause  which 
produced  his  formal  deposition,  in  a  great 
and  national  assembly  held  at  Tribur  in 
the  year  887.  To  his  great  good  fortune, 
he  died  the  following  year. 

In  Germany  he  was  succeeded  (887- 
899)  by  Arnulf,  a  son  of  his  brother  Carlo- 
man, consequently  a  grandson  of  Louis  the 
German,  a  valiant  and  worthy  king.  He 
beat  the  Normans  at  Louvain,  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, where  they  had  erected  a  fortified 
camp,  which  victory  made  him  very  cele- 
brated, for  those  Normans  formed  the  most 
valiant  j»u,t,  of  the  north,  and  had  never 
previously  been  known  to  fly  before  an 
enemy.* 

Arnulf  now  marched  also  into  Italy,  to 
bring  that  disunited  country — where  many 
pretenders  contested  for  supremacy — again 
under  German  dominion.  He  advanced, 
in  896,  as  far  as  Rome  ;  but  his  army  had 
been  so  much  weakened  by  sickness  and 
foul  weather,  that  he  dared  not  attempt  to 
attack  the  strong  walls  of  the  city,  and  was 


*  About  this  time,  in  the  southeastern  frontiers  of 
Germany,  a  Slavonic  prince,  Zwentibolt,  had  establish- 
ed a  considerable  dominion  in  Moravia.  In  order  to 
gain  his  friendship,  Arnulf  gave  him  the  vacant  Duchy 
of  Bohemia  as  a  fief,  and  chose  him  as  godfather  to  his 
son,  whom  he  named  after  him.  But  the  Moravian 
prince  became  unruly,  and  strove  for  independence ; 
and  Arnulf  soon  saw  himself  entangled  in  a  severe  war 
against  him.  In  order,  therefore,  to  gain  allies,  he  had 
recourse  to  the  Magyars,  who  rose  against  Zwentibolt, 
and,  falling  upon  Moravia,  completely  overthrew  his 
dominion,  and  established  themselves  there  instead, 
while  the  late  ruler  withdrew,  and  sought  refuge  in  a 
monastery.  Arnulf,  in  order  to  extend  the  power  of  his 
house,  now  took  advantage  of  some  favorable  circum- 
stances presented  in  Lorraine,  in  order  to  procure  foi 
his  son,  Zwentibolt,  the  duchy  of  that  country.  In  this 
he  succeeded,  after  several  encounters  with  the  nobili- 
ty ;  and  in  895  his  son  took  the  title  of  king,  but  he  held 
it  but  fox  a  short  time,  being  soon  afterwards  killed  in 
a  battle  against  his  vassals,  immediately  after  the  death 
of  his  father. 


110  LOUIS  THE  CHILD— END  OF  THE  CARLOVINGIANS. 


about  to  turn  back.  Upon  this,  the  Ro- 
mans hooted  and  insulted  the  Germans  so 
grossly,  that,  without  awaiting  the  word  of 
command,  they  turned  back,  advanced,  and 
storming  the  gates,  filled  the  ditches,  mount- 
ed  the  walls,  and  carried  the  city.  The 
Roman  people  were  obliged  to  swear  fidelity 
to  him.  But  they  knew  not  how  to  observe 
the  oath  they  took  ;  and  as  they  had  not 
been  able  to  overcome  the  powerful  Ger- 
mans by  open  force,  they  had  recourse  to 
poison  ;  thence  Arnulf  was,  most  probably, 
secretly  drugged  by  them,  for  he  returned 
ill  to  Germany,  and  died,  after  a  long  sick- 
ness, in  the  year  899,  much  too  early  for 
his  kingdom,  and  mourned  by  all  Germans ; 
for  he  was  yet  young,  and  Germany  never 
more  than  at  that  moment  required  his 
powerful  arm. 

A  new  savage  tribe,  in  ferocity  equal  to 
the  ancient  Hunns,  had  now  fixed  them- 
selves in  Hungary,  and  extended  their  in- 
cursions to  Germany.  They  were  properly 
called  Madschari  or  Magyars,  and  be- 
longed to  the  Calmuc  race  of  the  Asiatic 
wanderers,  but  they  were  called  Hunns, 
(also  Hungarians,  after  the  country  they 
henceforward  occupied,)  because  it  was 
then  customary  to  call  all  those  tribes 
Hunns  who  were  savage  and  terrible  to 
behold,  and  who  came  from  the  east.  They 
also,  like  the  former  Hunns,  lived  always 
on  horseback,  and  suddenly  appeared 
where  they  were  not  awaited.  They  un- 
expectedly attacked,  and  as  suddenly  fled, 
and  in  flying  they  always  shot  their  arrows 
backward,  and  turned  quickly  round  when 
all  was  considered  safe.  They  shot  their 
arrows  from  bows,  formed  of  bone,  with  so 
much  force  and  precision,  that  it  was  scarce- 
ly possible  to  avoid  them  ;  but  they  were 
ignorant  of  the  art  of  fighting  at  close 
quarters,  or  of  besieging  cities.  They 
were  small  in  stature,  ugly  in  countenance, 
with  deep-sunken  eyes,  of  barbaric  man- 
ners, and  with  a  coarse  and  discordant  lan- 
guage ;  so  that  an  ancient  writer  who 
lived  at  that  period,  says:  "We  must  be 
astonished  that  Divine  Providence  should 
have  given  so  delightful  a  country  to  be  in- 
habited— not  by  such  men,  but  by  such 
monsters  in  human  shape  !" 

These  terrific  enemies  desolated  in  an 
unheard-of  manner  the  German  countries, 
during  the  period  when  Arnulf's  son,  Louis 
the  Child,  who  was  still  a  minor,  was  called 
King  of  Germany,  from  the  year  899-911. 


These  were  probably  the  most  miserable 
years  that  Germany  had  ever  witnessed. 
With  almost  every  year  these  Hungarians 
suddenly  precipitated  themselves  in  masses 
upon  one  or  other  of  the  provinces,  deso- 
lated it  with  fire  and  sword,  and  drove 
thousands  of  the  inhabitants  back  with 
them  as  slaves,  while  the  Germans,  valiant 
as  they  were,  knew  not  the  mode  of  con- 
ducting such  a  war,  and  could  not  defend 
themselves ;  besides  which,  they  possessed 
as  yet  no  walled  towns  wherein  they  might 
have  sheltered  their  wives  and  children. 
Bavaria  was  first  attacked  by  them,  and 
made  a  prey  to  their  devastations,  and  all 
the  court  and  nobles  cut  to  pieces.  The 
following  years  the  same  happened  to  Sax- 
ony and  Thuringia,  and  the  two  conclud- 
ing years  Franconia  and  Swabia  were  in 
turn  devastated.  The  words  of  Solomon 
may  be  applied  to  these  horrors  of  Ger- 
many :  "  Wo  to  the  country  whose  king  is 
a  child."  But,  fortunately  for  the  salvation 
of  his  own  and  other  countries,  this  child 
now  died  early  in  the  year  911. 

After  the  race  of  the  Carlovingians,  which 
had  commenced  with  so  much  lustre,  be- 
came extinct  in  Germany,  it  still  existed  a 
short  time  longer,  although  but  weak,  and 
without  any  power  or  authority  in  France  ; 
it  soon,  however,  disappeared  there  also — 
like  a  torrent  which  at  first  springs  forth 
majestically,  and  dashes  down  all  before 
it,  but  at  last  dividing  itself  into  various 
isolated  arms,  its  power  becomes  reduced, 
and  gradually  absorbed  by  the  sand. 

Meanwhile  in  Germany  much  had  be- 
come changed  that  proved  of  great  im- 
portance to  futurity.  Charles  the  Great, 
as  we  have  seen,  made  the  royal  power  su- 
perior to  all  other ;  he  did  away  with  the 
great  dukes'  reigning  over  entire  provinces, 
and  substituted  royal  officials,  with  smaller 
circuits  of  government ;  and  had  his  suc- 
cessors followed  his  example  in  this,  the 
system  might  have  been  established  in  Ger- 
many, as  it  was  in  France  and  other  coun- 
tries— namely,  that  but  one  lord  should 
rule  with  unlimited  power  throughout  the 
whole  empire,  and  no  prince  besides.  But 
fate  ordered  it  otherwise,  and  caused  many 
rulers  to  spring  up  among  us,  which  has 
given  an  impulse  to  the  development  and 
cultivation  of  the  German  mind,  and  has 
been  only  then  not  dangerous  to  the  eoun 
try  with  respect  to  its  exterior  relations, 
when  all  who  called  themselves  Germani 


GERMANY. 


Ill 


held  together  in  love  arid  unity,  and  in 
lhat  disposition  constituted  a  firm  and  solid 
German  empire. 

The  foundation  of  this  polygarchy,  or 
division  of  dominions,  may  be  traced  chiefly 
to  the  times  subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  Ver- 
dun. On  almost  all  sides  formidable  ene- 
mies threatened  the  frontiers  :  the  Hunga- 
rians, the  Slavonians,  the  Venedians.  and 
the  Normans.  The  kings  themselves  were 
unfortunately  too  weak,  and  unable,  like 
Charlemagne,  to  fly  with  assistance  from 
one  end  of  the  realm  to  the  other.  They 
were  therefore  obliged  to  permit  and  au- 
thorize the  German  tribes,  for  the  defence 
of  the  frontiers,  to  choose  powerful  chiefs 
raised  among  themselves,  who  continued  to 
remain  at  the  head  of  their  troops,  and  led 
them  against  the  enemy.  The  efforts  made 
to  establish  a  fresh  foundation  for  the  ducal 
power,  become  more  and  more  visible  in 
the  last  moiety  of  the  ninth  century,  and 
very  soon  we  find  the  royal  Missi  or  Mar- 
graves, together  with  other  proprietors  of 
land,  and  influential  men,  raising  them- 
selves to  the  ducal  dignity. 

It  lies  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  the 
development  of  these  relations  could  not 
be  everywhere  the  same.  We  find  often 
the  governor  of  a  province  still  called  in 
the  old  records  Graf,  (Comes,)  because  he 
already  possessed  more  of  the  ducal  power 
than  in  another  province  was  commanded 
by  him  who  was  ordinarily  styled  Dux. 
All  research  made  into  this  subject  is  ex- 
tremely difficult,  and  opinions  thereupon 
are  even  yet  not  united.  Thus  much  is 
certain,  that  if  we  consider  and  acknow- 
ledge in  general  those  governors  as  owners 
of  the  ducal  power,  who  possessed  an  over- 
balancing influence  in  their  provinces,  and 
who  represented  the  king  himself  in  war, 
and  in  the  highest  courts  of  jurisdiction, 
we  find  that,  at  the  end  of  the  ninth  and 
commencement  of  the  tenth  century,  they 
again  appear,  and  gradually  oecome  dukes 
of  Saxony,  Thuringia,  Franconia,  Bavaria, 
Swabia,  and  Lorraine. 

In  Saxony,  the  Ludolphic  race,  as  it  ap- 
pears, acquired  at  a  veiv  early  date  a 
power  which  we  may  call  ducal.  Eckbert, 
related  to  the  house  of  Charlemagne,  was 
placed  by  the  latter  at  the  head  of  all  the 
Saxons  between  the  Rhine  and  Vistula,  as 
count  and  chief  of  the  heerbann  ;  his  son 
LudolpM  held  also  this  rank,  and  possessed, 
in  effect,  ajrcddy  ducal  power.  His  son 


Bruno,  and,  after  his  death,  in  880,  Otho, 
the  father  of  King  Henry,  must  be  con- 
sidered  in  every  sense  as  dukes.  Saxony 
became,  by  degrees,  the  most  powerful  ana 
extensive  duchy,  for  it  embraced,  at  the 
time  of  its  greatest  development,  the  coun. 
try  from  the  Lower  Rhine  to  the  Oder,  am, 
from  the  North  Sea  and  the  Eider  to  the 
Fichtel  mountains  and  the  Wetterau. 

Thuringia  had,  it  is  true,  counts  also, 
who  at  times  were  called  herzoge,  (duces 
limitis  Sorabici ;)  but  their  power,  owing 
to  the  frequent  changes  occurring  among 
the  owners,  did  not  completely  form  itself 
into  a  ducal  power.  Burchard,  whom  we 
find  mentioned  as  duke,  fell  in  908,  against 
the  Hungarians  ;  his  power  was  transferred 
to  Otho  of  Saxony,  who  already  possessed 
a  province  giving  him  the  title  of  count, 
(Gaugrafschaft,)  in  the  northern  part  of 
Thuringia.  King  Henry  retained  Thu- 
ringia united  with  his  duchy. 

In  Franconia,  which  besides  the  ancient 
Prankish  land  on  the  Lower  Rhine,  com- 
prised  likewise  Hessia  and  the  countries  of 
the  Central  Rhine,  the  title  of  duke  could 
not  otherwise  appear  than  much  later,  be- 
cause the  country,  as  long  as  the  kings 
continued  of  the  Frankish  family,  .was  con- 
sidered kings'  land  ;  still  the  administration 
of  the  country  was  performed  by  two  pow- 
erful counts,  and  two  families,  the  Baben- 
bergerians  in  the  eastern,  and  the  Conra- 
dinians  at  Worms,  in  the  western  part, 
divided  the  power,  until  they  broke  out  into 
a  deadly  dispute  and  fight,  in  which  the 
former  were  completely  defeated.  Count 
Conrad,  soon  afterwards  King  Conrad  I., 
became,  therefore,  potentissimus  comes  in 
Franconia,  and  possessed  in  reality  ducal 
power.  Widuldnd  styles,  him  likewise 
Duke  of  the  Franks,  although  he,  as  well 
as  his  brother  Eberhard,  is  called  by  others 
also  comes.  It  cannot,  however,  be  doubted 
but  that  under  Henry  I.  Eberhard  possessed 
the  ducal  dignity. 

In  Bavaria,  Luitpold,  who  had  to  defend 
the  eastern  frontiers  against  the  Slavonians 
and  Hungarians,  is  styled  dux  in  a  diploma 
of  King  Louis,  of  the  year  901,  and  his 
son  Arnulf  calls  himself  duke  in  the  year 
908. 

In  Swabia,  where  the  defence  of  the 
frontiers  was  not  so  necessary,  the  ducal 
dignity  appears  to  have  connected  itself 
gradually  with  the  power  of  the  royal  mis- 
sus, and  to  have  developed  itself  later. 


112 


THE  DUKES  HEREDITARY— THE  FAUST- RECHT. 


Burchard,  however,  under  Conrad  I.  ap- 
pears nevertheless  as  Duke  of  Swabia. 

In  Lorraine,  finally,  it  became  more  easy 
to  the  nobles  of  the  land  by  means  of  its 
doubtful  and  critical  position  between 
France  and  Germany  in  the  later  Carlovin- 
gian  period,  to  maintain  a  state  of  greater 
independence,  and  we  thus  find  upon  re- 
cord already  in  the  year  901  a  Duke  Kebe- 
hart,  and  later,  under  King  Henry,  the 
Duke  Gisilbrecht. 

The  dukes  were  not,  it  is  true,  regarded 
as  lords  of  their  people  and  lands,  but  as 
ministers  and  representatives  of  their  king, 
in  whose  name  they  regulated  in  peace  the 
affairs  of  justice  and  order,  and  in  war  led 
the  army  of  their  race  to  battle.  But  soon 
becoming  large  landed  proprietors,  and 
being  no  longer  under  the  surveillance  of 
royal  envoys,  the  dukes  took  advantage  of 
the  weakness  of  the  kings,  and  by  degrees 
arrogated  to  themselves  an  increase  of 
power,  and  brought  the  lesser  vassals  un- 
der their  dominion  ;  nay,  they  even  gra- 
dually made  their  dignity,  granted  to  them 
only  as  imperial  crown  officers,  hereditary 
in  their  families,  as  well  as  the  revenues 
of  the  crown  lands,  which  they  had  only 
received  as  the  salary  for  their  service. 

Like  the  great  dukes,  the  inferior  im- 
perial officers,  the  counts,  margraves,  and 
others,  established  themselves  more  and 
more  firmly  in  their  dignities,  and  the  es- 
tates attached  thereto.  The  spiritual  lords, 
archbishops,  bishops,  and  abbots,  were, 
like  the  temporal  lords,  members  and  vas- 
sals of  the  empire,  and  like  them  augment- 
ed their  secular  power  and  possessions ; 
and  all  these  became  by  degrees  from  the 
mere  deputies  of  royal  authority,  inde- 
pendent princes  of  the  German  nation. 

Besides  this,  in  some  individuals,  the  love 
of  freedom  and  personal  independence  be 
gan  already,  as  early  as  this  period,  to 
degenerate  often  into  license.  He  who 
thought  himself  offended  by  another,  and 
conceived  he  possessed  sufficient  strength 
to  revenge  himself,  did  not  seek  the  estab- 
lishment of  his  rights  in  the  usual  way, 
namely,  through  the  judges  of  the  land, 
but  with  arms  and  the  strength  of  the  fist. 
Thence  that  period  wherein  the  appeal  to 
the  fist  was  so  generally  adopted,  was  call- 
ed the  period  of  the  faust-recht,  the  fist  01 
club  law.  It  commenced,  already,  under 
the  later  Carlovingians,  but  it  was  long  af- 
terwards that  it  reached  its  highest  extent 


The  evil  became  necessarily  great,  for 
the  manners  of  the  nation  were  still  rude. 
Arms  and  the  chase  remained  their  favor- 
te  occupations,  and  the  sword  and  the  fal- 
con were  the  greatest  treasures  of  the  Ger- 
man. He  could  calmly  see  all  taken  frorr 
lim,  says  an  author,  but  if  his  sword  arm 
falcon  came  into  any  danger,  he  would  not 
lesitate  to  save  them  even  with  a  false 
oath.  The  hunting  fetes  were  superb,  and 
were  included  among  the  highest  festivities 
of  life.  Ladies,  from  gorgeously  orna- 
mented tents,  beheld  the  destruction  of  the 
game.  In  the  evening  they  feasted  undei 
tents  in  the  forest,  and  the  company,  with 
their  suites,  returned  amidst  the  music  of 
the  hunting  horns.  For  the  sake  of  the 
chase,  the  kings  and  nobles  preferred  re- 
maining at  their  country  seats,  and  on  this 
account  for  a  long  time  despised  dwelling 
in  cities. 

During  the  later  period  of  the  Carlovin- 
gians, besides  the  wars  within  and  beyond 
the  land,  which  they  so  much  desolated, 
what  was  greatly  to  be  deplored  was,  that 
the  germs  of  cultivation  which  Charle- 
magne, in  his  exertions  for  science,  had 
planted  in  his  schools  for  instruction,  be- 
came again  almost  entirely  destroyed.  No 
period  in  the  whole  history  of  Germany  is 
darker,  more  superstitious  and  ignorant, 
than  that  of  Louis  the  German,  to  the  end 
of  the  Carlovingian  dynasty,  and  a  short 
time  beyond  it — despite  of  the  Germans 
being,  from  time  immemorial,  so  suscepti- 
ble of  cultivation,  and  by  their  serious  ap- 
plication and  profound  meditation  so  well 
adapted  for  the  acquirement  of  art  and 
science.  An  example  of  this  is  to  be  found 
even  in  that  dark  age.  In  the  days  of  Pe- 
pin  and  Charlemagne  the  first  organs  were 
Drought  to  Germany  from  Greece,  and 
Charles  took  every  pains  to  introduce  the 
Latin  psalmody  and  church  music  among 
his  subjects.  At  first  he  had  but  little  suc- 
cess ;  at  least  an  Italian  of  that  time  com- 
plains that  their  natural  rudeness  was  their 
great  obstruction :  "  Great  in  body  like 
mountains,"  says  he,  "their  voice  rolls 
forth  like  thunder,  and  cannot  be  modulated 
into  gentler  tones  ;  and  when  their  barbaric 
throats  endeavor  gently  to  produce  the  soft 
transitions  and  flexibilities  of  the  music,  the 
hard  tones  pour  forth  their  volume  in  a  rat- 
tling sound,  like  a  coach  rolling  over  the 
stones,  so  that  the  feelings  of  the  hearer, 
which  should  be  gently  moved,  are.  on  the 


NEGLECT  OF  THE  LANGUAGE— DECREASE  OF  FREEMEN. 


113 


contrary,  completely  startled  and  terrified." 
Thus  was  pronounced  originally  a  criticism 
upon  their  disposition  and  qualification  for 
harmony.  And  yet  by  industry  and  exer- 
cise they  advanced  so  far  in  a  short  time, 
that  Pope  John  VIII.,  who  lived  about  the 
year  870,  besought  Anthony,  bishop  of  Frei- 
singen,  to  send  him  a  good  organ  from  Ger- 
many, and  with  it  a  person  who  was  equally 
well  able  to  play  upon  as  to  make  it. 

In  this  century  a  pupil  of  Rhabanus 
Maurus,  the  monk  Otfried  of  Weissenburg. 
gave  a  very  remarkable  example  of  his 
love  for  his  mother-tongue,  by  translating 
tho  gospel  into  German  verse,  in  order  that 
the  people  might  be  enabled  to  read  it. 
Charlemagne  had,  indeed,  commenced  to 
improve  and  cultivate  the  German  lan- 
guage, but  after  him  no  one  thought  fur- 
ther about  it.  Otfried  now  zealously  en- 
deavored to  make  it  a  written  language, 
although  it  was  very  difficult  to  express  by 
letters  its  hard  and  strange  sounds.  He 
strongly  and  justly  contended  against  those 
who,  indifferent  towards  their  native-tongue, 
preferred  learning,  with  excessive  labor, 
and  using  the  languages  of  the  Latins  and 
Greeks.  "They  call  the  German  lan- 
guage," he  says,  "  boorish,  and  yet  do  not 
endeavor  by  their  writings  or  study  to  make 
it  more  perfect.  They  carefully  avoid 
writing  badly  in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  yet 
do  not  care  for  doing  so  in  their  own  lan- 
guage ;  they  are  ashamed  to  offend  against 
good  taste  by  even  a  letter  in  those  lan- 
guages, but  in  their  own  tongue  it  happens 
with  every  word.  Truly  a  singular  fact 
this,  that  such  great  and  learned  men  do 
all  this  for  the  honor  of  foreign  languages, 
and  yet  cannot  even  write  their  own !" 

The  condition  of  the  common  freemen 
was  the  saddest  of  all  in  these  times,  and 
they,  consequently,  decreased  so  much  that 
they  scarcely  formed  a  distinct  order  in  the 
nation.  Much  earlier,  already  when  the 
feudal  system  gradually  developed  itself, 
and  elevated  the  vassals  above  all  those 
who  cultivated  their  own  inheritance,  their 
numbers  had  decreased  considerably,  but 
the  worst  time  came  after  Charlemagne. 

Charles  knew  well  that  the  strength  of  a 
nation  consists  in  the  great  preponderance 
of  freemen,  and  that  it  is  upon  their  cour- 
age and  their  animated  love  for  their  coun- 
try that  must  depend  the  general  weal  and 
its  security  from  all  danger;  he  therefore 
applied  great  care  and  vigilance  to  the  res- 
15 


toration  of  the  arriore  ban,  which  had  also 
by  the  influence  of  the  feudal  system  fallen 
into  disuse.  In  this,  however,  he  attained 
his  aim  but  partially,  because  his  wars,  far 
from  being  real  national  wars,  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  country,  were  only  conquering 
excursions  in  distant  countries.  These 
were  very  oppressive  to  the  common  man, 
who,  from  the  day  that  the  army  stepped 
upon  the  land  of  the  enemy,  was  obliged  to 
provide  himself,  at  his  own  expense,  for 
three  months  with  provisions,  as  well  as 
with  clothes  and  arms.  Many,  therefore, 
endeavored  to  avoid  the  duties  of  this  ser- 
vile military  service.  They  gave  them- 
selves  up  both  in  body  and  possessions  tc 
the  service  or  guardianship  of  the  church, 
or  to  the  patronage  of  a  noble,  either  as 
arriere  or  under  vassals,  because,  as  such, 
they  were  not  bound  to  yield  so  much  ser- 
vice as  to  the  king  in  the  arriere  ban,  or 
even  as  bondmen,  and  as  such  no  longer 
belonging  to  the  class  of  freemen.  They 
were  called  the  Lidi  (Leute,  people)  of  the 
seigneur,  and  remained,  it  is  true,  the  pos- 
sessors of  their  own  inheritance,  which  they 
themselves  cultivated,  but  they  were  sub- 
ject to  pay  tax,  and  were  held  in  soccage, 
and  could  neither  quit  the  land  nor  sell  it ; 
but  with  their  children  and  descendants 
they  were  bound  to  the  soil,  and  were  the 
property  of  their  lord.  This  was  severe  ; 
but  they  were  at  the  same  time  exempted 
from  doing  any  military  service  in  distant 
expeditions ;  for,  as  bondsmen,  they  were 
not  considered  worthy  of  bearing  arms,  but 
remained  all  their  lives  in  tranquillity  with 
their  families.  At  the  most  they  were  only 
obligated,  under  the  most  urgent  circum- 
stances, to  repair  to  a  short  distance,  within 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  their  territory, 
there  to  fight,  on  foot,  with  stick  or  club ; 
the  lance  and  sword  being  forbidden  to 
them.  Had  they  rightly  considered  that 
men  who  are  not  allowed  to  bear  arms,, 
also  speedily  lose  both  courage  and  power, 
and  if  they  are  not  absolutely  called  slaves, 
soon  adopt  slavish  sentiments,  they  would, 
no  doubt,  much  rather  have  remained  poor 
and  oppressed,  but  still  freemen  and  war- 
riors ;  but,  alas !  in  necessity  the  nearest 
and  most  immediate  aid  appears  the  best  to 
hi  in  who  suffers,  and  the  eye  loses  the  power 
of  perceiving  the  distant  consequences. 

Besides  the  oppressive  service  of  the  ar- 
riere ban,  which  brought  many  freemen 
into  slavery,  there  were  other  causes  which 


lit 


OTHO  THE  ILLUSTRIOUS-HENRY  OF  SAXONY— EBERHARD. 


contributed  to  decrease  their  numbers, 
among  which  may  be  classed  the  terrific 
incursions  of  the  Avari,  the  Normans,  the 
Slavonians,  and  Hungarians,  in  which  thou- 
sands of  them  were  killed  or  carried  off  as 
slaves  ;  and  later,  the  disorders  and  oppres- 
sions of  the  faust-recht,  or  club-law,  which 
likewise  obliged  many  of  the  poor  freemen 
to  give  themselves  up  to  the  service  of  some 
neighboring  powerful  noble,  to  secure  them- 
selves from  the  robberies  of  those  who  made 
a  trade  of  pillage.  Besides,  in  those  times 
of  disorder,  when  laying  up  magazines  of 
provisions  was  not  thought  of,  countries 
were  often  visited  with  desolating  famine 
and  pestilence  ;  in  such  necessities  many 
freemen,  that  they  might  not  die  of  starva- 
tion, gave  themselves  up,  with  their  chil- 
dren and  property,  to  nobles  or  spiritual 
foundations  for  bread.  And,  lastly,  many 
became  servitors  to  cloisters  and  ecclesias- 
tical establishments  ;  and  from  piety,  or  for 
the  salvation  of  their  souls,  they  gave  their 
all  to  the  altar  of  God.  For  the  church 
already,  at  this  period,  possessed  and  main- 
tained the  privileges,  by  which  an  individ- 
ual might  give  to  it  his  whole  possessions, 
and  thus  entirely  pass  by  the  just  inherit- 
ors. Thence,  from  all  these  causes,  it 
happened  that,  at  the  end  of  this  period, 
not  only  the  ancient  pride  and  courage,  but 
also  the  majority  of  the  freemen — accord- 
ingly the  independence  of  the  Germans — 
had  disappeared,  and  scarcely  any  but  no- 
blemen and  their  feudatories  remained,  thus 
threatening  the  country  with  the  sad  pros- 
pect of  decay  and  ruin.  But  whenever 
necessity  has  been  great,  God  has  always 
sent  to  the  German  nation  unexpected  aid 
and  support.  Accordingly,  at  this  moment, 
it  was  precisely  the  devastation  spread  every- 
where by  the  Hungarians  which  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  renewed  elevation  of  the 
common  freemen  to  a  civic  state,  and  re- 
established later  the  condition  of  the  peas- 
ant. 

After  the  death  of  Louis  the  Child,  the 
principal  German  branches  assembled,  and 
looked  about  them  for  the  most  worthy 
among  their  princes  to  be  their  king.  The 
election  fell  upon  Otho  the  Illustrious,  Duke 
of  Saxony  and  Thuringia,  who  was  /elated, 
on  the  maternal  side,  to  the  Carlovingians, 
and  by  the  power  of  his  house,  as  well  as 
by  age  and  wisdom,  was  held  in  great  es- 
teem by  all.  On  the  paternal  side,  he  de- 
scended from  Count  Eckbert,  whom  Charle- 


magne had  placed  in  Saxony  against  the 
Normans,  in  810.  Otho,  however,  refused 
the  crown,  because  the  cares  of  the  empiie 
were  too  great  for  his  age,  and  advised 
rather  that  Conrad,  the  Duke  of  the  Franks, 
(according  to  some  writers,  he  was  only  a 
count,)  be  made  king.  For  this  act,  Otho 
merits  the  greater  praise,  as  Conrad  was 
truly  worthy  to  rule  as  king,  and  the  race 
of  the  Franks  still  continued  the  most  es- 
teemed among  the  German  nations;  for 
hitherto  it  was  from  that  race  that  the  king 
had  commanded  over  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many. Otho,  therefore,  wisely  considered 
it  better  that  the  rule  of  the  empire  should 
remain  with  them,  and,  in  so  doing,  entirely 
dismissed  from  his  mind  the  enmity  which 
always  had,  and  still  partially  existed  be- 
tween the  Saxons  and  the  Franks. 

Conrad  was  accordingly  elected  king  on 
the  8th  of  November,  911,  at  Pforzheim. 
He  is  described  as  being  a  man  of  great 
merit,  both  at  home  and  abroad  ;  valiant 
and  prudent,  kind  and  liberal.  His  first 
care  was  to  elevate,  from  its  sunken  state, 
the  royal  authority,  for  upon  it  depended  the 
order  of  the  whole  empire.  But  the  confu- 
sion was  too  great,  and  Conrad's  reign  too 
short,  to  render  his  efforts  completely  sue- 
cessful.  The  Lothringians,  or  Lorrainers, 
who  only,  since  the  time  of  Louis  the  Ger- 
man, had  belonged  to  Germany,  were  not 
contented  with  his  election,  and  separated 
themselves,  nor  could  Conrad  bring  them 
back  again  to  the  empire.  After  the  death 
of  Otho  the  Illustrious,  he  had  to  contend 
with  his  son,  Henry  of  Saxony  ;  for,  mis- 
guided by  the  advice  of  Hatto,  Archbishop 
of  Mentz,  he  wished  to  deprive  Henry  of 
some  great  fiefs  which  he  owned,  besides 
his  dukedom  of  Saxony,  in  order  that  no 
prince  of  the  empire  should  be  too  powerful ; 
probably  these  were  the  northern  districts 
of  Thuringia,  which  Otho  had  already  pos- 
sessed ;  but  Henry  was  valiantly  defended 
by  his  Saxons.  He  completely  defeated 
the  king's  brother,  Eberhard,  who  had  ad- 
vanced against  him  with  an  army,  near 
Eresburg,  (now  Stadberg,)  so  that  he  retain- 
ed the  fiefs  in  the  subsequent  treaty,  which 
terminated  the  war  ;  nay,  he  even  appears 
to  have  conquered  also  the  southern  portion 
of  Thuringia,  and  to  have  maintained  the 
ducal  dignity  over  the  whole  of  Thuringia. 

Conrad  confirmed  Count  Burkhard  in 
Swabia,  after  some  contest,  as  Duke  of  the 
Allemanni.  Arnulf  of  Bavaria,  however, 


CONRAD'S  DEATH— HENRY  I. 


115 


who  also  revolted,  and  so  far  forgot  himself 
as  to  call  in  the  Hungarians  to  his  assistance, 
was  condemned  to  death  hy  the  princes  of 
the  empire  as  a  traitor  to  the  country,  and 
was  obliged  to  take  refuge  among  the  Hun- 
garians. 

Thus,  by  energetic  measures  and  timely 
concessions,  the  general  tranquillity  and  im- 
perial dignity  were  re-established,  and  the 
unity  of  Germany  maintained.  But  Con- 
rad well  felt  how  difficult  the  task  was  for 
him,  and  that  the  power  of  the  Prankish 
dukes  alone  was  not  sufficient  to  curb  the 
over-powerful  nobles.  It  also  required 
greater  strength  to  protect  the  empire 
against  the  Slavonians  and  Hungarians, 
who  still  repeated,  without  ceasing,  their 
incursions.  At  the  same  time,  perhaps,  he 
did  not  perceive  in  his  brother,  Eberhard, 
who  pretended  to  possess  the  greatest  claim 
to  the  crown,  the  proper  qualities  of  a  king  ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  his  earlier  and 
now  conciliated  opponent,  Henry  of  Saxony, 
was,  in  all  respects,  irreproachable,  endow- 
ed with  great  energy  of  mind  and  body,  and, 
by  his  power  and  influence,  ranked  at  the 
head  of  all  the  German  princes.  When, 
therefore,  Conrad  lay  sick  of  a  wound  at 
Limburg,  on  the  Lahn,  which  he  had  re- 
ceived in  his  last  expedition  against  the 


Hungarians,  and  felt  death  approaching, 
he  thought  of  the  example  which  Otho 
the  Illustrious  had  given  at  his  election, 
and  forgetting  all  jealousy,  and  with  his 
thoughts  directed  only  for  the  weal  of  his 
country,  he  called  his  brother,  Eberhard. 
to  his  bedside,  and  thus  addressed  him: 
"  We  command,  it  is  true,  great  means,  my 
dear  Eberhard  ;  we  can  collect  great  ar 
mies,  and  know  how  to  lead  them.  We  are 
not  wanting  in  fortified  cities  and  defences, 
nor  in  any  of  the  attributes  of  royal  dignity. 
Yet  greater  power,  influence,  and  wisdom, 
dwell  with  Henry,  and  upon  him  alone  de- 
pends the  welfare  of  the  empire.  Take, 
therefore,  these  jewels,  this  lance  and 
sword,  together  with  the  chain  and  crown 
of  the  ancient  kings,  and  carry  them  to 
Henry  the  Saxon.  Be  at  peace  with  him, 
that  you  may  have  him  for  your  constant 
strong  ally.  Announce  to  him  that  Con- 
rad, on  his  death-bed,  has  chosen  and  re- 
commended him  as  king,  in  preference  to 
all  the  other  princes."  He  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 918. 

Eberhard  did  what  his  brother  had  com- 
manded, and  was  the  first  who  did  fealty  to 
King  Henry.  A  kingdom  wherein  such 
sentiments  were  found,  might  truly  and 
without  danger  remain  electoral. 


FOURTH    PERIOD. 


FROM  HENRY  I.  TO  RUDOLPHUS  OF  HAPSBURG. 


919—1273. 


THE  tenth  century  is  by  no  means  rich  in  liistorical 
Tvorks : 

1.  The  chronicle  of  Regino,  already  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  epoch,  was  continued  by  another  writer  as 
far  as  the  year  967,  abridged,  but  mostly  careful  and 
exact,  and  altogether  well  written. 

2.  Luitprand  of  Pavia,  private  secretary  to  King  Be- 
ranger  II.  of  Italy,  afterwards  in  the  service  of  King 
Otho  I.,  and  finally  bishop  of  Cremona,  wrote  the  his- 
tory of  his  time  not  without  spirit,  and,  especially  in  his 
history  of  Italy,  very  instructive,  although  partial  and 
enthusiastic.    His  style  is  far-fetched  and  bombastic, 
showing  much  of  the  C9urtier,  and  a  great  love  for  an- 
ecdote and  illustration  in  his  narrative.    This  history 
goes  from  c.  ^<i-948,  and  a  supplement  from  961-964. 
lie  wrote  also,  in  another  distinct  work,  an  account  of 
his  embassy  to  tho  court  of  the  emperor  Nicephorus. 

3.  Horoswitha,  a  nun  of  Gandersheirn,  wrote  a  poern, 
De  Gestis  Ottonum  Panegyris,"  from  919-904  ;  as  the 

title  indicates,  a  poern  in  praise  of  Otho  the  Great,  ac- 
cordingly not  always  faithful  to  truth,  and,  of  course, 
cartial  or  one-sided ;  nevertheless,  not  without  some 


proportionate  merit  here  and  there.    She  treats  upon 
the  later  years  rather  fugitively. 

4.  Widukind,  usually  .called  Wittekind,  a  monk  of 
Corvey,  who  died  about  the  year  1000,  wrote  a  history 
of  the  Saxons,  (Rerurn  Saxinocarum,  fibri  iii.,)  as  far 
as  973.    As  the  first  historian  of  his  time,  he  presents 
his  record  of  the  events  in  a  form  equally  agreeable 
and  happy,  devoted  to  the  house  of  Saxony,  but  still 
with  a  desire  after  truth ;  and  the  second  part  of  his 
work  is  of  invaluable  merit.    The  first  portion  is,  in 
part,  based  upon  the  legends  and  traditions  of  the  peo- 
ple. 

5.  Among  the  chronicles  on  the  history  of  Germany, 
especially  the  relations  of  the  Lotharingians,  Flodoafd 
of  Itheims  is  particularly  important,  who  wrote  a  histo- 
ry from  919  to  9(56. 

6.  Richer,  a  monk  of  St.  Remy,  near  Rheims,  studi- 
ed medicine,  and  was  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Geu- 
bert;  and  encouraged  by  his  master  to  write  his'ory, 
he  composed,  in  the  years  995  to  998,  his  "  Historiarum, 
libros  iv.,"  from  888-995,  which  he  dedicated  to  Ges- 
bert.    His  history  is,  for  France,  partial,  and  he  often 


116 


HENRY  I.— RUDOLPHUS  OF  IIAFSBURG,  9 1^-1273. 


adapts  the  events  to  the  advantage  of  that  country. 
Nevertheless,,  amidst  the  dearth  of  historical  source  in 
his  time,  he  is  certainly  of  great  value.  His  narrative 
is  based  upon  a  close  study  of  the  ancients.  The  mid- 
dle ages  being  only  taken  up  by  Ekkehard,  Richer  was 
quite  lost  sight  of,  until  Pertz  discovered  in  Bamberg 
the  only  autographic  document  still  existing  bv  him, 
which  has  been  published  in  the  "  Monumental' 

7.  Detached  and  extremely  interesting  communica- 
tions are  given  to  us  in  the  biographies  of  Bruno,  arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  the  brother  of  Otho  I. ;  of  Udalrich, 
bishop  of  Augsburg ;  and  other  ecclesiastics  of  that 
time. 

in  the  eleventh  century,  we  find  more  important  and 
A  i;i\-ater  number  of  historians,  who,  in  their  descrip- 
tions, distinguish  themselves  especially : 

1.  The  Life  of  Queen  Matilda,  written  by  command 
of  king  Henry  II.,  by  an  unknown  author,  between  the 
years  1002  and  1014 ;  agreeably  written,  and  not  unim- 
portant as  regards  the  history  of  Henry  I. 

2.  Ditmar,  or  Thietmar,  bishop  of  Merseburg,  who 
died  in  1018,  wrote  a  history  of  the  German  kings  from 
876-1018.    His  narrative  is  confused,  his  language  ob- 
scure, being  neither  pure  nor  agreeable,  and  his  de- 
scription in  the  first  books  not  impartial.  Nevertheless, 
he  is  of  great  importance  to  us,  rich  in  information  of 
the  most  varied  nature,  and  forms  our  principal  source 
for  the  history  of  Otho  111.  and  Henry  II.    He  was  a 
friend  and  relation  of  the  8axon  emperors. 

3.  Besides  the  last-mentioned  writer,  vve  find  the  best 
detailed  and  correct  information  respecting  the  end  of 
the  tenth  and  commencement  of  the  eleventh  century 
in  the  "  Annales  Quedlinburgensis,"  to  1025. 

4.  The  Life  of  Henry  II.  by  Adelboid,  bishop  of 
Utrecht,  is  incomplete,  and  nearly  all  borrowed  from 
Ditmar,  but  well  written.    The  "  Vitae"  of  both  the 
bishops  of  Hildesheirn,  Bernward  and  Godehard,  are, 
as  regards  the  history  of  Saxony,  of  great  consequence  ; 
the  Meinwercs  of  Paderborn  merit  being  mentioned 
likewise. 

5.  Wippo,  chaplain  to  the  emperor  Conrad  II..  whose 
Jife  he  has  written  in  a  pompous  style,  "  Vita  Conradi 
JSalici."    He  was  a  man  of  science  and  letters,  and  of 
a  remarkable  mind. 

6.  Hermannus  Contractus,  (the  lame,)  of  the  family 
of  the  counts  of  Vehringen,  and  a  Benedictine  monk  of 
Reichenau,  who  died  in  1054.    He  wrote  a  chronicle 
from  1000-1054,  continued  to  1100  by  Berthold  and  Ber- 
uold,  of  Constance. 

7.  Adam  of  Bremen,  (born  at  Meissen,  and  canon 
and  rector  of  the  college  of  Bremen,)  who  died  in  1076. 
He  wrote  a  good  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  North, 
from  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century  to  1076  ;  impor- 
tant for  the  history  of  North  Germany,  especially  of  the 
time  of  Henry  IV. 

8.  Bruno  of  Corvey,  (de  Belle  Saxonico,)  a  passionate 
adversary  of  Henry  IV.,  and  who  exaggerates  and  dis- 
figures much ;  yet  he  is  important  and  indispensable 
for  the  history  of  the  war. 

9.  Lambert  of  Ascharfenburg,  a  monk  of  Hersfeld, 
wrote  a  chronicle  from  the  earlier  times  to  1077.    A 
work  of  great  genius,  full  of  spirit,  well  written,  and  an 
important  source  for  the  period  in  which  he  lived  ;  he 
is  especially  the  best  historian  of  the  middle  ages. 

10.  Marianus  Scotus,  who  died  in  1086 ;  a  monk  of 
Fulda  and  Mentz,  who  wrote  a  chronicle  to  1083,  which 
was  continued  by  Dodechin  to  1200. 

11.  iSigbert,  a  monk  of  Gemblours,  (Sigeb.  Gembla- 
censis,)  who  died  in  1112,  wrote  a  chronicle  ;  learned, 
written  with  great  industry,  and  rich  in  information, 
but  which  is  nevertheless  confused  and  not  altogether 
authentic.    His  work  haa  been  continued  by  several 
writers,  and  in  the  subsequent  middle  ages  much  re- 
sorted to. 

12.  Ekkehardus  Uraugiensis  wrote    a   chronicle  to 
1126,  likewise  very  learned,  carefully  written,  of  great 
value  in  the  particular  history  of  his  own  times,  and 
more  impartial  than  most  of  the  historians  of  that  pe- 
riod, who  all  wrote  for  or  against  the  emperors  and 
popes.    There  are  several  continuations  of  this  work,  of 
which  the  most  known  is  that  by  the  abbot  of  Ureperg 
(Chron.  Ursperg)  to  1229. 

13.  The  letters  of  the  popes  and  other  distinguished 
men,  collected  by  an  ecclesiastic,  Ulrich  of  Bamberg, 
in  the  twelfth  century,  are  extremely  valuable. 

11.  It  is  likewise  very  interesting,  in  order  to  catch 
hlie  spin  of  those  times  when  the  dispute  between 


Henry  and  Gregory  excited  the  pens  of  various  distin 
guished  men  to  write  in  defence  of  both  those  parties, 
to  know  the  various  controversial  productions  which 
appeared  on  this  subject,  with  the  different  opinions 
therein  contained.  The  partisans  of  the  pope  had  theii 
central  point  in  the  monasteries  of  8t.  Blaise,  Schaff- 
hausen,  and  Hirschau  ;  while,  however,  many  learned 
and  estimable  men,  of  irreproachable  character,  wrote 
against  the  pope  and  in  favor  of  the  emperor.  We  can- 
not here  give  the  names  of  these  opposite  writers,  bu* 
their  character  will  be  found  fully  drawn  in  Stenzel'j 
excellent  work  on  the  history  of  Germany  under  the 
Prankish  emperors.* 

15.  The  Biography  of  Benno,  bishop  of  Osnaburg,  a 
friend  of  Henry  IV.  by  Norbert,  abbot  of  the  Convent 
of  Iburg,  which  was  built  by  Benno,  contains  impor- 
tant information. 

1(5.  The  historians  of  the  Crusades  are  more  especial- 
ly numerous ,  the  importance  of  the  subject,  the  uni- 
versal interest  taken  therein,  the  peculiar  nature  of  the 
expedition  in  a  foreign  country  and  at  such  a  distance, 
together  with  the  surprising  and  wonderful  deeds  per- 
formed, excited  many,  and  particularly  those  who  were 
present,  to  give  their  records  of  the  scenes  witnessed, 
for  the  perusal  of  those  left  behind  at  the  time,  and 
their  successors.  The  majority  of  the  chronicles  have 
been  collected  by  Bongars,  under  the  title :  "  Gesta 
Dei  per  Francos,  Hanoyioe,  1611,  fol." 

In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  the  impetus 
given  by  the  Crusades  produced  its  influence,  and  op- 
erated beneficially  upon  the  historians.  They  became 
more  particular  in  the  selection  and  arrangement  of 
the  subject-matter,  thus  showing  a  commencement  in 
the  art  of  historical  writing.  Among  the  most  distin- 
guished writers  are  : 

1.  Otho,  bishop  of  Freisingen,  who  died  in  1158,  soil 
of  the  Margrave  Leopold  of  Austria,  a  philosopher,  ol 
independent  feeling,  and  full  of  eloquence.    He  wrote 
a  universal  history  to  the  year  1152,  well  continued  as 
far  as  1209,  by  Otho  of  Sdinte  Blaise  ;  and  the  life  of  the 
emperor  Frederic  I.  to  1156,  which  was  continued  as  far 
as  1160byRadewich,  canbn  of  Freisingen . ;  both  works 
equally  interesting  and  learned,  and  written  with  in- 
telligence and  discernment. 

2.  The  History  of  Frederic  I.  receives  important  elu- 
cidations from  the  Chronicles  of  Vincenz  of  Prague. 
1140-1167  ;  the  History  of  Lodi,  1153-1178,  by  Otho  and 
Acerbus  Morena ;  the  History  of  Romuald,  archbishop 
of  Salerno,  to  1 168  ;  the  Poem  of  Giinther :  Ligurinua 
and  the  book  of  the  so-called  Sire  Raul  of  3Iilan :  "  de 
Rebus  gestis  Frederic?  in  Italia." 

3.  The  Chronicle  of  the  Slavi,  by  Helmold,  an  eccle- 
siastic of  Lubeck,  to  1170,  and  by  Arnold  to  1209 ;  im- 
portant for  the  history  of  Henry  the  Lion  and  the  house 
of  the  Guelphs. 

4.  Valuable  information  is  given  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject by  Gerhard,  provost  of  8tederbuch,  in  his  Chroni- 
cles of  the  Monastery,  and  by  the  Monk  of  Weingar- 
ten  in  his  book  "  de  Guelfis."  and  his  Chronicles. 

5.  The  so-called  "  Annaiista  Saxo"  and  "  Chrona- 
graphus  Saxo,"  mostly  compilations,  but  the  former  for 
the  eleventh  and  the  latter  for  the  twelfth  centuries,  in 
the  detail,  are  both  very  interesting. 

Nearly  all  the  bishoprics,  churches,  and  monasteries 
of  Germany,  now  received  their  appointed  historians, 
who  we  find  touch  more  or  less  upon  general  matters, 
and  are  often  more  important  than  the  universal  chron- 
icles selected  for  general  circulation.  J»uch  are  for  in- 
stance : 

6.  Albert  von  Stade,  whose  chronicle  goes  as  far  as 
1256,  and  is  continued  by  a  stranger  to  1324— also  a  com- 
pilation. 

7.  Gotfried  von  Viterbo  to  118G  ;  the  monk  Alberich, 
Joh.  Vitoduranus,  <fcc. 

8.  A  collection  of  letters  by  celebrated  men  of  that 
period  is  very  important,  especially  those  of  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.  and  Petrus  de  Vinea,  chancellor  of  the  empe- 
ror Frederic  II.,  and  who  died  in  1249. 

9.  The  most  complete  collection  of  letters  to  and  from 
the  popes,  of  the  transactions  of  their  ambassadors  and 
other  similar  documents,  has  been  preserved  in  the  ar- 
chives of  the  Vatican  in  Rome,  which,  as  may  be  easi- 
ly conceived,  are  of  the  highest  importance  for  the  his- 
tory of  this  period,  but  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  gain 

*  Geschichte  Deutschlanila  unter  den  Frankischen  Kaiaerr 
1827-1823. 


HENRY  1.— PRODUCES  INTERNAL  TRANQUILLITY 


117 


access  to  them.  A  great  part  of  them,  however,  lias 
been  transcribed  in  Rome  by  Pertz.ahd  already  the 
commencement  of  their  publication  lias  been  made  in 
(ho  ibnrth  volnnio  of  the  "  Monuraenta  Germanic 
llistorica." 

10.  A  work  of  very  great  importance  for  the  history 
of  the  emperor  Frederic  II.,  is  the  History  of  England, 

[atthieu-Paris,  who,  together  with  the  events  of 
the  Eniilish  nation  from  lOOft-1259,  treats  also  occasion- 
ally upon  the  affairs  of  the  other  nations  of  Europe.  £o 
likewise  various  Italian  historians,  of  whom  wo  need 
only  here  refer  especially  to  Richard  de  tSaint  Germano 
and  .Nicolas  de  Jamsilla,  (both  in  the  Collection  of  31  u- 

11.  All  the  great  writers  who  form  the  source  of  his- 
tory have   been  brought  together  in  the  great  Col- 
lections of  Duchesne,  Bouquet,  (for  France,)  Muratpri, 
(for  Italy,)  Schard,  Renber,  L'rstisins,  1'istorius,  Fre- 
her,  Goldast,  Schiller,  Meibom,  Leibnitz,  Ekkard,  &c., 
(.for  Germany.^ 

12.  Equally  important  as  were  for  the  history  of  the 
ling  epoch  the  collection  of  the  ancient  laws  of 

the  Franks  and  the  nations  subjected  to  them,  are  like- 
wise, for  the  history  of  the  middle  ages,  (although 
much  abridged,)  the.  collections  of  the  later  laws,  known 
uiuler  the  names  of  the  Sachsensiriegel,  or  3Iirror  of 
Saxony,  the  Schwabcnspiegel,  or  Mirror  of  Swabia, 
and.  Kaiserrccht,  or  the  Imperial  Law. 


CHAPTER   VII. 
919—1024. 

Henry  I.,  919-936— His  Wars— The  Hungarians— The 
Slavonians—  New  Institutions— Otho  I.,  936-973— The 
Hungarians— Battle  of  the  Lechfeld— The  Western 
Empire  renewed  962— Greece— Otho  II.,  973-983— 
Italy— Otho  III.,  983— 1003— His  Religious  Devotion— 
J  lis"  partiality  for  Roman  and  Grecian  Manners  and 
Customs— Henry  II.,  1003-1024— Italy— Pavia—Bam- 
berg— His  Death,  1024— End  of  the  Saxon  Dynasty. 

THE  accounts  we  possess  respecting  the 
election  of  Henry  vary  much,  and  are  here 
and  there  very  erroneous.  If  we  follow — 
as  is  but  just — the  statements  of  the  most 
ancient  writers,  Widukind  and  Ditmar,  we 
shall  find  that  the  princes  and  elders  of  the 
Franks,  yielding  to  the  counsel  of  Conrad 
their  king,  given  on  his  death-bed,  assem- 
bled together  at  the  summons  of  their  duke, 
Eberhard,  at  Fritzlar,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year  919,  and  there,  in  the  presence  of 
the  two  nations,  the  Franks  and  the  Saxons, 
elected  Henry  for  their  sovereign.  The 
whole  assembly  with  uplifted  hands  pro- 
claimed and  saluted  with  loud  shouts  their 
chosen  king.  Thus  the  choice  was  more 
properly  made  by  the  nobles  of  Franconia, 
while  the  Saxons  naturally  accepted  the 
election  made  of  their  own  duke.  As  yet, 
however,  it  could  not  be  known  what  meas- 
ures might  be  adopted  by  the  other  nations, 
and  we  shall  soon  learn  in  what  way  Hen- 
ry speedily  brought  the  Swabians  and  Bava- 
rians to  acknowledge  his  sovereignty. 

Subsequent  authorities  relate  that  the  en- 
«oys  dispatched  to  offer  the  crown  to  Henry, 


met  him  on  his  estates  of  the  Hartz  Moun- 
tains, among  his  falcons,  occupied  in  catch- 
ing birds,  whence  he  derived  the  by-name 
of  the  Fowler.  It  is  possible  that  this 
tradition  may  have  been  preserved  among 
the  people,  still  the  aforesaid  earlier  writers 
make  no  mention  of  it,  while  it  is  only  in 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  that  we 
for  the  first  time  meet  in  the  chronicles  and 
other  historical  works,  with  this  by-name 
Henricus  auceps. 

Henry's  reign  began,  it  is  true,  with  some 
internal  agitations,  but  these  were  soon 
quelled,  for  the  anxious  wish  both  of  Oth. 
the  Illustrious  and  King  Conrad  became 
now  fulfilled,  and  the  Franks  and  the  Sax- 
ons lived  accordingly  in  harmony  together. 
Duke  Burkhard  of  Swabia,  and  Duke  Ar- 
nulf  of  Bavaria,  who  had  returned  from 
the  Hungarians,  refused  him  homage ; 
but  he  speedily  brought  them  by  the  power 
of  his  arms  and  the  gentler  force  of  peace- 
ful and  friendly  persuasion,  back  to  their 
duty.  Thus,  from  the  year  921,  the  whole 
of  Germany  obeyed  Henry,  and  no  internal 
war  disturbed  the  peace  of  his  empire,  al- 
though it  was  only  after  several  battles  that 
he  conquered  Lorraine,  which  had  still 
wavered  between  France  and  Germany . 
Soon  afterwards  he  strengthened  his  union 
with  that  country  by  giving  his  daughter 
Gerberga  in  marriage  to  its  duke,  Giselbert, 
and  during  seven  centuries  that  beautiful 
land  remained  united  with  Germany. 

Henry  could  now  occupy  himself  with 
his  foreign  enemies,  the  Slavonians  and 
Hungarians.  The  latter  thought  they  could 
still  continue  their  old  system  of  destruction 
in  the  German  countries,  but  they  now 
found  an  opponent  who  arrested  their  prog- 
ress. At  first,  indeed,  Henry  was  obliged 
to  yield  totheir  furious  attacks,  (in  924,)  and 
they  advanced  into  the  very  heart  of  Sax- 
ony. He  was,  however,  fortunate  enough, 
in  a  sally  he  made  from  the  fortified  Castle 
of  Werle,  or  Werlaon,*  to  capture  one  of 
their  most  distinguished  princes ;  for  his 
ransom  and  Henry's  promise  of  a  tribute 
the  Hungarians  concluded  a  truce  for  nine 
years,  and  engaged  during  that  time  not  to 
attack  Germany.  They  probably  purposed 
after  that  to  make  doubly  good  the  lost 

*  The  position  of  Werle  (called  by  Widukind,  Wer- 
laon) has  been  variously  discussed  ;  endeavors  havinp, 
been  made  to  trace  it  in  Westphalia,  Brunswick,  Hit- 
dcshcim,  and  other  districts  ;  but  most  probably  it  was 
in  the  palatinate  of  the  same  name,  near  Goslar,  as 
appears  in  the  "  Mirror  of  the  Faxons." 


118 


THE  HUNGARIANS  AND  SLAVONIAN^. 


time,  but  Heniy  profited  so  well  by  those 
nine  years  that  when  they  did  return  they 
found  a  very  different  country  to  contend 
with. 

He  now  commenced  suppressing  with 
much  severity  and  justice  internal  turbu- 
lence and  depredation,  so  that  the  greater 
zeal  might  be  excited  against  foreign  ene- 
mies.  For  under  the  reign  of  the  last 
Carlovingians,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the 
spirit  for  war  and  rapine  was  cherish- 
ed everywhere,  even  among  the  nobles. 
Henry  pursued  and  punished  these  robbers 
wherever  they  were  taken  ;  but  he  pardoned 
those  in  whom  he  found  the  better  spirit  to 
exist,  and  gave  them  arms  and  land  on  the 
eastern  frontiers  of  the  empire,  in  order 
that  they  might  thus  have  a  fair  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  their  passion  for  war 
against  his  enemies.  Merseburg,  which 
served  as  one  of  the  quarters  for  such  a 
troop,  thus  became  a  sort  of  bulwark  or 
protecting  wall  against  the  Slavonians,  un- 
til Henry  himself  advanced  farther  into  the 
country  of  that  nation. 

He  then  exercised  his  German  soldiers, 
who  until  then  only  knew  how  to  contend 
on  foot,  in  the  art  of  fighting  on  horseback, 
so  that  they  might  be  better  enabled  to  re- 
sis't  the  hordes  of  mounted  Hungarians  ; 
and  as  the  Germans  were  always  willing  to 
learn,  and  were  likewise  skilful  in  the  ac- 
quirement of  the  art  of  arms  generally, 
they  were  speedily  made  perfect  in  the  cav- 
alry evolutions.  He  practised  them  to 
attack  in  close  ranks  ;  to  await  the  first  ar- 
row of  the  enemy,  and  to  receive  it  on  the 
shield,  and  then  suddenly  to  dash  upon 
them  before  they  had  time  to  -discharge  the 
second.  Combined  with  this  reform  in  the 
cavalry  exercise,  he  likewise  introduced  a 
more  strict  discipline  ;  the  eldest  brother  in 
every  family,  as  it  appears,  was  forced  to 
do  duty  as  a  horse  soldier,  and  all  capable 
of  bearing  arms  were  obliged  at  the  gen- 
eral summons  (according  to  the  ancient 
law,  which  he  renewed)  to  join  the  ranks. 

Finally,  as  he  well  saw  that  the  enemy 
could  still  do  much  mischief,  even  if  they 
were  put  to  flight — for,  like  a  flash  of  light- 
ning, they  appeared  now  here,  now  there, 
nillaging  and  murdering,  and  then  vanished 
oefore  they  could  be  overtaken — he  in  this 
interval  converted,  with  .great  industry,  a 
number  of  unemployed  buildings  into  forti- 
fied castles,  placed  at  certain  distances  from 
each  other,  so  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 


surrounding  country,  upon  the  first  intelli. 
gence  of  the  enemy's  approach,  might  take 
refuge  there  with  their  property.  The 
Hungarians  knew  nothing  of  besieging 
cities,  and  if  they  made  but  little  booty  in 
their  incursions  they  did  not  very  soon  ap- 
pear again.  Henry's  hereditary  lands — 
as  in  fact  generally  the  north  of  Germany — 
were  very  poor  in  those  larger  settlements 
which  might  be  compared  with  towns  ;  in 
those  parts  the  custom  of  living  in  isolated 
localities  was  preserved  later  than  else- 
where. Accordingly,  as  Widukind  relates, 
all  were  busily  occupied,  day  and  night, 
with  the  construction  of  these  burghs,  and 
every  one,  without  distinction  of  rank  or 
other  claims  to  independence,  was  forced  to 
join  in  this  grand  work.  Henry  built  these 
fortified  castles  and  cities  chiefly  in  his 
hereditary  lands,  Saxony  and  Thuringia, 
and  among  others  Goslar,  Duderstadt,  Nord- 
hausen,  Quedlinburg,  Merseburg,  and  Meie- 
sen  are  named.  But  that  he  might  also  hav? 
inhabitants  and  garrisons  in  these  places, 
he  ordered  that  of  all  the  men  who  were 
bound  to  do  service  in  war,  every  ninth 
man  should  dwell  in  the  city,  and  these 
were  obliged  to  occupy  themselves  with 
the  building  of  houses,  which  might  serve 
as  places  of  refuge,  upon  the  attacks  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  others  were  bound  to  supply 
them  yearly  with  the  third  portion  of  their 
produce,  in  order  that  they  might  have 
wherewith  to  live,  and  preserve  the  rest 
for  all  in  time  of  danger. 

When  Henry  had  passed  some  years  in 
making  these  preparations  he  resolved  to  ex- 
ercise his  warriors,  by  subduing  the  neighbors 
of  the  Germans  in  the  east  and  north,  who, 
although  not  so  dangerous  as  the  Hungari- 
ans, were  still  not  less  disposed  to  be  hostile. 

He  attacked  and  beat  the  Slavonians  (the 
Hevellers  on  the  Havel)  in  the  Marches  of 
Brandenburg,  and  conquered  their  city 
Brennaburg,  (Brandenburg.)  which  he  be- 
sieged in  the  most  severe  winter,  so  severe 
that  his  army  encamped  on  the  ice  of  the 
river  Havel.  He  then  subjected  the  Dale- 
minziens  or  Dalmatians,  who  inhabited  the 
banks  of  the  Elbe,  from  Meissen  to  Bohe- 
mia. He  also  undertook  an  expedition 
against  the  Bohemians,  besieged  Duke 
Wenzeslaus  in  Prague,  the  capital,  and 
forced  him  to  yield  obedience.  From  this 
time  the  kings  of  Germany  have  continued 
to  demand  fealty  from  the  dukes  of  Bohemia. 

These  events  took  place  in  all  probability 


THE  MAKGR  AVIATES— THE  HUNGARIANS— BATTLE  OF  MERSEBURG.       11H 


in  the  years  928  and  929.  But  in  this  lat- 
ter year  a  Slavonic  race,  the  Redarians, 
encouraged  no  doubt  by  the  absence  of  the 
king  when  on  his  Bohemian  expedition, 
united  with  their  neighboring  tribes,  and 
suddenly  revolted,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
summon  together  all  the  Saxons,  in  one 
entire  mass,  to  advance  against  them.  The 
king's  generals  laid  siege  to  the  town  of 
Lukini,  (Lenzen.)  near  the  Elbe.  A  great 
army  of  the  Slavonians  advanced  to  its 
relief,  and  a  grand  battle  was  fought,  in 
which  they  were  completely  annihilated. 
Widukind  states  their  loss  at  200,000 ; 
even  if  this  number  is  exaggerated,  it  is 
quite  certain  that  this  victory  of  the  Saxons 
produced  the  lasting  subjection  of  the  Sla- 
vonians. 

No  doubt  it  was  in  order  to  guaranty 
these  new  conquests  against  the  Slavonians, 
that  Henry  extended  the  already  existing 
defences  on  the  Slavonian  frontiers,  and 
thence  were  formed  gradually  the  Margra- 
viate  of  Nordsachsen,  (the  present  Altmark,) 
and  the  Margraviate  Meissen,  on  the  Elbe, 
where  he  founded  the  same-named  city  and 
fortification.  Credit  may  not  be  given  to 
him,  it  is  true,  for  the  complete  establish- 
ment of  both  these  margraviates,  because 
th?t  occurs  in  the  time  of  the  Ottomans  ; 
nevertheless  they  owe  to  him  their  founda- 
tion. Neither  is  it  proved  that  in  order  to 
promulgate  Christianity  among  the  Slavo- 
nians, he  had  already  founded  bishoprics, 
the  turbulence  of  the  times  may  have  pre- 
vented him  during  the  rest  of  his  reign 
from  doing  so  ;  but  his  son  Otho  completed 
afterwards  what  his  father  projected,  by 
introducing  ecclesiastical  institutions  there. 

Meantime  the  nine  years'  truce  with  the 
Hungarians  having  expired,  they  sent  an 
embassy  to  Germany  to  demand  the  ancient 
tribute  which  that  country  had  disgracefully 
been  obliged  to  pay  them.  But  Henry,  to 
show  them  the  contempt  in  which  the  Ger- 
mans now  held  them,  delivered  to  the  am- 
bassadors this  time,  in  the  form  of  a  tri- 
bute, a  mangy  dog,  deprived  of  its  tail  and 
ears,  that  being  a  very  ancient  symbol  of 
the  most  utter  contempt.  At  this  the  Hun- 
garians were  roused  to  fury,  and  prepared 
themselves  to  take  bitter  revenge  for  it ;  but 
King  Henry  now  addressed  his  people  thus  : 

"  You  know  from  what  dangers  our 
formerly-desolated  kingdom  is  now  free,  for 
it  was  torn  to  pieces  by  internal  dissensions, 
and  external  wars.  But  now,  by  the  pro- 


tection of  God,  by  our  efforts,  and  by  your 
valor,  one  enemy,  the  Slavonians,  being 
brought  to  subjection,  nothing  remains  fti 
us  but  to  raise  ourselves  just  as  unitedly, 
and  in  one  mass  against  the  common  enemy, 
the  savage  Avari,  (thus  he  styled  the  Hun- 
garians.)  Hitherto  we  have  been  obliged 
to  give  up  all  our  possessions  to  enrich  them, 
and  now  to  satisfy  them  further  we  mus* 
plunder  our  churches,  for  we  have  nothing 
else  to  give  them.  Choose  now  yourselves  ; 
will  you  admit  that  I  shall  take  away  what 
is  appointed  for  the  service  of  God  to  pur- 
chase our  peace  from  the  enemies  of  that 
God,  or  will  vou,  as  it  beseems  Germans, 
firmly  confide  u.at  He  will  save  us,  who  in 
truth  is  our  Lord  and  Saviour  ?"  On  this 
the  people  raised  their  hands  and  voices  to 
heaven,  and  swore  to  fight. 

The  Hungarians  now  advanced  in  two 
strong  divisions.  The  first  attacked  Thu- 
ringia  and  devastated  the  country,  to  the 
Weser  districts,  as  far  as  it  was  not  de- 
fended by  its  fortified  towns.  But  an  army, 
formed  of  the  Saxons  and  Thuringians,  at- 
tacked this  division,  defeated  it,  destroyed 
its  leaders,  and  pursuing  it  through  the 
whole  of  Thuringia,  annihilated  it  com- 
pletely. 

The  other  division  of  the  Hungarians 
which  had  remained  stationary  in  the  east- 
ern districts,  received  the  tidings  of  the 
overthrow  of  their  brethren  at  the  moment 
they  were  laying  siege  to  the  seat  of 
Henry's  sister,  married  to  Wido  of  Thu- 
ringia. What  place  this  was,  we  have 
unfortunately  not  been  able  to  learn.  Some 
have  thought  it  to  be  Merseburg,  which 
Liutprand  names  as  the  enemy's  place  of 
encampment ;  others  again  pronounce  it  to 
be  Wittenberg.  The  king,  as  Widukind 
relates,  encamped  near  Rilide,  the  situa- 
tion of  which  it  is  equally  impossible  to 
determine.  Still  it  is  extremely  probable 
that  the  battle  took  place  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Saale,  not  far  from  Merseburg,  in  the 
Hassgau. 

The  enemy  abandoned  their  camp,  and 
according  to  their  custom,  lighted  large 
fires  as  a  signal  to  all  the  rest  of  their 
troops,  dispersed  around  in  plundering,  to 
collect  together.  The  following  morning 
Henry  advanced  with  his  army,  and  ex- 
horted his  troops  in  the  most  glowing  lan- 
guage on  that  day  to  take  ample  revenge 
for  the  wrongs  of  their  country  and  their 
relations  and  friends  slain,  or  carried  ofT 


ISO       THE  HUNGARIANS  DEFEATED—THE  DANES— THEIR  SUBJECTION. 


as  slaves.  Thus  he  marched  through  the 
ranks  of  his  warriors,  bearing  in  his  hand 
the  holy  lance,*  preceded  by  the  banner  of 
(he  army  waving  before  him,  which  was 
consecrated  as  the  angel's  banner,  it  being 
decorated  with  the  figure  of  the  archangel 
Michael.  Thence  the  German  warriors 
felt  within  them  the  full  confidence  of  vic- 
tory, and  awaited  the  signal  for  battle  with 
impatience.  The  king,  however,  who  al- 
ready perceived  by  the  motions  of  the 
enemy  that  they  would  not  make  a  stand, 
sent  forward  a  portion  of  the  Thuringian 
militia,  or  Landwehr,  with  a  few  lightly- 
armed  horsemen,  in  order  that  the  enemy 
might  pursue  these  almost  unarmed  troops, 
and  then  be  seduced  onward  to  attack  his 
main  body.  And  this  took  place ;  but 
they  so  speedily  turned  their  backs  upon 
viewing  the  well-armed  ranks  of  the  Ger- 
mans, that  it  scarcely  became  a  regular 
battle.  They  were  pursued,  and  the  greater 
part  were  either  hewn  down  or  taken  pris- 
oners ;  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  with  all 
the  treasures  stolen,  was  captured,  and 
what  to  the  feelings  was  most  of  all  affect- 
ing and  delightful  was,  that  the  prisoners 
whom  the  Hungarians  had  already  forced 
along  as  slaves,  now  saw  themselves  so 
providentially  freed  from  bondage.  Henry 
then  fell  down  on  his  knees,  together  with 
his  whole  army,  and  thanked  God  for  the 
victory  gained.  The  tribute  which  he  had 
hitherto  been  forced  to  pay  over  to  the 
enemy  he  now  devoted  to  the  service  of  the 
church,  as  well  as  to  charitable  gifts  which 
he  made  to  the  poor  ;  and  the  king  himself, 
says  Widukind,  was  henceforward  called 
by  his  inspired  warriors,  "  The  father  of 
his  country,"  their  "  sovereign  lord,"  and 
their  "  emperor;"  while  the  fame  of  his 
great  virtue  and  valor  extended  over  the 
whole  country. 

This  action  took  place  in  the  year  933, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Merseburg,  and 
was  what  was  usually  styled  the  Merse- 
burger  engagement,  or  the  battle  of  the 
Hasssjau.  In  remembrance  of  the  event, 
Henry,  as  is  related  by  Liutprand,  had  a 
painting  of  the  battle  drawn  in  the  dining 
hall  of  his  palace  in  Merseburg,  which  re- 

*  This  holy  lance  was  handed  to  Henry  by  "Rudpl- 
phus  of  Burgundy,  as  a  present :  it  was  furnished  with 
a  cross,  formed  of  nails,  with  which,  as  was  believed, 
the  hands  and  feet  of  our  Saviour  had  been  fixed  when 
crucified.  King  Henry  and  his  successors  held  this 
sacred  weapon  in  high  veneration,  and  always  used  it 
on  important  occasions. 


presented  the  triumphant  scene  with  nearlj 
all  the  truth  and  animation  of  life  itself. 

The  year  934  presented  to  King  Henry 
another  opportunity  by  which  to  gain  great 
glory,  by  an  expedition  against  the  Danes, 
who  were  ravaging  and  laying  waste  the 
coasts  of  Friesland  and  Saxony.  Ho 
marched  into  their  own  country,  at  the 
head  of  his  army,  forced  their  king,  Gorm, 
(usually  surnamed  the  old,)  to  conclude  a 
peace,  established  at  Silesia,  on  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  empire,  a  fortified  barrier,  and 
founded  there  a  margraviate,  wherein  he 
left  a  colony  of  Saxons.  He  also  suc- 
ceeded in  converting  one  of  the  members 
of  the  royal  family — probably  Knud,  the 
son  of  Gorm,  but,  according  to  others,  his 
second  son,  Harold — to  Christianity.  Thus 
was  re-established  by  Henry  I.  the  Mar- 
graviate Schlei  and  Trenne,  which  had 
previously  served  as  a  bulwark  for  the  im- 
perial frontiers,  and  which  the  Danes  had 
again  possessed  and  destroyed.  This  good 
prince  therefore  had  now  the  happiness  to 
behold,  when  on  the  eve  of  his  glorious 
life,  these  enemies  of  the  north  who,  during 
an  entire  century,  had  spread  terror  through- 
out the  countries  of  Europe,  retire  before 
him,  and,  confining  themselves  within  the 
limits  of  their  own  territory,  acknowledge 
his  power.* 

At  home,  in  his  own  domestic  circle, 
King  Henry  exercised  the  virtues  and  du- 
ties of  an  excellent  husband  and  a  good 
father.  His  queen,  the  pious  and  gentle 
Matilda,  was  the  model  of  wives  ;  for,  pos- 
sessing great  influence  over  the  king,  she 
availed  herself  thereof,  wherever  it  was 
possible,  to  obtain  his  grace  and  pardon  for 
the  guilty  ;  and  his  kind  and  noble  heart 
was  always  sadly  pained  when  the  stern 
command  of  public  justice  forced  him  to 
refuse  her  appeals  for  mercy.  By  her  he 
had  five  children,  Otho,  Gerberga,  Haduin, 
and  subsequently  Henry  and  Bruno.  By 
his  first  wife,  Hathberga,  (who,  having 
originally  been  destined  for  a  convent,  was 
never  looked  upon  as  his  lawful  wife,  and 
soon  left  him,)  he  had  a  son,  called  Tanc- 
mar,  but  who  was  not  acknowledged  as  a 
legitimate  child. 

He  gave  Otho,  his  eldest  son  and  suc- 
cessor, in  marriage  to  Edgetha,  daughter 

*  This  piece  of  land,  between  Schlei  and  Eider,  re- 
mained thenceforward  united  with  Germany  for  nearly 
a  century,  until  the  emperor,  Conrad  II.,  resigned  it  \M 
King  Knud. 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  I.— HIS  NEW  INSTITUTIONS. 


121 


of  Edward,  king  of  England  ;  and  by  that 
act  set  the  first  example  which  the  kings 
of  the  Saxon  dynasty  followed  so  frequent- 
ly afterwards,  of  seeking  to  unite  them- 
selves with  all  the  other  royal  houses  of 
Europe.  This  forms  a  distinguished  fea- 
ture in  this  noble  race. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life,  according 
to  Widukind,  after  having  so  gloriously 
succeeded  in  his  devoted  object,  of  produ- 
cing for  his  country  peace  internally,  and 
from  all  other  nations  respect  externally, 
Henry  had  it  in  contemplation  to  proceed 
to  Italy,  in  order  to  reunite  that  country 
with  the  empire  of  Germany.  Whether 
or  not  this  statement  rests  upon  any  good 
foundation,  is  not  known  ;  but  the  execu- 
tion of  this  design,  if  really  intended, 
was  suddenly  interrupted  by  sickness,  he 
being  attacked  with  a  fit  of  apoplexy  while 
staying  at  Bothfeld,  in  the  autumn  of 
933,  from  which  he  suffered  a  long  and 
severe  illness.  When  he  did  recover  suf- 
ficiently, he  felt  the  necessity  of  at  once 
attending  to  the  means  of  securing  the 
tranquillity  of  his  empire,  and  he  accord- 
ingly convoked  an  assembly  of  the  nobles 
at  Erfurt.  He  had  long  perceived  in  his 
eldest  son  Otho,  all  that  energy  and  great- 
ness of  mind  so  suitable  and  necessary  for 
a  sovereign';  but  the  mother  was  more  in 
favor  of  Henry,  the  second  son,  because  he 
was  more  mild  than  his  passionate  brother  ; 
besides  which,  she  held  him  to  possess  a 
greater  right  to  the  succession  of  the  crown, 
because  he  was  the  first-born  son  after  his 
father  had  been  invested  with  the  imperial 
dignity.  The  will  of  the  father,  however, 
determined  all  the  nobles  to  recognise  Otho 
as  successor. 

More  easy  now  in  his  mind,  Henry  left 
Erfurt  and  proceeded  to  Memleben.  There 
he  experienced  a  second  attack  of  apoplexy, 
and,  after  having  taken  an  affecting,  but 
resigned  farewell  of  his  amiable  wife,  he 
died  on  Sunday  the  2d  of  July,  in  the  year 
936,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  in  the  presence  of 
nis  sons  and  different  princes  of  the  em- 
pire. His  remains  were  buried  in  the 
church  of  St.  Peter,  before  the  altar,  in 
'.^uedlinburg,  the  city  he  had  himself 
founded. 

Henry  had  reigned  only  eighteen  years, 

and  yet  during  that  time  he  had  not  only 

raised  the  empire  from  a  fallen  state,  but 

had  elevated  it  to   the  highest  degree   of 

ow^r  and  command.     He  was  stron     mid 


mighty  against  his  enemies,  and  towards* 
his  friends  and  subjects,  kind,  just,  ana 
mild.  He  is  represented  as  having  been  oi 
a  handsome,  chivalric  form,  skilful  ana 
bold  as  a  hunter,  and  so  adroit  in  all  the 
exercises  of  the  body  and  warlike  arms, 
that  he  was  the  terror  of  his  adversaries. 
He  was  extremely  bland  and  affable  in  his 
manner,  but  still  preserved  so  well  his  dig- 
nity that  he  kept  every  one  within,  the 
bounds  of  respect. 

Henry  may,  with  justice,  be  styled  one 
of  the  greatest  of  all  German  princes ;  for 
that  which  proves  the  greatness  of  a  king 
is  not  so  much  the  actions  by  which  he  as- 
tonishes the  world,  but  the  works  he  leaves 
behind  him,  and  which  bear  in  themselves 
the  living  germ  of  a  new  epoch. 

Unfortunately,  the  most  ancient  and  au- 
thentic writers  in  reference  to  King  Henry 
are  very  imperfect  and  unsatisfactory,  so 
much  so,  that  it  is  impossible  to  place  entire 
confidence  in  the  subsequent  statements. 
Still  it  is  already  much  when  we  find  at 
least,  that  all  the  writers  of  the  middle  ages 
agree  in  looking  upon  him  as  the  institutor 
of  chivalry  and  the  ennobling  reformer  of 
the  nobility,  as  well  as  being  the  founder  of 
cities  and  citizenship,  and,  with  one  word, 
of  all  the  noble  institutions  which  became 
developed  after  him.  This  testimony  proves 
that  his  works  have  had  the  greatest  influ- 
ence, and,  accordingly,  that  his  memory, 
as  it  has  been,  should  continue  to  be  honored 
among  mankind.  But  even  if  we  retain 
only  what  is  clearly  proved  in  history, 
enough  will  remain  to  establish  his  claims 
to  glory  and  honor. 

Henry  became  a  still  greater  benefactor 
to  Germany  by  founding,  in  the  construc- 
tion of  cities,  new  municipalities.  For  al- 
though the  immediate  object  of  these  strong 
places  was  to  protect  the  country  against 
the  pillaging  hordes  of  the  Hungarians,  it 
was  one  only  secondary,  inasmuch  as  they 
were  far  more  important  as  the  cradle  of  a 
new  condition  of  life.  The  order  of  com- 
mon freemen  towards  the  end  of  the  Carlo- 
vingian  period  was,  as  already  stated,  very 
much  reduced  or  nearly  extinct.  The 
German  people  were  upon  the  high  road  ot 
becoming,  like  those  other  nations  where 
there  are  but  two  classes,  lords  and  slaves  ; 
two  conditions  between  which  that  pride 
and  energy  given  by  freedom  are  never  re- 
covered. Already  the  country  itself  was 
chiefly  cultivated  by  mere  mercenaries 


THE  JEWS— FOUNDATION  OF  CITIES—PROGRESS  OF  CIVILIZATION. 


and  industrial  employments  as  well  as  trade 
were  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
Jews.  The  nobles  considered  these  occu- 
pations beneath  their  dignity ;  nay,  they 
were  very  often  dependent  on  the  Jews,  who 
had  accumulated  immense  riches,  because 
in  their  necessity  they  were  forced  to  bor- 
row money  from  them.  As  early  as  in  the 
last  period  of  the  Roman  empire  the  laws 
had  already  commenced  to  favor  the  Israel- 
ites, and  by  Honorius  among  others,  they 
were  entirely  freed  from  all  military  ser- 
vice. Their  chief  dwelling-places  were 
the  cities  on  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube, 
which  originated  in  the  time  of  the  Romans, 
(Cologne,  Coblentz,  Treves,  Mentz,  Worms, 
Spire,  Strasburg,  Basle,  Constance,  Augs- 
burg, Ratisbonne,  Passau,  &c.,)  and  in 
these  cities  they  lived  in  such  great  num- 
bers, that  they  prevented  all  competition 
and  obstructed  all  increase  of  trade  and 
industry. 

But  King  Henry  now  built,  as  we  have 
seen,  a  number  of  cities  in  Saxony  and 
Thuringia,  and  placed  in  them  inhabitants 
from  the  country,  to  serve  not  merely,  as 
has  been  supposed,  during  the  time  of  war, 
but  as  constant  dwelling-places  ;  he  also 
found  means  to  overcome  the  ancient  re- 
pugnance felt  by  the  Saxons  to  living  in 
towns.  He  promised  to  those  who  dwelt  in 
them  the  security  of  justice ;  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  each  town  received  its  own 
count,  who,  in  time  of  war  was  the  leader, 
and  in  peace  was  the  immediate  judge  and 
president,  although  in  gradation  he  may 
have  ranked  under  the  count  of  the  gau  or 
district  in  which  the  town  lay. 

Afterwards  he  ordered,  as  is  expressly 
stated  by  Widukind,  that  all  councils,  as- 
semblies, and  festivals  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  neighboring  districts,  should  be  held  and 
celebrated  in  the  cities  ;  and  that  all  trade- 
fairs  in  their  turn,  followed  and  joined  in 
these  regulations,  and  that  industry  and 
traffic  found  in  the  cities  their  central  point 
of  union,  is  to  be  inferred  as  a  natural  and 
important  result.  Whatever  had  been  for- 
merly executed  in  isolated  dwellings,  by 
the  family  or  serfs,  soon  became,  under  the 
new  order  of  things,  worked  and  finished  in 
quantities,  and  in  a  superior  style,  by  the 
artisans  and  mechanics  of  the  cities.  And 
as  the  master  and  his  men,  in  turns,  pre- 
pared only  one,  to  each  allotted  part  of  the 
work,  wherein  each  was  skilled  and  had 
jeen  exercised  from  youth  upward,  such  a 


division  of  labor  proved,  as  it  always  must 
the  foundation  of  all  civilization  among  the 
people  ;  and  thence  Henry  was  again  the 
founder  of  industry,  moral  cultivation,  and 
the  development  of  the  civil  order  of  life. 

And  with  the  same  motives  that  had 
caused  him  to  give  to  chivalry  a  nobler  aim 
and  a  more  illustrious  title  for  the  exercise 
of  arms,  so  did  Henry  now  seek  to  intro- 
duce the  practice  of  arms  for  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  cities,  so  that  they  might  be 
skilled  in  the  defence  of  their  walls,  and 
thus  become  a  defensive  and  honorable 
body  of  the  state.  By  this  he  succeeded  in 
attracting  inhabitants  for  his  fortified  places, 
in  such  great  numbers,  that'  as  these,  in 
their  original  state,  soon  became  too  nar- 
row to  hold  them,  the  new-comers,  as  they 
arrived,  built  themselves  houses  around  the 
fortified  place,  so  that  another  city,  as  it 
were,  was  speedily  completed,  which  was 
subsequently  surrounded  with  strong  walls, 
likewise  as  a  defence  against  the  attacks  ol 
the  enemy. 

By  what,  however,  has  just  been  said,  it 
is  not  meant  to  convey  that  these  institu- 
tions of  King  Henry  had  at  once  changed 
the  whole  course  of  existing  customs  and 
manners  in  Northern  Germany,  and  sub- 
stituted an  extensive  and  independent  order 
of  civil  institutions  ;  on  the  contrary,  owing 
to  the  ever-repugnant  feelings  of  the  Sax- 
ons against  a  confined  life  in  towns,  as  is 
shown  in  subsequent  times,  this  new  order 
of  things  progressed  but  slowly.  Yet  he 
had  laid  the  foundation,  the  commencement 
was  made,  he  gave  it  an  impetus,  and  more 
could  not  be  demanded  from  him.  His 
merit  lies  therein,  that  he  perceived  and 
acknowledged  the  necessary  reforms  re- 
quired by  the  march  of  events,  and  he  pro- 
moted their  progress  ;  but  it  was  the  course 
of  human  development  which  was  to  com- 
bine and  complete,  in  an  extended  form, 
what  was  merely  begun  by  him.  This 
course,  however,  is  not  measured  by  years, 
but  by  centuries,  and  thus  we  shall  find, 
that  it  is  only  in  the  subsequent  period  of 
the  middle  ages  that  the  result  of  the  great 
Henry's  noble  designs  are  made  manifest 
in  the  flourishing  state  of  the  existence  of 
the  cities. 

Already,  before  the  death  of  Henry,  the 
princes  .md  promised  him  to  recognise  his 
son  Otno  as  his  successor  to  the  empire  ; 
and  tm-5  recognition  was  now  confirmed  in 
a  great  assembly  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  where 


OTI10  I.— HIS  ENERGY  AND  BOLDNESS. 


123 


Otho  was  solemnly  crowned.  Two  of  the 
great  archbishops  on  the  Rhine  contended 
for  the  honor  of  the  coronation.  He  of 
Cologne  claimed  it  from  Aix-la-Chapelle 
being  in  his  diocese ;  and  the  other,  of 
Treves,  because  his  archbishopric  was  the 
most  ancient.  However,  it  was  at  last  con- 
cluded that  neither  of  them,  but  that  Hilde- 
bert,  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  should  per- 
form the  ceremony.  Giselbrecht,  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  in  whose  duchy  Aix-la-Chapellc 
lay,  was  charged,  as  high  chamberlain, 
with  the  office  of  providing  for  the  lodging 
and  entertainment  of  the  strangers,  of  whom 
a  vast  number  attended.  Eberhard,  Duke 
of  Franconia,  as  high  steward,  supplied  the 
tables  and  the  viands ;  Duke  Herman  of 
Swabia  acted  as  high-seneschal,  and  Ar- 
nulf,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  as  high-marshal, 
provided  for  the  horses  and  the  camp. 

When  the  people  were  assembled  in  the 
grand  cathedral  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  the 
archbishop  led  the  young  king  forward  by 
the  hand,  and  spoke  thus  to  the  multitude  : 
"  Behold,  I  here  present  to  you  the  king, 
Otho,  elected  by  God,  proposed  by  Kin<* 
Henry,  and  nominated  by  all  the  princes! 
If  this  choice  be  acceptable  to  you,  you  will 
signify  it  by  raising  your  right  hand  to- 
wards heaven !" 

The  whole  multitude  then  held  up  their 
hands  and  hailed  the  new  king  with  loud 
and  joyful  acclamations.  The  archbishop 
then  stepped  with  him  to  the  altar,  where- 
on the  imperial  insignia  lay — the  sword 
and  belt,  the  imperial  mantle,  the  armlets 
and  the  staff,  together  with  the  sceptre  and 
the  crown.  The  sword  he  handed  to  him 
with  these  words  :  "  Take  this  sword,  des- 
tined to  repulse  all  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
and  to  confirm,  with  most  lasting  power,  the 
peace  of  all  Christians;"  and  he  handed 
to  his  majesty  the  other  articles,  with  a 
similar  address.  He  then  placed  the  crown 
upon  his  head  and  led  him  to  the  throne, 
which  was  erected  between  two  marble  co- 
lumns, where  Otho  continued  to  sit  until 
the  solemn  ceremony  was  concluded.  All 
eyes  were  turned  with  astonishment  to  the 
young  king,  whose  countenance  filled  every 
one  with  veneration.  His  lofty,  princely 
form,  his  broad  manly  chest,  his  large 
sparkling  eyes,  and  beautiful  flaxen  hair, 
which  flowed  down  to  his  shoulders  in  long 
locks — all  seemed  to  announce  him  as  be- 
ing born  to  rule.  The  days  of  festival  and 
teremony  having  ended,  Otho  commenced 


his  new  reign  with  vigorous  power,  and  it 
was  speedily  shown  that  outward  appear- 
ances had  not  deceived. 

But  Otho  did  not  gain  over  the  hearts  o! 
men  that  same  mild  power  which  Henry 
his  father  had  obtained.  He  has  often  been 
called  a  lion,  from  his  proud  and  terrific 
look  and  manner,  and  because  like  the  lion 
he  cast  all  enemies  down  before  him,  when- 
ever and  however  numerous  in  force  they 
appeared  against  him,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad.  He  was  a  great  and  powerful  mon- 
arch, and  was  soon  considered  the  first 
prince  in  Christendom.  He  had  placed 
upon  his  head  the  imperial  crown  of  Char- 
lemagne, and  even  rendered  the  Germanic 
empire  and  its  name  so  celebrated  among 
all  nations,  that  none  could  venture  to  claim 
comparison  with  it.  Such  powerful  results 
cannot  be  accomplished  by  a  man  of  ordi- 
nary mind,  and  who  lives  only  for  tran- 
quillity and  peace,  but  by  him  alone,  to 
whom,  like  Otho,  the  fame  of  his  nation 
stands  ever  before  his  eyes  as  an  elevated 
glory-beaming  image ;  and  if  even  the  haugh- 
tiness of  his  soul  raised  many  enemies 
against  him,  and  even  if  in  his  wrath,  with 
which  his  manly  breast  was  often  excited, 
he  acted  with  harshness  towards  his  adver- 
saries, still  in  his  noble  dignity  of  mind,  he 
may  be  compared  with  the  lion,  inasmuch 
as  he  pitied  and  spared  many  times  those 
weaker  enemies  who  besought  his  mercy 
and  pardon.  Anger  and  severity  indeed 
never  carried  him  beyond  the  limits  of  jus- 
tice, for  with  him  the  law  ever  maintained 
its  influence  and  authority. 

Our  country,  which  before  these  two 
great  kings,  Henry  and  Otho,  was  rapidly 
approaching  its  own  ruin,  being  rent  by 
internal  anarchy,  and  surrounded  exter- 
nally  by  enemies  who,  in  their  contempt, 
according  to  their  caprice,  laid  it  desolate 
wherever  they  could,  now  rose  again  sud- 
denly, and  became  as  it  were  a  new-born 
empire.  Not  only  were  the  enemies  struck 
to  the  ground,  but  even  new  countries 
were  acquired,  and  all  other  nations  which 
had  previously  mocked,  now  bent  low  be- 
fore us.  In  the  time  of  peace,  when  no 
danger  threatens,  and  justice  and  order 
hold  predominance  everywhere,  a  nation 
may  rejoice  in  a  king  who  sits  upon  the 
throne  of  his  fathers,  intent  upon  continu- 
ing that  state  of  peace  ;  but  when  the 
world  is  violently  agitated,  and  personal 
freedom  and  independence  are  in  danger 


124 


HENRY  OF  BAVARIA— THE  DANES— ITAJ  Y. 


or  when  a  nation  has  become  completely 
enervated  by  a  long  peace,  and  is  thus 
rendered  indifferent  to  honor  and  glory, 
then  a  king  is  required  bold  and  proud  as 
King  Otho  the  First.  His  royal  patriotic 
father  had  commenced  the  work,  and  he, 
the  son,  felt  himself  in  possession  of  the 
power  to  perform  its  completion. 

It  is  true  that  at  the  commencement  of 
his  reign  many  princes  rose  against  him, 
as  for  instance  :  the  Franks  under  Eber- 
r.ard,  and  the  Lothringians  or  Lorraine rs 
under  Giselbrecht,  who  still  could  not  for- 
get  that  a  Saxon  possessed  the  royal  dig- 
nity ;  Tankmar,  his  step-brother,  and  even 
his  own  younger  brother  Henry,  the  moth- 
er's favorite,  who  considered  he  had  a 
greater  right  to  the  crown  than  Otho,  be- 
cause he  was  born  when  his  father  was 
already  a  king,  while  Otho,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  born  while  he  was  a  duke. 
But  the  Franks  and  Lothringians  were  re- 
duced by  arms  to  tranquillity,  after  the 
dukes  Eberhard  and  Giselbrecht  were  both 
slain  ;  Tankmar  was  also  killed  in  the 
contest ;  and  Henry,  who  had  been  allied 
with  them,  repaired  to  Frankfurt,  and  at 
the  Christmas  festival,  in  942,  during  mass 
in  the  night,  cast  himself  at  the  feet  of  his 
brother,  and  received  full  pardon,  although 
he  had  three  times  risen  against  him,  and 
had  even  joined  in  a  conspiracy  to  take 
his  life.  Nay,  in  945,  he  was  presented 
by  Otho  with  the  vacant  duchy  of  Bava- 
ria, and  thenceforward  they  remained  true 
friends  until  their  death. 

The  king  now  turned  his  attention  to- 
wards his  external  enemies.  With  his 
northeastern  neighbors,  the  Slavonians,  he 
had  long  and  sanguinary  wars,  but  he 
made  them  tributary  as  far  as  the  Oder, 
and  in  order  to  confirm  Christianity  among 
them,  he  erected  the  bishoprics  of  Hasel- 
berg,  Brandenberg,  and  Meissen,  and  sub- 
jected them  later  to  the  archbishopric  of 
Magdeburg,  which  he  had  established  in 
the  year  968.  The  dukes  of  Bohemia  and 
Poland  were  obliged  to  acknowledge  his 
authority,  and  by  th<»  foundation  of  the 
bishopric  of  Posen  he  sought  to  extend  the 
mild  doctrines  of  Christianity  to  those  dis- 
tant countries.  He  drove  back  the  Danes, 
who  had  shortly  before  desolated  the  Mar- 
graviate  of  Sleswig,  founded  by  his  father, 
as  far  as  the  point  of  Jutland  ;  and  an  arm 
of  the  sea  on  this  coast  derived  from  him 
the  name  of  the  Otho-Sound,  because  he 


fixed  his  lance  here  in  the  ground,  as  a 
token  of  his  arrival.  Harold  caused  him. 
self  as  well  as  his  consort  Gunelda  arid  his 
son  Sveno  to  be  baptized,  and  bishoprics 
were  erected  in  Sleswig,  Ripen,  and  Aar- 
huus.  Otho  felt  within  himself  that  he 
was  appointed  to  perform  the  part  of  a 
Christian  German  king,  the  same  as 
Charles  the  Great ;  he  spread  Christianit) 
around  with  a  national  feeling  for  its  cul- 
tivation,  by  planting  in  the  conquered 
countries  German  colonies. 

Meanwhile,  in  Italy,  circumstances  had 
occurred  which  attracted  the  eyes  of  Otho 
to  that  country,  longing  as  he  did  to  per- 
form great  deeds  there.  Ever  since  the 
extinction  of  the  Carlovingian  branch  nu- 
merous pretenders  to  its  dominion  had 
started  up,  scattering  disorder  and  destruc- 
tion throughout  that  beautiful  land,  in  ad- 
dition to  which  bands  of  plundering  stran- 
gers had  either  taken  up  their  quarters  or 
made  continual  incursions  throughout  the 
country.  Here  and  there  the  Saracens 
were  found  regularly  housed  among  the 
rocks  of  the  seacoast,  while  the  hordes  of 
the  Hungarians  or  Magyars  frequently 
overran  the  ricR  and  fertile  plains  of  Up- 
per Italy.  In  the  south  of  Italy,  the  do- 
minion of  the  Greek  emperors  still  main- 
tained itself,  and  extended  almost  to  Rome, 
and  whose  mercenaries,  consisting  of  many 
nations,  were  a  scourge  to  the  land. 

In  Upper  Italy,  the  native  princes  atone 
moment,  and  the  kings  of  Burgundy  in  the 
next,  took  possession  of  the  reins  of  gov- 
ernment, and  to  a  certain  extent  assumed 
the  imperial  title.  Lothaire,  the  last  king 
of  the  Burgundian  race,  died  in  the  year 
950,  and  the  Margrave,  Berengar  of  Ivrea, 
took  forcible  possession  of  the  authority. 
In  order  to  fix  himself  more  securely  in 
the  government,  he  tried  to  force  the  young 
and  beautiful  widow  of  Lolhaire,  the  Prin- 
cess Adelaide,  to  marry  his  son  Adelbert. 
But  this  she  steadily  and  firmly  refused, 
and  was  imprisoned  by  the  king  ;  but  with 
the  assistance  of  an  ecclesiastic  she  es- 
caped, and  took  refuge  at  the  court  of 
Adelhard,  Bishop  of  Reggio.  This  event 
gave  occasion  for  Otho  to  interfere  with 
his  influence,  in  order  to  adjust  this  saa 
state  of  confusion  in  that  part  of  Italy,  and 
especially  as  he  was  appealed  to  bj  many 
nobles  of  that  land,  as  also  by  the  perse- 
cuted  Adelaide  herself.  Accordingly  ir 
951  he  crossed  the  Alps  with  a  well-an. 


INTERNAL  REVOLTS— THE  HUNGARIANS. 


125 


pointed  army,  besieged  and  took  possession 
of  Pavia,  and  as  his  first  wife  Edigatha 
.h.ad  died  in  the  year  946,  he  concluded  by 
giving  his  hand  to  the  beautiful  Adelaide, 
whom  lie  had  thus  so  chivalrously  deliv- 
ered troi.i  her  base  persecutor.  In  the 
course  of  the  following  year  he  became 
reconciled  with  Berengar  at  Augsburg, 
and  gave  him  Lombardy  as  a  fief  under 
German  dominion.  Verona  and  Aquis- 
legia,  however,  he  yielded  to  Henry  of 
Bavaria. 

These  events,  however,  produced  shortly 
afterwards  great  disputes  in  Germany. 
Otho  was  affectionately  attached  to  his 
queen,  Adelaide,  and  his  brother  Henry 
of  Bavaria,  and  they  both  acquired  great 
influence  with  him.  Ludolf,  Otho's  son 
by  his  former  marriage,  felt  himself,  per- 
haps not  unjustly,  to  be  neglected,  and  was 
afraid  he  would  be  excluded  from  succes- 
sion to  the  throne  by  the  children  his  father 
might  have  by  Adelaide.  He  was  joined 
by  Otho's  son-in-law,  Conrad,  Duke  of 
Lorraine,  Frederic,  Archbishop  of  Mentz, 
the  Palatine  Arnulf  of  Bavaria,  and  seve- 
ral other  nobles,  induced  especially,  as  it 
would  seem,  by  hatred  to  Henry  of  Bava- 
ria, whose  deceitful  character  had  embit- 
tered them  against  him.  It  was  only  with 
the  greatest  trouble  and  difficulty  that 
Otho  was  enabled,  in  the  course  of  the 
years  953  and  954,  to  suppress  the  revolt. 
Obstinate  and  severe  battles  were  fought 
in  Saxony,  Lorraine,  Franconia,  and  Ba- 
varia ;  and  it  was  in  vain  that  Otho  be- 
sieged his  adversaries  in  Mentz,  as  well 
as  afterwards  in  Ratisbonne.  Even  the 
Hungarians  renewed  their  destructive  at- 
tacks, and  were  supported  in  them  by  the 
revolutionary  forces  ;  they  pursued  their 
incursions  through  Bavaria,  Franconia, 
Lorraine,  a  part  of  France,  and  finally 
returned  through  Burgundy  and  Italy. 
But  it  was  just  these  very  devastations, 
committed  by  this  arch-enemy  of  the  em- 
pire, which  at  last  put  an  end  to  the  revo- 
lutionary war.  Punished  by  their  con- 
sciences,  Conrad  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Mentz  returned  to  their  allegiance  and 
li  urn  bled  themselves  before  the  king,  by 
whom  they  were  pardoned  and  received 
again  into  favor ;  and  although  in  his  ob- 
stinacy Ludolf  for  a  time  continued  the 
contest,  he  nevertheless  in  the  end,  after 
the  Palatine  Arnulf  had  been  killed  before 
Ratisb^nne,  likewise  yielded  submission  to 


his  father,  whose  kindled  wrath  had  been 
softened  down  by  the  intercession  of  the 
princes.  Ludolf  and  Conrad,  however, 
were  not  granted  the  restoration  of  their 
lost  dukedoms,  that  of  Lorraine  being 
given  to  Otho's  faithful  brother  Bruno, 
who  had  likewise  been  already  appointed 
to  the  archbishopric  of  Cologne,  while 
Burchard,  Henry  of  Bavaria's  son-in-law, 
was  raised  to  the  dukedom  of  Swabiu. 

Thus  internal  peace  was  happily  re- 
stored, when  in  the  year  955,  the  Hunga- 
rians in  still  greater  force  again  invaded  Ba- 
varia, and  besieged  Augsburg.  Udalrich,  the 
bishop  of  that  city,  defended  it  heroically, 
until  the  king  advanced  to  its  assistance 
arJ  encamped  along  the  river  Lech.  His 
army  was  divided  into  eight  battalions,  oi 
which  the  first  three  consisted  of  Bavarians; 
the  fourth  of  the  Franks  under  Conrad  ;  the 
fifth  of  the  elite  troops  of  warriors,  selected 
from  the  entire  army,  at  the  head  of  which 
noble  division  Otho  himself  commanded ; 
the  sixth  and  seventh  were  composed  of  the 
Swabians,  and  the  eighth  consisted  of  a 
thousand  picked  Bohemian  horsemen  in 
charge  of  the  military  stores  and  baggage, 
as  from  this  side  no  attack  was  anticipated. 
Scarcely  had  the  Hungarians,  however, 
caught  a  glimpse  of  the  army,  when,  with 
their  usual  rapidity,  they  spread  out  their 
innumerable  hordes  of  cavalry,  swam  across 
the  Lech,  and  attacked  the  camp  behind  the 


army 


throwing  the    Bohemians   and  the 


Swabians  into  such  disorder  that  the  bag- 
gage became  lost.  The  valiant  Conrad, 
however,  with  his  Franks,  hastened  to  their 
assistance  and  restored  order.  The  deci- 
sive battle  was  fixed  to  take  place  on  the 
following  day,  it  being  the  day  of  St. 
Lawrence.  The  whole  army  prepared  it. 
self  for  the  contest  by  prayer  ;  the  king  re- 
ceived the  holy  sacrament,  and  he  and  the 
entire  army  swore  to  remain  true  to  each 
other  unto  death.  Otho  then  raised  the 
holy  lance,  the  banner  of  the  angel  which 
had  led  to  victory  at  Merseburg,  waving 
also  now  in  front ;  the  king  himself  gave 
the  signal  for  attack,  and  was  the  first  to 
fall  upon  the  enemy.  He  himself,  with  his 
chosen  troop,  and  Conrad,  who  felt  anxious 
to  recover  by  splendid  deeds  the  good  name 
he  had  lost  in  his  rebellion,  decided  the 
battle.  Thus  a  great  and  glouous  victory 
was  gained  ;  the  enemy's  troops  completely 
defeated,  and  put  to  flight,  nearly  all  being 
destroyed  or  made  prisoners,  and  three  o! 


120         THE   SLAVONIANS— ITALY— THE  WESTERN  EMPIRE  RENEWED. 


their  leaders  hung  up  like  chiefs  of  robbers. 
Their  own  writer,  Keza,  assures  us  that  out 
of  both  their  large  armies,  consisting  of 
60,000  men,  only  seven  stragglers  returned 
— with  their  ears  shorn. 

But  the  victory  of  the  Germans  was 
dearly  purchased.  Many  brave  leaders 
fell ;  and  the  heroic  Conrad,  who,  during 
the  great  heat,  had  loosened  his  armor  to 
cool  himself  a  little,  was  mortally  wounded 
in  the  neck  by  a  stray  arrow,  and  died — 
thus  repaying  with  his  blood  the  debt  he 
owed  to  his  country.  The  Hungarians, 
however,  after  the  battle,  did  not  venture 
to  appear  again  in  Germany,  and  the  whole 
of  that  beautiful  country  along  the  Danube, 
the  subsequent  Margraviate  of  Austria,  was 
torn  from  them,  and  by  degrees  repopu- 
lated  with  Germans,  so  that  eventually  it 
flourished  gloriously. 

Otho  gained  in  the  same  year,  a  victory 
not  less  important  over  the  Slavonians,  who, 
in  conjunction  with  numerous  discontented 
Saxons,  renewed  their  attacks  constantly. 
The  Margrave  Gero,  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant men  under  the  reign  of  Otho  I.,  and 
who  had  for  many  years  continued  to  pro- 
tect the  eastern  frontiers  against  the  Slavo- 
nians, now,  together  with  the  valiant  Her- 
mann Bilburg,  opposed  them  with  great  vigor 
and  success,  until  the  king  himself  was  en- 
abled to  advance  to  their  aid  ;  and  in  a  battle 
fought  on  the  16th  of  October,  and  which 
has  been  compared  with  that  of  Augsburg, 
he  completely  conquered  them.  The  brave 
Hermann  Bilburg  was  subsequently  created 
a  duke  of  Saxony  by  Otho,  although,  as  it 
appears,  without  having  attained  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  entire  country,  and  the  full 
power  of  the  other  dukes. 

Meanwhile,  Berengar,  the  ungrateful 
King  of  Italy,  to  whom  Otho  had  shown 
great  kindness,  again  rebelled  against  him, 
and  cruelly  persecuted  all  who  held  with 
the  King  of  German}'' ;  and  in  their  trouble 
they  entreated  assistance  from  Otho.  He 
first  sent  his  son,  Ludolf,  with  an  army 
across  the  Alps  ;  its  force  was  indeed  but 
small,  but  the  valiant  son  of  Otho  pressed 
the  traitor  so  closely,  that  he  must  have 
been  destroyed,  if  Ludolf  had  not  suddenly 
died  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  and,  as  it  is  sup- 
posed, by  poison,  in  the  year  957.  Some 
few  years  elapsed,  when  in  the  year  961, 
King  Otho  himself,  invited  by  the  pope, 
John  XII.,  the  Archbishop  of  Milan,  and 
others,  accompanied  by  Adelaide,  his  queen, 


marched  himself  a  second  time  into  Italy, 
after  he  had  caused  his  son  Otho,  yet  an 
infant,  to  be  elected  and  crowned  king. 
Berengar  concealed  himself  among  his 
castles,  while  his  son  Adelbert  took  refuge 
in  Corsica  ;  but  Otho  proceeded  direr. t  to 
Rome.  During  his  progress  towards  the 
capital,  the  gates  of  every  town  were  thrown 
open  before  the  mighty  King  of  the  Ger- 
mans, and  everywhere  the  inhabitants  were 
struck  with  amazement  and  admiration, 
when  they  beheld  the  powerful  and  lofty 
figures  of  the  northern  strangers. 

Otho  considered  it  worthy  of  his  own 
glory,  as  well  as  of  the  dignity  of  the 
German  nation,  to  replace  upon  his  head, 
on  the  2d  of  February,  962,  the  Roman 
imperial  crown,  which  Charlemagne  had 
transferred  to  the  Germans,  thereby  t^sti- 
fying  to  the  whole  world,  that  strength  and 
power  were  with  that  people,  and  that 
their  monarch  was  the  first  of  all  Chris- 
tian rulers^  It  was  under  his  protection 
and  support,  that  the  church  and  its  spir 
itual  head,  the  pope,  were  to  exercise  their 
influence  over  the  people  ;  and  in  him,  the 
emperor,  every  enemy  of  order  and  justice 
would  find  a  stern  and  implacable  judge. 
Thus  had,  likewise,  Charles  the  Great 
founded  anew  the  imperial  dignity,  and 
thus  it  was  renewed  by  Otho  I.  It  is  true, 
the  condition  of  Europe  had  changed  since. 
Charles's  time  ;  then  almost  all  the  Chris- 
tian nations  were  under  his  dominion ; 
while  there  were  various  independent  kings 
who  were  not  subject  to  him,  the  German 
king.  Yet  not  one  of  them  all  could  com- 
pare himself  with  him ;  the  imperial 
crown  had  ever  been  justly  regarded  as 
belonging  to  the  Germans,  and  the  ances- 
tors of  Otho  had  none  of  them  given  up 
their  claim  to  it.  Otho  was  especially  the 
protector  of  the  Christian  faith  towards  the 
north  and  east ;  he  ruled  in  Burgundy  ; 
his  authority  was  the  ruling  one  in  France, 
where  his  brother,  Bruno,  of  Lorraine, 
acted  as  arbitrator  and  judge,  and  as  which 
he  was  acknowledged  by  all ;  and  now, 
having  subjected  Italy,  to  him  alone  be 
longed  the  dignity  of  Emperor  of  the 
Western  Christendom. 

Many  have  spoken  against  the  renewa" 
of  the  empire,  and  have  particularly  cen 
sured  King  Otho,  that  he  cast  this  greal 
burden  upon  Germany.  The  union  of  the 
two  countries  was  the  source  of  the  great 
est  misfortune  to  Germany,  which  sauri 


THE  EMPERORS  AND  THE  POPES— THE  CHURCH. 


127 


ficed  so  many  men  for  the  foreign  ally, 
while  at  home  it  was  itself  entirely  neg- 
lected by  its  own  hereditary  rulers.  But 
what  God  had  prepared  as  a  great  transi- 
tion in  the  fate  of  a  nation,  and  what  a 
number  of  excellent  men  in  former  times 
acknowledged  as  necessary  and  good,  can- 
riot  be  rejected  by  the  judgment  of  later 
descendants.  It  has  been  the  same  with 
the  papacy ;  many  have  expended  their 
gall  against  it,  as  having  only  contributed 
to  the  diffusion  of  darkness,  superstition, 
and  spiritual  slavery.  But  those  who 
thus  express  thernselves,  mix  in  their  cen- 
sure all  ages,  and  are  unable  to  transport 
themselves  into  those  wherein  the  imperial 
throne  and  the  papal  chair  were  necessary 
iinks  in  the  great  chain  of  historical  de- 
velopment. 

It  is  not  difficult  for  the  unprejudiced 
arid  candid  mind  to  perceive  the  grand 
idea  which  served  as  the  foundation  of 
both.  In  those  times  when  rude  force  ex- 
ercised its  dominion,  the  emperor,  with  the 
scales  of  justice  in  his  hand,  presided  as 
judge  between  Christian  nations,  and  ex- 
erted himself  for  the  peace  of  the  world 
externally  ;  while,  on  his  part,  the  pope 
guided  the  empire  of  internal  peace,  piety, 
and  virtue.  As  the  condition  of  life  was 
yet  rude,  and  civil  institutions  still  so  im- 
perfect, that  the  state  could  not  of  itself 
undertake  to  superintend  mental  cultiva- 
tion ;  therefore,  the  church  and  schools, 
the  clergy  and  teachers,  necessarily  stood 
under  the  supremacy  of  the  head  of  the 
church,  whose  care  it  was  that  the  truth 
and  gentleness  of  the  divine  word  should 
illumine  all  Christian  nations,  and  unite 
them  into  one  empire  of  faith. 

With  respect  to  the  danger  which  might 
threaten — viz. :  that,  in  the  first  place,  the 
one  of  these  two  powers  might  bring  under 
its  dominion  the  body  by  means  of  the 
sword,  and  thence  require  what  was  un- 
just; and  that,  in  the  second  place,  the 
other  would  so  bind  the  conscience,  that  it 
might  force  it  not  to  put  faith  in  truth 
itself,  but  merely  in  the  word  as  given — a 
sufficient  protection  was  provided,  in  either 
case,  inasmuch  as  the  said  power,  both  of 
the  emperor  and  the  pope,  was  less  an  ex- 
ternal than  an  internal  power,  founded 
solely  upon  the  veneration  of  nations. 
Such  an  authority  can  never  be  lastingly 
misused  without  destroying  itself. 

It  is  true   that  not   all  emperors  have 


truly  seized  the  idea  of  their  dignity,  or 
else,  perhaps,  such  great  obstructions  stood 
in  their  way  that  they  could  not  execute 
it ;  and  thus,  also,  the  popes  not  having 
always  retained  themselves  within  the 
limits  of  those  rights  which  were  accorded 
to  them  alone  in  the  dominion  of  the 
church,  both  powers,  which  should  have 
worked  in  unity  together,  and  the  one  have 
made  the  other  perfect,  ha? 3,  in  their  en- 
mity, at  last  destroyed  each  other.  But — 
and  this  is  the  chief  point — the  grand  idea 
itself  must  above  all  things  be  well  dis- 
tinguished from  its  execution.  The  more 
glorious  it  is,  the  greater  is  its  contradic- 
tion to  the  fallibility  of  human  nature,  and 
the  low  bias  of  many  ages  ;  and  the  ill 
success  of  its  accomplishment  cannot  de- 
tract from  its  own  dignity  or  from  the 
greatness  of  those  who  have  contended  for  it. 

With  respect  to  the  sacrifice  of  men  in 
the  Italian  expedition,  it  depends  upon  the 
question,  whether  the  object  to  be  obtained 
was  great  and  important  or  not.  If  it  was 
so,  the  sacrifice  must  not  be  taken  into 
consideration,  if  battle  and  war  may  be 
allowed  for  a  high  and  necessary  purpose. 
And  the  emperors  who,  with  noble-minded 
dispositions  and  intentions,  made  this  sacri- 
fice for  the  idea  of  an  empire,  and  the 
honor  of  their  nation,  are  not,  therefore,  to 
be  blamed. 

The  noble  pride,  however,  felt  by  the 
Germans  in  the  thought,  that  they  and 
their  rulers  should  be  the  central  point 
of  Christianity ;  the  conviction  of  their 
strength,  made  manifest  by  the  daring 
courage  of  the  small  forces,  composed  of 
their  countrymen,  in  venturing  across  the 
Alps,  and  who,  when  reaching  their  desti- 
nation, by  the  superiority  of  their  nature 
gave  laws  to  a  numerous  and  populous  na- 
tion ;  these  recollections  of  the  ancient 
glory  of  our  nation,  still  existing  in  us  the 
later  descendants — all  this  is  the  reward 
for  the  sacrifice  made. 

Other  advantages,  becoming  more  and 
more  immediately  manifest,  arising  from 
the  union  of  Germany  with  Italy,  will  be 
shown  in  the  course  of  our  history.  We 
only  mention  in  advance  the  great  influ 
ence  which  the  example  of  the  free  Italian 
cities,  and,  in  particular,  the  flourishing 
state  of  commerce  there,  had  upon  the  rise 
and  successful  progress  of  German  towns, 
an  advantage  the  importance  of  which  can. 
not  be  too  highly  estimated. 


OTHO'S  RIGHTS  AS  PROTECTOR  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


Otho  speedily  exercised  his  right  of  pro- 
tectorship over  the  church,  and  his  office 
of  superior  Christian  ruler,  against  the 
same  pope  who  had  crowned  him.  John 
XII.  had  recalled  from  Corsica  the  son  of 
Berengar,  for  the  purpose  of  placing  him 
in  opposition  against  the  emperor  ;  and,  in 
addition  to  this,  was  charged  by  the  Ro- 
man people,  and  the  clergy,  with  the  most 
serious  crimes.  John  sprang  from  a  very 
corrupt  race,  and  had  become  pope  as  early 
as  in  his  eighteenth  year.  Otho  hereupon 
convoked  a  council,  consisting  of  forty 
bishops  and  seventeen  cardinals,  and  as 
John,  upon  the  emperor's  citation,  refused 
to  appear  before  these  assembled  fathers, 
he  was  deposed  from  his  dignity,  and  Leo 
VIII.  chosen  instead.  The  Roman  people, 
as  well  as  the  clergy,  now  swore  to  elect 
no  pope  in  future  without  the  consent  of 
the  emperor.  The  popes  from  this  time 
again  called  the  emperor  their  lord,  and  in 
acknowledgment  of  his  supremacy,  placed 
his  name  upon  their  coins,  and  marked  the 
years  of  his  reign  upon  their  bulls. 

But  the  Romans  soon  forgot  their  oath, 
drove  away  Pope  Leo,  and  recalled  the 
deposed  John,  after  whose  death,  which 
speedily  followed,  they  elected  another 
pope,  Benedict,  in  opposition.  The  pa- 
tience of  the  emperor  was  now  exhausted, 
and  he  exercised  a  heavy  punishment 
upon  the  perjured  Romans.  He  returned 
again  with  his  army,  laid  waste  the  coun- 
try around  Rome,  surrounded  and  besieged 
the  city,  and  forced  the  inhabitants  to  sur- 
render and  open  the  gates,  and  to  give  up 
the  pope,  Benedict,  into  his  hands.  He 
then  convoked  a  large  assembly  of  the 
bishops  and  clergy,  and  in  their  presence 
Benedict  was  divested  of  his  insignia,  and 
at  once  banished,  while  Leo  was  replaced 
upon  the  throne. 

Meantime  Berengar,  with  his  wife,  Wil- 
la,  had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  emper- 
or's generals,  and  were  conveyed  to  Bam- 
berg,  where  after  their  imprisonment  they 
shortly  died.  The  emperor  himself,  after 
he  had  thus  established  his  dominion,  re- 
turned in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  965, 
to  Germany,  and  celebrated  at  Cologne, 
with  his  beloved  brother  Bruno,  his  mother, 
his  son  Otho,  and  nephews,  together  with  a 
numerous  assemblage  of  the  nobles  of  his 
empire,  the  joyful  event  of  his  return 
among  them  after  a  long  and  trying  time 
of  absence. 


But  already  in  the  following  year,  966. 
his  prese.nce  was  again  required  in  Italy 
through  the  disturbances  caused  by  Aclel- 
bert,  the  son  of  Berengar,  and  the  revolt  oi 
the  Romans  against  their  pope.  His  ap- 
pearance, however,  once  more  produced 
order  and  peace  ;  and  he  was  now  enabled 
to  turn  his  attention  to  Lower  Italy,  where 
the  emperor  of  Greece  still  had  his  gover- 
nor, and  then  to  Sicily,  whence  the  Sara- 
cens threatened  entire  Italy.  It  was  now 
Otho's  wish  to  form  an  alliance  with  the 
family  of  the  Greek  emperor,  in  order, 
thereby,  to  open  a  prospect  for  his  own 
house  upon  Lower  Italy,  as  well  as  to  be- 
come enabled  to  ward  off  more  effectually 
the  inroads  of  the  unbelievers. 

He  sent  for  his  son  Otho  from  Germany, 
and  had  him  crowned  as  future  emperor 
by  the  pope,  and  then  dispatched  an  em- 
bassy to  Constantinople,  for  the  purpose  of 
demanding  Theophania,  the  daughter  of  the 
emperor,  in  marriage  for  his  son.  Con- 
nected with  this  embassy,  Luitprand,  whom 
Otho  had  made  bishop  of  Cremona,  relates 
a  singular  circumstance,  although,  from 
his  hatred  of  the  Greeks,  with  evident  ex- 
aggeration :  "  We  arrived  here,"  he  says, 
"in  June,  and  were  immediately  supplied 
with  a  guard  of  honor,  so  that  we  could 
not  go  anywhere  without  an  escort.  On 
the  second  day  of  our  arrival  we  proceeded 
on  horseback  to  the  audience.  The  em- 
peror Nicephorus  is  a  short,  stout  man,  so 
brown  that,  in  a  forest,  he  would  strike  us 
with  terror.  He  said,  '  he  lamented  that 
our  lord  and  ruler  had  showed  the  daring 
boldness  to  assume  and  appropriate  Rome 
to  himself,  and  to  destroy  two  such  honor- 
able men  as  Berengar  and  Adelbert,  and 
then  to  carry  fire  and  sword  even  into 
Grecian  countries :'  he  added,  '  that  he 
knew  we  had  counselled  our  lord  to  it.' 
We  replied  :  *  Our  lord,  the  emperor,  has 
delivered  Rome  from  tyranny  and  sinners, 
which  he  has  come  from  the  end  of  the 
earth  into  Italy  to  accomplish,  while  others 
have  remained  indolently  sleeping  upon 
their  thrones,  and  deemed  such  great  con- 
fusion  and  anarchy  beneath  their  dignity 
to  notice.  Besides  which,'  we  added,  '  we 
have  among  us  those  brave  and  loyal 
knights,  who  are  always  ready  and  pre- 
pared to  maintain,  by  single  combat  at 
arms,  the  justice  and  virtue  of  our  master. 
Yet  we  have  come  here  with  views  and  in- 
tentions of  peace,  and  for  the  purpose  of 


OTHO'S  SON'S  MARRIAGE  WITH   A  caiKCIAN    1'RINCESS. 


129 


demanding  the  Princess  Thcophania  in 
marriage  for  Otho,  our  prince,  and  eldest 
son  of  our  lord  and  emperor.'  To  which 
the  emperor  observed:  'It  is  now  time  to 
go  to  the  procession.  We  will  attend  to 
this  matter  at  a  more  convenient  moment.3 
The  grand  procession,  wherein  the  king 
appeared,  attired  in  a  long  mantle,  escort- 
od  by  soldiers  or  city  volunteers,  without 
halberds,  passed  along  slowly  amid  the  ac- 
clamations of  the  people. 

"  When  at  table,  he  wished  to  censure 
our  mode  of  warfare,  saying  our  arms 
were  much  too  heavy,  while  the  Germans 
appeared  to  be  only  valiant  when  they 
were  drunk ;  and  that  the  true  Romans 
were  only  now  to  be  found  in  Constantino- 
ple. When  he  said  this,  he  made  a  sign 
to  me  with  his  hand  that  I  should  be  silent. 
At  another  time  he  spoke  of  the  affairs  of 
the  church,  and  asked,  mockingly,  whether 
any  council  had  ever  been  convoked  in 
Saxony  ?  I  replied,  *  that  where  there  was 
most  sickness,  there  was  most  need  of  the 
greatest  number  of  doctors  ;  that  all  here- 
sies had  originated  with  the  Greeks,  and 
therefore  church  councils  were  more  ne- 
cessary to  be  held  among  them.  Never- 
theless I  knew  of  one  council  being  assem- 
bled in  Saxony,  where  it  had  been  pro- 
nounced that  it  was  more  glorious  to  fight 
with  the  sword  in  hand  than  with  the 
pen.' 

'•  The  emperor  is  surrounded  with  flat- 
terers and  sycophants  ;  the  whole  city  floats 
in  sensuality,  and  even  on  holy  days  of 
festival  there  are  plays  performed.  Their 
power  reposes  not  in  their  own  strength, 
but  is  dependent  upon  the  mercenary  forces 
of  Amain",  and  upon  Venetian  and  Russian 
sailors.  I  believe  firmly  that  four  hun- 
dred Germans  in  open  field  would  put  the 
whole  Greek  army  completely  to  flight." 

Nicephorus  would  not  consent  to  the 
marriage,  and  Otho,  as  emperor,  now 
sought  to  extend  his  dominion  over  the 
whole  of  Lower  Italy,  which  was  divided 
among  the  Greeks,  Saracens,  and  native 
princes.  The  history  of  these  expeditions 
is  not  clearly  given  ;  but  altogether  it  ap- 
pears the  imperial  arms  were  victorious, 
although  it  was  not  possible  to  gain  any 
durable  advantage  in  that  difficult  country. 
In  December,  969,  the  emperor  Nicepho- 
rus v^as  murdered  in  a  revolt,  when  his 
successor  very  willingly  formed  an  alli- 
ance with  the  emperor  of  Germany.  Tho 
17 


Princess  Theophania  was  crowned  in  Rome 
in  the  year  972,  by  the  pope,  John  XIII... 
and  united  to  the  young  prince,  Otho.  The 
emperor  himself  now  returned  to  Germany, 
after  an  absence  of  six  years,  in  order  that 
he  might  enjoy  some  little  peace  at  the 
close  of  a  life  so  rich  in  striking  events. 

The  great  influence  which  Otho  had 
acquired  throughout  the  entire  western 
world,  was  satisfactorily  proved  to  the 
German  nation  during  the  last  few  months 
of  his  life.  Having  gone  to  Quedlinburg 
to  visit  the  grave  of  his  mother,  Matilda, 
he  was  there  waited  upon  by  the  rulers  of 
the  Poles  and  Bohemians,  the  chiefs  Mjesko 
and  Boleslas,  in  order  to  receive  his  opin 
ion  and  judgment  in  their  affairs  ;  and  these 
were  immediately  followed  by  the  ambas- 
sadors of  the  Romans,  Beneventanians, 
Greeks,  Bulgarians,  Slavonians,  Danes, 
and  Hungarians,  and  the  whole  completed 
by  an  embassy  from  the  Saracens  in  Af- 
rica, which  arrived  shortly  afterwards  at 
Merseburg. 

Just  at  this  time,  however,  he  was  very 
much  affected  by  the  death  of  his  faithful 
friend,  Herman,  duke  of  Saxony,  who  died 
in  Quedlinburg  on  the  27th  of  March,  973. 
Grieved  at  the  loss  of  that  good  man,  sayo 
Widukind,  he  wandered  solitary  and  de- 
jected among  the  graves  of  those  he  had 
held  so  dear.  Alas,  how  many  of  these 
had  already  preceded  him  in  their  depart- 
ure from  this  life,  reminding  him  of  his 
own  past  career,  so  troubled,  so  eventful, 
but  yet  in  many  respects  so  glorious ! 

When  on  the  6th  of  May  he  arrived  at 
his  castle  in  Memleben,  where  his  father 
had  died,  he  felt  himself  extremely  weak. 
Nevertheless  he  attended  service  in  the 
chapel  on  the  following  morning,  gave  his 
usual  alms  to  the  poor,  and  then  reposed 
again.  At  midday  he  again  appeared,  and 
at  the  appointed  time  he  took  his  meal  at 
dinner  with  cheerfulness  and  enjoyment, 
upon  which  he  attended  the  evening  ser- 
vice. It  was  then  he  suddenly  felt  over- 
come with  a  burning  fever,  and  he  was 
assisted  to  a  chair  by  the  princes  in  attend- 
ance. But  his  head  sunk  ;  he  felt  his 
approaching  end,  and  indicating  his  wishes 
by  signs,  he  was  immediately  assisted  in 
the  solemn  service  of  the  holy  communion. 
Just  after  he  had  received  it,  and  when  the 
holy  ceremony  was  over,  as  Widukind 
states,  he  ended  his  mortal  career,  and 
without  a  sigh  tranquilly  breathed  his  last. 


130 


OTHO  II.— HAROLD  OF  DENMARK— LORRAINE— PARIS. 

__^______ 


DII  the  7th  of  May,  973,  aged  sixty-one 
years,  and  in  the  thirty-eighth  of  his  reign. 

His  body  was  conveyed  to  Magdeburg, 
his  favorite  city,  and  being  deposited  in  a 
marble  coffin,  was  placed  as  he  had  wished, 
on  the  side  of  his  beloved  Edgitha,  in  the 
church  of  St.  Maurice. 

Otho  II.,  who,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of 
iiis  age,  now  succeeded  to  the  throne,  very 
soon  had  reason  to  find  that  the  task  which 
had  thus  early  devolved  upon  his  shoulders, 
of  maintaining,  in  all  its  supremacy,  the 
powerful  empire  of  his  father,  extending, 
as  it  did,  from  the  boundaries  of  the  Da- 
nish country  to  nearly  the  extensive  points 
of  Lower  Italy,  was  not  a  little  arduous 
and  difficult.  For  in  the  north  and  east, 
the  Danes  and  Slavonians  continued  still 
unwilling  subjects  or  neighbors ;  in  the 
west,  the  French  rulers  were  jealous  ri- 
vals ;  in  the  south  of  Italy,  the  Greeks  and 
Arabs  were  anxiously  watching  for  an  op- 
portunity to  extend  their  power ;  while,  in 
the  interior  of  Germany  itself,  many  par- 
ties stood  in  a  condition  of  direct  hostility 
towards  each  other. 

In  this  critical  position,  the  necessary 
strength  and  energy  of  body  was  certainly 
not  wanting  in  the  young  monarch,  as  was 
sufficiently  shown  by  his  figure,  which, 
although  rather  short,  was,  nevertheless, 
strong  and  firmly  knit  together,  while  his 
healthy  constitution  was  indicated  by  the 
florid,  ruddy  hue  of  his  cheeks,  and  which, 
in  fact,  procured  for  him  the  by-name  of 
Otho  the  Florid,  or  Red.  But  wisdom 
and  forethought  were  not  as  yet  at  his  com- 
mand ;  and  it  was  for  him  a  misfortune  that, 
even  as  a  child,  he  had  been  designated  as 
the  sovereign ;  for  he  thus  became  proud 
and  violent,  extreme  and  unequal  in  his 
conduct ;  while  mildness  and  severity  were 
with  him  in  constant  interchange,  and  his 
liberality  at  times  bordered  upon  extrava- 
gance itself.  Had  time,  however,  enabled 
him  to  moderate  these  strong  passions  of 
youth,  and  thus,  by  the  experience  of  in- 
creased years,  ripened  and  brought  to 
perfection  his  nobler  qualities,  he  might 
then  have  been  included  in  the  list  of  the 
most  distinguished  rulers  of  our  country. 
But  fate  ordained  otherwise  ;  and  he  was 
struck  down,  in  the  bloom  of  manhood,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-eight  years. 

The  very  first  years  of  his  reign  were 
already  fully  occupied  with  the  different 
disputes  and  dissensions  in  the  empire,  but 


more  especially  with  that  produced  by  hia 
cousin  Henry,  the  second  duke  of  Bavaria, 
or  the  Turbulent,  who  had  revolted  againsl 
the  y.oung  emperor,  but  who,  however,  was 
taken  prisoner,  and  deprived  of  his  duchy; 
as  likewise  by  the  rising  of  Harold  of  Den- 
mark against  Otho,  who  was  forced  to 
march  against  him,  and  completely  sub- 
dued  him. 

Soon  afterwards,  France  made  an  at- 
tempt to  acquire  the  Lorraine  dominion, 
which,  by  the  division  of  Verdun,  was 
fixed  in  the  centre  between  Germany  and 
France,  but  had  now  become  united  with 
Germany.  The  king,  Lothaire,  secretly 
collected  his  army,  and  while  Otho,  com- 
pletely unprepared,  was  holding  a  court  on 
the  occasion  of  the  feast  of  St.  John,  in 
978,  in  the  ancient  imperial  palatinate  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  suddenly  advanced, 
and,  by  forced  marches,  without  even  an- 
nouncing hostilities,  hastened  on  to  that 
city,  in  order  to  take  the  emperor  prisoner. 
Fortunately,  Otho  received  intelligence  of 
the  enemy's  approach  in  time  to  enable 
him  to  quit  the  place  on  the  day  before  his 
arrival.  Lothaire  took  possession  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  and  plundered  it,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  commanded  the  eagle,  erected 
in  the  grand  square  of  Charles  the  Great, 
to  be  turned  towards  the  west,  in  sign  that 
Lorraine  now  belonged  to  France.  But 
Otho  forthwith  held  a  diet  of  the  princes 
and  nobles  at  Dortmund,  represented  to 
them,  with  the  most  impressive  eloquence, 
the  faithlessness  of  the  French  king,  and 
summoned  them  to  march  against  the  pre- 
sumptuous enemy.  They  all  unanimously 
promised  their  assistance,  forgetting  every 
internal  dispute,  for  it  now  concerned  the 
honor  of  the  country. 

Accordingly,  on  the  1st  of  October,  978, 
a  considerable  army  marched  into  France, 
and  without  meeting  with  much  opposition, 
advanced,  by  Rheims  and  Soissoris,  as  far 
as  Paris.  Here,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Seine,  around  the  Montmartre,  the  Ger- 
mans encamped,  and  their  mounted  troops 
scoured  the  whole  of  the  country  around, 
committing  devastation  everywhere.  The 
city  itself  was  garrisoned  by  the  duke, 
Hugo  Capet ;  the  Seine  divided  the  two 
armies,  but  the  French  did  not  venture  out 
to  give  battle.  Otho,  however,  could  not 
succeed  in  taking  the  city,  which  was 
strongly  fortified ;  and  as  winter  now  ad- 
vanced— it  being  the  end  of  November— 


ITALY— TIIF.  I;RL;I:KS  AND  AUABS— OTHO'S  DEFEAT. 


131 


and  sickness  very  generally  prevailed 
among  the  troops,  he  commenced  a  re- 
treat. This  expedition  was  one  of  the  first 
undertaken  by  the  Germans  against  Paris; 
the  treacherous  attack  of  the  French  king 
was  now  punished,  nor  did  he  venture  to 
make  another.  In  the  treaty  of  peace  sub- 
sequently concluded,  Lorraine  was  secured 
to  Germany  forever. 

In  the  year  980,  Otho  set  out  on  his  first 
expedition  to  Italy,  from  which,  however, 
as  it  turned  out,  he  was  never  to  return. 
II"  was  in  hopes  of  being  able  to  conquer 
the  possessions  in  Lower  Italy,  which  the 
Greek  emperors  still  maintained,  and  to 
which  Otho,  by  his  marriage  with  Theo- 
phania,  laid  claim.  The  Greeks,  how- 
ever, called  to  their  aid  the  Arabs,  both  of 
Africa  and  Sicily.  At  first,  Otho  gained 
some  advantages,  and,  after  a  siege  of 
nearly  two  months,  he  made  himself  mas- 
ter of  Salerno.  He  then  took  Bari  and 
Taranto,  in  Apulia,  and  pressed  forward, 
in  the  spring  of  982,  to  the  mountains  of 
Calabria.  He  beat  the  combined  army  of 
the  Greeks  and  Arabs,  first  at  Rossano, 
where  they  had  waited  for  him  in  a  strong 
position,  and  then  overthrowing  them  at 
Coterna,  pursued  them  as  far  as  Squillace, 
where  another  decisive  battle  was  fought 
on  the  13th  of  July,  982.  The  imperial 
troops  rushed  with  the  greatest  impetuosity 
upon  the  ranks  of  the  Greeks,  who  held 
out  bravely  until  mid-day,  when  they  fell 
back  upon  Squillace.  The  successful 
troops,  abandoning  themselves  now  too 
eagerly  to  their  elated  hopes  of  victory  and 
pillage,  felt  so  secure,  that  they  laid  aside 
their  arms,  and  marched  leisurely  and  con- 
fidently along  the  banks  of  the  river  Co- 
race.  But  here  they  were  suddenly  fallen 
upon  by  an  ambuscade  of  the  Arabs,  hith- 
eno  concealed  behind  the  rocks,  and  were 
speedily  surrounded  on  every  side  by  in- 
numerable hordes  of  these  swift  warriors. 
The  scattered  troops  were  completely  over- 
powered, and  either  cut  to  pieces  or  made 
prisoners  by  the  enemy  ;  and  only  a  very 


small   number  of  that 


army, 


but  a  short 


time  before  so  triumphant,  were  enabled  to 
save  themselves.  The  emperor  himself, 
as  it  were,  by  a  miracle,  escaped  by  plun- 
ging into  the  sea,  mounted  as  he  was  on 
his  trusty  steed,  and  swimming  towards  a 
Greek  vessel.  The  crew  received  him  on 
board,  not  knowing  the  high  rank  of  the  im- 
perial fugitive,  yet  hoping  to  receive  a  hand- 


some ransom  from  him  as  a  distingi  ished 
knight,  for  which  they  held  him  to  be 
By  means  of  a  slave  on  board,  who  had 
recognised,  but  not  betrayed  him,  he  saved 
himself  a  second  time,  near  Rossano,  by 
springing  from  this  ship,  and  swimming  on 
shore  ;  and,  after  safely  reaching  land,  he 
entered  that  city,  and  there  joined  his 
queen. 

In  this  disastrous  scene,  many  German 
and  Italian  princes  and  nobles  perished, 
among  whom  were  Udo,  duke  of  Franco- 
nia,  the  margraves  Berthold  and  Giinther, 
Henry,  bishop  of  Augsburg,  (who  had 
likewise  fought  in  the  ranks,)  together 
with  numerous  others;  and  all  the  con- 
quered portions  of  the  country  in  Lower 
Italy  fell  again  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

Full  of  sorrow  and  vexation,  the  empe- 
ror proceeded  to  Upper  Italy,  in  order  to 
collect  another  army.  He  held  a  grand 
assembly  in  Verona,  consisting  of  both 
German  and  Italian  princes  and  nobles, 
and  his  mother,  together  with  his  queen 
and  infant  son,  Otho,  then  only  three  years 
old,  were  likewise  present ;  he  succeeded, 
in  having  the  latter  at  once  elected  by  all 
the  princes  as  his  successor.  It  was,  at 
the  same  time,  determined  that  the  child 
should  be  taken  back  to  Germany,  under 
the  charge  of  Willigis,  archbishop  of  Mentz, 
and  be  crowned  on  the  following  Christ- 
mas, (983,)  in  the  ancient  imperial  city  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle. 

The  emperor  himself,  however,  after  he 
had  regulated  the  affairs  of  Upper  Italy, 
repaired  to  Rome.  There  he  arranged  to 
have  his  chancellor.  Peter  of  Pavia,  elected 
as  pope,  (John  XIV. ;)  and  this  was  his  last 
public  act.  Overwhelmed  with  the  im- 
portant plans  he  nourished  in  his  heart  for 
his  next  campaign  in  Lower  Italy,  as  well 
as  with  the  excitement  produced  upon  his 
impatient  and  nervous  mind,  by  the  sad 
reverses  of  the  previous  year,  and  the  mul- 
tifarious cares  of  his  government,  he  was, 
in  a  few  days,  attacked  by  a  raging  fever, 
of  which  he  died,  in  the  presence  of  his 
queen,  the  pope,  and  several  of  his  faithful 
adherents,  on  the  7th  of  December,  983, 
in  the  28th  year  of  his  age.  He  was 
buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  in  Rome* 
The  news  of  his  death  reached  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  the  day  after  the  coronation  of  his 
infant  son  had  been  celebrated  in  tne  as- 
sembly of  all  the  princes. 


132 


OTHO  III.— HENRY  THE  TURBULENT— ATTEMPTED  REVOLT. 


The  very  tender  age  of  the  new  sover- 
eign, Otho  III.,  would  have  been  a  great 
misfortune  for  Germany,  nad  not  his  moth- 
er, Queen  Theophania,  a  woman  of  ex- 
traordinary  genius,  been  enabled  to  under- 
take, during  his  minority,  the  direction  and 
control  of  the  affairs  of  the  imperial  gov- 
ernment with  adequate  spirit  and  energy, 
and  if,  likewise,  among  the  greater  portion 
of  the  German  princes  there  had  not  ex- 
isted a  faithful  adherence  towards  the 
imperial  house,  and  a  general  desire  for 
peace  and  order.  For  immediately  after 
the  death  of  Otho  II.,  Henry,  the  deposed 
duke  of  Bavaria,  after  having  been  set  at 
liberty  by  Poppo,  bishop  of  Utrecht,  into 
whose  custody  he  had  been  given,  came 
forward  again  with  his  pretensions,  and 
even  demanded,  as  nearest  relation,  to  have 
the  sole  guardianship  of  the  young  king. 
The  archbishop  of  Cologne,  Warin,  under 
whose  protection  the  infant  had  been  placed, 
actually  delivered  him  up  to  Henry,  who 
held  him  under  his  control  during  a  whole 
year.  The  queen-mother,  Theophania, 
who,  according  to  her  deceased  husband's 
will,  was  to  have  the  guardianship  of  the 
child,  was  still  in  Italy ;  and  when  she 
returned,  Henry  had  already  so  strength- 
ened his  party,  that  he  contemplated  taking 
possession  of  the  government  himself.  He 
had  lost  no  time  in  forming  a  league  with 
those  nobles  who  were  devoted  to  his  in- 
terests, and  had  already  agreed  with  them 
under  what  conditions  they  should  give  their 
assistance  and  support  towards  raising  him  to 
the  throne.  A.t  the  same  time,  the  French 
king,  Lothairo,  availing  himself  of  the  dis- 
union in  Germany,  had  again  stretched  out 
his  hand  to  grasp  the  Lorraine  country,  and 
had  got  possession  of  the  important  town 
and  fortress  of  Verdun. 

The  Slavonians  on  the  northern  and 
eastern  frontiers  who,  during  the  years  that 
Otho  II.  was  in  Italy;  had,  by  their  united 
strength,  almost  entirely  shaken  off  the 
German  dominion,  re-established  pagan- 
ism, and  made  many  successful  depreda- 
tory incursions  in  the  various  German  pos- 
sessions, now,  together  with  the  dukes  of 
Poland  and  Bohemia  on  their  part,  promised 
the  rebel,  Henry  of  Bavaria,  their  assistance 
in  his  revolutionary  plans.  Thus  the  con- 
dition of  the  Germanic  empire  had  at  this 
moment  become  entirely  critical. 

Bui  the  alliance  of  Henry  with  the  bar- 
barians only  served  to  bring  back  to  their 


proper  recollection  all  those  nobles  of  Sax- 
ony  and  Thuringia  who  had  hitherto  formed 
the  majority  of  the  renegade's  partisans, 
and  they  turned  from  him  and  joined  the 
ranks  of  the  legitimate  party,  headed  by 
the  Dukes  Conrad  of  Swabia,  Bernard  of 
Saxony,  and  the  newly  created  duke  of 
Bavaria,  (recently  elected  by  Otho  II.,) 
Henry  the  younger,  of  the  house  of  Baben 
berg ;  the  whole  of  whom,  with  Willigis 
archbishop  of  Mentz,  had  still  maintained 
their  fidelity  towards  the  young  monarch 
and  his  royal  mother.  In  Lorraine,  also, 
a  party  rose  up  to  defend  the  cause  of 
Otho,  the  heart  and  soul  of  which  was  the 
distinguished  ecclesiastic,  Gerbert,  the  most 
learned  man  of  his  time  ;  possessing  a 
knowledge  of  all  the  sciences,  but,  more 
especially,  so  profoundly  read  in  natural 
philosophy,  that  he  was  regarded  as  a 
magician.  At  the  same  time  he  possessed 
great  powers  of  mind,  with  the  necessary 
energetic  and  penetrating  capacity  for  ac- 
tion in  all  political  matters ;  and  in  his 
office  of  tutor  to  the  young  emperor,  to 
which  he  was  appointed  subsequently,  he 
continued  to  assist  him  with  his  valuable 
counsel  until  his  death. 

Thence,  by  means  of  this  combined  oper- 
ation on  the  part  of  all  his  faithful  friends 
and  stanch  adherents  of  the  imperial  house, 
Henry  the  Turbulent  was  forced,  at  a 
grand  diet  held  at  Rora,*  in  the  month  of 
June,  984,  to  surrender  into  the  hands  of 
the  queen-mother  and  grandmother,  wh 
were  both  present,  the  infant  emperor.  In 
the  same  year,  also,  the  desired  union  of 
peace  and  friendship  between  Henry  and 
the  guardians  was  completely  restored  and 
firmly  established  at  the  diet  of  Worms ; 
Henry  and  his  friends  swearing  fealty  to 
the  sovereign,  and  which  he  continued  to 
hold  sacred  from  that  day ;  nay,  through 
leading  subsequently  a  life  of  peace,  piety, 
and  charity,  he  earned  for  himself  the  by- 
name of  the  peaceful,  instead  of  the  tur- 
bulent Henry.  In  the  following  year  he 
received  again  his  long  wished-for  duchy 
of  Bavaria,  in  return  for  resigning  which, 
Henry  the  younger  was  indemnified,  with 
the  duchy  of  Carinthia,  which  had  become 
again  separated  from  Bavaria,  together 
with  the  Veronian  marches.  Other  nobles 
were  bound  to  the  new  government  by 
presents  and  gifts  of  land.  The  margra- 

*  The  exact  site  of  this  place  cannot  be  traced. 


ITALY— OTHO  III.  CROWNED  AT  ROME. 


133 


viates,  erected  to  oppose  the  Slavonians 
and  Hungarians,  were  fortified  anew,  and 
supplied  with  faithful  guards;  the  dukes 
Micislas  of  Poland  and  Boleslas  of  Bohe- 
mia returned  to  their  allegiance,  and  thus, 
by  wisdom,  prudence,  and  firmness,  both 
the  empresses  restored  once  more  the  order 
and  tranquillity  of  the  German  empire  inter- 
nally, and  again  promoted  and  established 
its  influential  claims  for  respect  externally. 

In  the  year  987,  after  the  death  of  Lo- 
thaire,  France  likewise  concluded  a  treaty 
of  peace,  and  his  son  and  successor,  Louis 
V.,  surrendered  to  Germany  the  bishopric 
of  Verdun.  He  was  the  last  of  the  race 
of  the  Carlovingians  on  the  throne  of 
France  ;  and,  after  his  death,  in  the  same 
year,  the  house  of  the  Capetingians  fol- 
lowed in  the  person  of  Hugo  Capet,  his 
successor. 

In  Rome,  after  the  Empress  Theophania 
had  returned  to  Germany,  great  disturb- 
ances broke  out,  and  the  patrician  Crescen- 
tius,  especially,  exercised  the  greatest  ty- 
ranny in  the  city.  The  empress,  however, 
having  beheld  Germany  tranquillized,  and 
the  dominion  of  her  son  established,  re- 
turned in  988  to  Rome,  and  with  her  innate 
power  and  wisdom,  caused  the  authority  of 
Crescent]  us  to  be  checked  and  restricted 
within  its  proper  limits.  Unhappily,  this 
distinguished  woman  died  too  soon  for  the 
times  she  lived  in,  her  death  taking  place 
already  in  the  year  991,  at  Nimwegen. 

The  education  of  the  young  emperor, 
now  eleven  years  old,  henceforward  de- 
volved more  especially  upon  Bernward,  of 
Hildesheim,  a  most  excellent,  and,  for  his 
time,  a  very  learned  man,  into  whose  hands 
Queen  Theophania  had  already  confided 
her  son.  He  treated  the  boy  with  mild- 
ness, but  at  the  same  time  with  firmness, 
and  gained  his  entire  good-will  and  confi- 
dence. Bernward's  position  became  one 
of  very  great  and  decided  importance,  in 
connection  with  the  relations  of  the  govern- 
ment subsequently,  particularly  after  he 
was  appointed,  In  the  year  993,  bishop  of 
Hildesheim ;  for  in  the  northern  frontiers 
of  the  empire  there  was  continually  fresh 
cause,  even  from  year  to  year,  for  conten- 
tion with  the  Slavonians  or  Normans,  either 
by  warding  off  their  attacks  at  home,  or  in 
order  to  punish  them,  by  sending  expedi- 
tions into  their  own  land. 

When  the  youthful  monarch  had  attained 
his  sixteenth  year,  his  grandmother,  Queen 


Adelaide,  expressed  a  desire  to  behold  the 
head  of  her  grandson  decorated  likewise 
with  the  imperial  crown.  Accordingly,  in 
February,  996,  he  commenced  his  first  Ro- 
man expedition,  and  all  the  nations  of  the 
Germans,  Saxons,  Franks,  Bavarians,  Swa- 
bians,  and  Lorrainians,  yielded  on  this  oc- 
casion military  service,  and  joined  in  the 
ranks  of  the  multitudinous  train.  He  was 
crowned  emperor  on  Ascension-day,  the 
21st  of  May  in  that  year,  by  Gregory  V., 
the  first  pope  of  German  origin  who  had,  as 
yet,  presided  on  the  papal  chair,  and  who 
exerted  himself  with  great  perseverance  to 
bring  into  order  the  confused  state  of  the 
Roman  relations.  The  patrician,  Crescen- 
tius,  was  pardoned  for  the  turbulent  pro- 
ceedings he  had  hitherto  pursued  ;  but 
scarcely  had  the  emperor  returned  to  Ger- 
many, when  the  ungrateful  Roman  again 
revolted,  and  banished  Pope  Gregory  from 
the  capital.  Otho  was  forced,  therefore,  to 
march  an  army  into  Italy  a  second  time  in 
the  year  997,  and  conducting  the  pope  back 
again  to  Rome,  he  besieged  Crescentius  in 
the  fortress  of  Engelsburg,  which  he  took 
by  storm,  and  the  traitor  was  forthwith  be- 
headed on  the  battlements  of  the  burg,  in 
view  of  the  whole  army  and  people. 

Pope  Gregory  died  in  the  year  999,  and 
Otho  caused  his  esteemed  instructor  and 
counsellor,  Gerbert,  to  be  elected  to  the 
papal  chair,  who  adopted  the  title  of  Syl- 
vester II. 

Otho,  who  always  felt  a  great  preference 
for  Rome  and  Italy  generally,  would  fain 
have  wished  to  remain  longer  there,  but  he 
was  not  able  to  bear  the  enervating  effects 
of  that  hot  climate.  Altogether,  he  did  not 
enjoy  the  strongest  constitution,  and  his 
health  was  not  always  in  the  best  condi- 
tion ;  besides  which,  during  the  period  be- 
tween youth  and  manhood,  he  evinced  a 
very  marked  expression  of  sadness  and 
melancholy,  and  which  often  exercised 
upon  his  mind  such  an  influence,  that,  com- 
pletely overcome,  he  resorted  to  the  most 
severe  self-inflicted  punishments  and  penal- 
ties. Thus  he  now  made  a  pilgrimage  to 
Monte  Gargano,  in  Apulia,  and  sojourned 
for  a  considerable  time  in  the  monastery  of 
St.  Michael,  undergoing  the  most  severe 
exercise  of  expiatory  penance.  Thence  he 
visited  the  holy  abbot,  Nil  us,  near  Garta, 
who,  with  his  monks,  lived  there  in  wretch, 
ed  cells,  and  in  the  most  secluded  state  of 
strict  devotion  and  humility.  Here,  like- 


134 


OTHO'S  PARTIALITY  FOR  ITALY.  AND  THE  ITALIANS 


wise,  Otho  joined  in  the  exercise  of  prayer, 
and  severe  and  rigid  repentance.  After- 
wards, we  again  find  him  following  the  same 
course  of  extreme  self-punishment  in  Ra- 
venna, for  whole  days  together  ;  and  at  one 
time  he  is  said  to  have  passed  whole  weeks 
with  the  hermits  in  the  caves  around,  fast- 
ing  and  praying. 

It  was  these  Italian  monks,  and  espe- 
cially Nil  us  the  holy,  a  venerable  man, 
ninety  years  of  age,  who  had  succeeded  in 
producing  within  the  prince  this  melancho- 
ly view  of  life,  and  filled  him  with  such 
continual  desires  to  indulge  in  gloomy  fits 
of  abstinence  and  penitential  sacrifices. 
He  was  particularly  intimate  with  Adal- 
bert, the  apostle  of  the  Prussians,  who,  af- 
:ert.he  period  of  the  first  Roman  campaign, 
had  become  his  constant  companion,  not 
quitting  the  imperial  apartments  either  by 
night  or  day,  and  who,  partly  by  the  wish 
of  Otho,  proceeded  to  the  north,  in  order  to 
preach  the  holy  gospel  to  the  pagan  Prus- 
sians, where  he  died  a  martyr's  death,  in 
the  year  999.  When  the  religious  emperor 
returned,  in  the  folio  wing  year,  to  Germany, 
he  was  urged,  by  his  affection  towards  this 
friend,  to  visit  his  grave  in  Gnesen.  As 
soon  as  he  came  in  view  of  the  town,  he 
dismounted  from  his  steed,  and  continued 
the  rest  of  his  pilgrimage  to  the  sacred  spot 
barefooted.  Deeply  affected,  he  poured 
forth  his  devotions  over  the  tomb  of  his 
much-lamented  friend,  and  in  recollection 
of  the  scene,  he  raised  the  bishopric  of 
Gnesen,  on  the  spot,  into  an  archbishopric, 
placing  under  its  authority  the  bishoprics 
of  Breslaw,  Cracovie,  and  Colberg,  pro- 
moting Adalbert's  brother,  Gaudentius,  to 
the  sacred  office. 

Combined  with  the  emotions  originating 
in  Christian  humility  and  worldly  sacrifice, 
we  find,  however,  likewise  excited  within 
Otho's  soul,  (which  appears  to  have  been 
subjected  to  sensations  of  the  most  varied 
nature,)  a  high  aspiring  desire  and  aim, 
and,  especially,  an  elevated  idea  of  the  su- 
premacy of  the  imperial  dignity.  As  the 
son  of  a  Roman-Germanic  emperor  and  the 
grandson  of  a  Greek  emperor ;  already 
chosen  as  reigning  king  from  the  first  mo- 
ment of  self-consciousness,  and,  likewise, 
almost  immediately  afterwards  decorated 
with  the  imperial  crown  ;  educated  by  the 
most  learned  and  accomplished  men  of  his 
rime — a  Gerbert,  a  Bernward,  a  Meinwerk, 
(ol  Paderborn,)  and  by  the  Calabrian  Greek, 


John  of  Placentia — he  held  himself  in  higi 
respect,  and  far  beyond  the  Germans,  who, 
in  his  opinion,  were  still  uncouth  and  sav- 
age.  He  tried  to  persuade  them  to  lay 
aside  their  Saxon  barbarism,  and  exhorted 
them  to  imitate  and  adopt  the  more  refined 
and  elegant  manners  of  the  Greeks,  and  he 
even  introduced  the  customs  and  usages  of 
the  latter  ;  among  the  rest,  which  he  himself 
adopted,  that  of  dining  alone  from  a  table 
more  elevated  than  the  others,  and  to  ar- 
range the  different  places  of  honor  accord, 
ing  to  rank  and  distinction.  His  tutor,  Ger- 
bert, had  himself  formed  a  high  idea  of  the 
imperial  dignity,  which  he  had  taken  great 
pains  to  instil  in  the  youthful  mind  of  his 
pupil.  "Thou  art  our  Csesar,  Imperator, 
and  Augustus,"  he  wrote  to  him,  "  and  de- 
scended from  the  noblest  blood  of  the 
Greeks ;  thou  art  superior  to  them  all  in 
power  and  dominion,"  &c.  Otho  had  in- 
deed contemplated  the  restoration  of  the 
Roman  empire,  in  its  entire  dominion,  and 
no  doubt  he  would  have  carried  his  inten- 
tions into  effect,  by  making  Rome  the  cen- 
tral point  and  the  imperial  seat  of  govern- 
ment, had  he  only  been  able  to  endure  the. 
climate. 

He  regarded  the  founder  of  the  Germanic- 
Roman  empire,  the  great  Charles,  as  his 
model,  and  when,  in  the  year  1000,  he  vis- 
ited Aix-la-Chapelle,  he  felt  a  desire  to  ele- 
vate his  mind  by  the  contemplation  of  his 
ancestor's  earthly  remains.  Accordingly 
he  caused  the  vault  to  be  unclosed,  and 
descended  its  steps,  accompanied  by  two 
bishops.  He  found  the  embalmed  body 
still  in  the  position  it  was  placed,  sitting  in 
the  marble  chair,  covered  with  the  impe- 
rial robes,  together  with  the  sceptre  and 
shield.  Otho  bent  his  knee  in  prayer,  then 
took  the  golden  cross  from  the  breast  of  the 
emperor,  and  placed  it  upon  his  own.  Af- 
ter which,  before  leaving,  he  had  the  body 
covered  with  fresh  raiment,  and  then  again 
solemnly  closed  the  vault.* 

Otho's  strong  predilection  for  Italy  drew 
him  once  more  into  that  country.  Rome 
and  the  Romans  appeared  to  him  in  all  the 
splendor  of  their  ancient  dominion  of  the 
world  ;  but  they  ill-returned  the  preference 
he  showed  for  them.  While  he  was  so- 
journing in  Rome,  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
1001,  the  Romans  revolted  against  him  be- 

*  The  emperor,  Frederick  I.,  caused  the  vault  to  b« 
unclosed  again  in  the  year  1165,  and  had  the  body  de- 
posited in  a  superb  tomb. 


HIS  DEATH— HENRY  II.,  OR  Tin:  HOLY— HIS  P1KTY. 


135 


cause  he  had  exercised  his  lenity  towards 
Jie  Tiburtinians,  who,  as  in  ancient  times, 
still  remained  their  hated  enemies  ;  they 
kept  him  a  close  prisoner  in  his  own  palace 
during  throe  days,  so  that  he  could  obtain 
neither  food  nor  drink.  Then  it  was  that 
the  emperor  experienced  that  German  fideli- 
ty and  rude  virtue  were  still  better  than  the 
smooth  but  slippery  words  and  more  ac- 
complished manners  of  his  favorite  Italians. 
Bern  ward,  the  bishop  of  Hildesheim,  placed 
himself,  with  the  sacred  royal  lance,  under 
the  portico  of  the  palace,  and,  as  his  biog- 
rapher states,  thundered  against  it  most 
dreadfully  ;  and  thus,  through  the  bishop's 
resolution  and  the  aid  of  his  faithful  adhe- 
rents, the  emperor  was  at  length  rescued 
from  the  Romans.  Nevertheless,  he  looked 
over  their  bad  conduct,  and  peace  was 
resumed  for  a  short  time  longer,  but  they 
soon  again  broke  out  against  him.  He  then 
prepared  at  once  to  punish  this  false  and 
treacherous  people  ;  but  his  spirits  were 
now  broken,  and  he  weakened  and  reduced 
his  body  still  more  by  nocturnal  watchings 
and  praying,  often  fasting,  too,  the  entire 
week,  with  the  single  exception  of  the 
Thursday.  He  was  attacked  by  a  severe 
and  inflammatory  disease,  (according  to 
Dietmar,  the  small-pox,)  and  died  on  the 
23d  of  January,  1002,  at  Paterno,  in  the 
twenty-second  year  of  his  age.  The  body 
was  placed  under  the  charge  and  protection 
of  the  few  German  princes  and  nobles  who 
had  accompanied  the  emperor,  and  they 
lost  no  time  in  conveying  it  away  from  that 
hateful  country  into  their  native  land.  In 
the  course  of  its  march,  however,  the  fune- 
ral procession  was  frequently  attacked  by 
the  Italians,  who  were  eager  to  get  posses- 
sion of  the  corpse,  and  it  was  only  by  the 
united  efforts  of  the  brave  and  valiant  band 
of  noble  warriors  that  formed  its  escort, 
that  the  enemy  was  successfully  repulsed, 
and  that,  at  length,  after  great  difficulty,  it 
arrived  safely  at  its  destination  in  Aix-la- 
Chapelle. 

Thus  all  the  male  descendants  of  Otho 
the  Great,  his  two  sons,  Ludolf  and  Otho 
II.,  and  his  two  grandsons,  Otho  III.  and 
Otho  the  son  of  Ludolf,  died  in  Italy  in  the 
bloom  of  their  youth;  while  of  the  imperial 
Saxon  family,  the  great-grandson  of  Henry 
1.,  Duke  Henry  of  Bavaria  alone  remain- 
ed. The  Germans  were  not  at  all  inclined 
towards  the  Bavarian  race  ;  but  Henry, 
who  had,  by  means  of  his  generous  gifts, 


already  enlisted  the  clergy  on  his  side,  and 
had,  likewise,  in  his  possession  the  crown 
jewels  and  insignia,  succeeded  by  degrees 
in  gaining  over  one  by  one  the  individual 
German  states,  so  that,  without  a  general 
electoral  assembly  taking  place,  each  trans* 
ferred  to  him  the  royal  authority  with  lhn 
sacred  lance. 

Henry  II.  has  received  the  title  of  saint 
from  his  strict  and  pious  life,  as  also  from 
his  liberality  towards  the  clergy,  already 
mentioned.  The  latter  had  acquired  ex- 
tensive possessions  under  the  Saxon  empe- 
rors, who  were  all  very  generous  towards 
them,  and  thence  many  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers became  powerful  princes  of  the  em- 
pire. Like  Charlemagne,  the  kings  saw 
with  pleasure  their  increase  of  power,  in 
order  that  they  might  use  it  as  a  counter- 
poise to  that  of  the  temporal  lords,  and  at 
this  period  too,  the  spiritual  power  held 
chiefly  with  the  kings.  Otho  I.  had  al- 
ready begun  to  unite  the  lordships  with  the 
bishoprics,  and  Henry  II.  transferred  to 
many  churches  two,  even  three  lordships, 
and  to  that  of  Gandersheim  he  even  made 
over  seven.  The  partiality  and  attachment 
shown  by  the  emperor  towards  the  clergy 
was,  no  doubt,  taken  advantage  of  by  many ; 
still  among  that  body  there  were  likewise 
at  this  period  many  men  who  were  perfect- 
ly sensible  of  the  peculiar  dignity  of  their 
calling,  and  zealously  sought  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  their  community,  as  well  as  the 
progress  of  the  human  mind  in  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  all  true  cultivation  ;  of  which 
the  tenth  century,  especially,  presents  us 
with  several  illustrious  instances.  Bishop 
Bernward,  of  Hildesheim,  who,  in  the  ur- 
gent danger  of  the  emperor,  Otho  III.,  in 
Rome,  displayed  so  much  resolution,  was 
a  man  of  great  intellectual  mind,  and  nour- 
ished the  most  profound  feeling  for  all  that 
was  good  and  beautiful.  During  his  many 
voyages,  chiefly  in  Italy,  he  took  young 
persons  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  exer- 
cising their  taste  in  the  observation  of  works 
of  art,  and  in  their  imitation.  He  caused 
the  pavements  and  churches  to  be  deco- 
rated with  mosaic  embellishment,  and  costly 
vessels  of  a  beautiful  form  to  be  cast  in 
metal,  with  which  he  was  furnished  by  the 
mines  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  Hartz,  dis- 
covered  under  the  emperor  Otho  I.  Thus 
did  Bernward  nobly  exert  himself  for  his 
diocese,  and  the  school  of  Hildesheim  was 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  that  period. 


PAVIA— HENRY  CROWNED— HENRY'S  DEATH. 


When  in  Italy,  the  Emperor  Henry  re- 
ceived a  second  by-name — that  of  Huffe- 
holz,  or  the  lame.  For  fresh  disturbances 
having  arisen  there  after  the  death  of  Otho 
III.,  and  the  Italians  having  made  a  mar- 
grave, Ardovine,  their  king,  Henry,  in  or- 
der to  restore  order,  advanced  thither  in 
the  year  1004,  put  Ardovine  to  flight,  and 
caused  himself  to  be  crowned,  with  the 
iron  crown,  at  Pavia.  Out  of  regard  for 
the  city,  and  in  order  to  show  his  confi- 
dence towards  the  citizens,  he  retained 
merely  a  small  body-guard,  and  caused 
the  rest  of  the  army  to  remain  outside  the 
city  in  the  camp.  The  capricious  and  in- 
constant disposition  of  the  Italians  imme- 
diately became  manifest.  They  rose  in 
revolt,  stormed  the  palace  of  the  emperor, 
and  threatened  his  life.  It  was  then,  in 
springing  from  a  window,  that  he  lamed 
his  foot.  His  companions,  although  but 
few,  fought  like  valiant  men,  and  success- 
fully resisted  the  attacks  of  the, enemy 
until  the  Germans  beyond  the  city,  hear- 
ing the  tumult  within,  stormed  the  walls, 
and  after  severe  fighting,  broke  through, 
paved  their  way  to  the  palace  and  saved 
the  king.  The  battle  still  continued  most 
furiously  in  the  streets  and  houses,  whence 
the  inhabitants  hurled  forth  stones  and 
other  missiles  upon  the  troops,  who  set  fire- 
to  the  whole  city,  and  which  destruction 
continued  until  the  king  put  a  stop  to  the 
fury  of  his  soldiers,  and  saved  the  rest  of 
the  inhabitants.  It  was  in  this  battle  that 
the  queen's  brother,  Giselbert,  a  valiant 
youth,  being  killed  by  the  Lombards,  a 
brave  knight,  Wolfram,  his  companion  in 
arms,  rushed  upon  the  enemy,  struck  one 
of  them  such  a  powerful  blow  with  his 
sword  that,  passing  through  the  helmet,  it 
separated  his  head  and  neck  down  to  the 
shoulders  ;  and  having  thus  revenged  the 
death  of  his  noble  friend,  he  returned,  un- 
wounded,  back  to  his  comrades. 

This  conduct  of  the  Pavians  produced 
great  disgust  upon  the  open-hearted  and 
honest  feelings  of  the  king,  and  as  nothing 
could  induce  him  to  remain  longer  in 
Italy,  he  returned  to  Germany  as  speedily 
as  possible. 

Here,  also,  many  disturbances  arose 
Juring  his  reign,  for  the  emperor,  who, 
with  his  {jood  and  pious  qualities,  was 
much  too  \.  :-ak  to  nold  the  reins  of  his 
government,  could  not  possibly  maintain 
his  authority.  In  particular  the  neighbor- 


ing Polish  duke,  Boleslas,  an  ambitious, 
turbulent  man,  who  had  conquered  and 
partially  retained  Bohemia  and  Silesia, 
gave  him  much  trouble.  For  these  coun- 
tries, however,  the  usurper  swore  alle- 
giance to  the  German  emperor,  but  beyond 
this  he  maintained  himself  independently, 
and  made  himself  feared  on  the  other  side 
even  by  the  Russians  and  the  Greek  em- 
peror. 

Henry  visited  Italy  a  second  time  in 
1013,  and  re-established  the  pope,  Bene- 
dict VIII. ,  in  the  papal  chair;  he  swore  to 
protect  him  faithfully,  and  was  by  him 
crowned  emperor.  Returning  to  Germany, 
he  was  especially  c^cupied  with  founding 
the  bishopric  of  Bamberg,  his  favorite  seat, 
which  he  richly  endowed,  and  had  deter- 
mined it  should  serve  as  a  monument  of 
his  own  piety  as  well  as  of  that  of  his  em- 
press, Cunegunde.  In  (he  year  1020  he 
was  much  gratified  by  a  journey  which 
Pope  Benedict  made  to  Germany,  who 
visited  him  in  Bamberg,  and  consecrated 
his  holy  foundation. 

The  object  of  the  pope's  presence  in 
Germany  was  more  especially  to  induce 
the  emperor  to  undertake  another  expedi- 
tion to  Italy,  in  order  to  prevent  the  Greeks, 
who  threatened  Rome  from  Lower  Italy, 
from  attacking  and  taking  possession  of 
that  capital. 

And  Henry,  who  at  once  perceived  the 
danger  to  which  the  church  of  Southern 
Italy  was  exposed  of  being  robbed  by  the 
Greeks  of  its  central  point  of  operation, 
marched  forth,  for  the  third  time,  in  the 
year  1021,  for  that  country,  drove  the 
'Greeks  easily  back  to  the  most  extreme 
points  of  their  possessions  in  Lower  Italy, 
conquered  Benevento,  Salerno,  and  Naples, 
and  was  everywhere  greeted  and  hailed  as 
king.  But  as  he  never  liked  to  remain  long 
in  that  country  he  returned  to  Germany  in 
1022,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  exercise 
of  devotional  and  peaceful  works. 

Henry  died  in  the  year  1024  aged  fifty- 
two,  at  his  fortress,  Grone,  in  the  Leingau, 
(near  Gottingen,)  which  had  often  been  the 
seat  of  the  Saxon  emperors.  His  body  was 
conveyed  to  Bamberg  and  there  interred. 
Subsequently,  122  years  after  ^lis  death 
he  was  added  to  the  calendar  of  saints  by 
Pope  Eugene  III.  With  him  the  house  of 
Saxony  became  extinct,  which,  like  that 
of  the  Carlovingians,  had  commenced 
powerfully  but  ended  weakly,  German? 


THE  FRANCONIAN  HOUSE— CONRAD  If. 


now  required  once  again  a  vigorous  and 
great-minded  ruler,  in  order  to  save  it 
from  internal  dissolution,  as  well  as  to  pre- 
serve it  from  losing  its  dignity  among  the 
other  nations;  for,  during  the  minority  of 
Otho  III.  and  under  Henry  II.,  the  impe- 
rial vassals  had  committed  many  usurpa- 
tions based  upon  the  imperial  prerogatives. 
The  sons  of  the  nobles,  endowed  with  im- 
perial feods,  retained  them  as  if  by  right 
of  inheritance,  and  many  disputes  were 
settled  only  by  an  appeal  to  the  sword, 
\vithout  any  regard  being  paid  to  the  em- 
peror's supreme  judicial  power.  These 
wars  devastated  in  particular  the  south  of 
Germany. 

Meanwhile  the  Christian  countries 
wherein,  together  with  the  dominion  of  the 
church,  a  regard  for  the  imperial  dignity 
was  disseminated,  were  now  become  con- 
siderably increased  in  number.  Towards 
the  year  1000  Christianity  became  still 
more  deeply  rooted  in  Hungary,  Poland, 
Russia,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  SALIC    OR    FRANCONIAN    HOUSE,    1024-1125, 
TO  LOTHAIRE  THE  SAXON 1137. 

Assemblage  of  the  Ducal  States— The  Election— Con- 
rad II.,  1024-103<>-Re-establishes  Internal  Peace- 
Italy — Canute,  King  of  England  and  Denmark— 
Burgundy— Ernest,  Duke  of  Swabia— The  Faust- 
Recht— Conrad's  Death,  1039— Henry  III.,  1039-1056 
—The  Popes— Henry's  zeal  for  the  Church— His 
Death,  1056— Henry  IV.,  1056-1106— Hia  Minority— 
The  Archbishops—  Albert  of  Bremen— Henry  and  the 
Saxon*— Their  Hostility— Henry's  Revenge— Pope 
Gregory  VII.— His  Ambition— The  Right  of  Investi- 
ture— Rupture  with  the  Emperor— Henry  excommu- 
nicated—The Emperor  a  Fugitive— The  rival  Empe- 
rors and  Popes—  Rudolphus  of  Swabia  and  Pope 
Clement  III.— Henry's  Death,  1106— Henry  V.  1106- 
1125— Rome— Pope  Pascal  II.— The  Investiture  Con- 
test— Sanguinary  Battle— Henry  crowned  Emperor— 
His  Death,  1125 — The  First  Crusade,  1096-1099 — Lo- 
tliaire  the  JSaxon,  1125- 1137. 

THE  Germanic  states,  each  under  its 
duke,  assembled  for  the  election  of  a  new 
emperor,  upon  the  vast  plains  along  both 
banks  of  the  Rhine,  between  Mentz  and 
Worms,  near  Oppenheim.  There  were 
eight  dukes ;  Conrad  the  Younger,  who 
exercised  the  ducal  power  in  Franconia  in 
the  name  of  the  king — Franconia  being 
still  regarded  as  the  king's  country — Fre- 
derick of  Upper  Lorraine,  Gozelo  of  Lower 
Lorraine,  Bernard  of  Saxony,  (of  Ilerma  i 


Billung's  race,)  Henry  of  Bavaria,  Adal- 
bert ofCarinthia,  (the  new  duchy,  separated 
under  Otho  II.  from  Bavaria,  and  which 
contained  the  passes  into  Italy,)  young 
Ernest  of  Swabia,  and  Othelric  or  Ulnc, 
of  Bohemia.  The  Saxons,  the  eastern 
Franks,  the  Bavarians,  and  Swabians,  to- 
gether with  the  Bohemians,  encamped  them- 
selves on  this  side  of  the  Rhine ;  the 
Rhenish  Franks,  and  those  of  Lower  and 
Upper  Lorraine  on  the  other  side.  Thus 
a  splendid  and  numerous  assembly  or  diet 
of  electors  was  here  reflected  in  the  waves 
of  the  great  German  stream. 

The  voices,  after  long  deliberation,  in- 
clined in  favor  of  the  Prankish  race,  from 
which  two  Conrads,  surpassing  all  the  rest 
in  virtue  and  consideration,  presented  them- 
selves— Conrad  the  Elder  or  the  Sa- 
lian,  and  Conrad  the  Younger,  the  duke. 
They  were  kinsmen,  being  sons  of  two 
brothers,  and  descended  from  Conrad  the 
Wise,  the  husband  of  the  daughter  of  Otho 
I.,  who  fell  in  the  battle  with  the  Hunga- 
rians on  the  Lech ;  both  were  worthy  of 
their  ancestors,  and  upon  the  female  side 
related  to  the  Saxon  imperial  branch.  The 
choice  balanced  between  them  ;  the  elder 
Conrad  then  advanced  to  the  side  of  the 
younger  one,  and  thus  addressed  him : 
"  Do  not  let  us  allow  our  friendship  and  in- 
terest to  be  disturbed  by  the  contest.  If  we 
dispute  together  the  princes  may  elect  a 
third,  and  posterity  will  then  say  we  were 
both  unworthy  of  the  crown.  Methinks 
that  whether  the  election  fall  upon  either 
you  or  me,  we  shall  still  both  be  honored, 
I  in  you  and  you  in  me.  If  the  crown  be 
awarded  to  you,  I  will  be  the  first  to  do 
homage  to  you  ;  vow,  therefore,  my  friend 
and  brother,  to  do  the  same  by  me."  To 
this  the  younger  prince  agreed,  and  forth- 
with made  the  vow  likewise. 

When  the  election  commenced,  and  the 
archbishop,  Aribo  of  Mentz,  was  first  to 
give  his  vote,  he  named  Conrad  the  Elder ; 
the  archbishops  and  bishops  followed. 
Among  the  temporal  princes,  the  duke  of 
the  Franks  was  the  first  in  rotation,  and  the 
younger  Conrad  arose,  and  with  a  loud 
voice  gave  his  vote  to  his  cousin,  Conrad 
the  Elder,  who  seized  him  by  the  hand,  and 
placed  him  beside  him.  The  remaining 
princes  followed  on  the  same  side,  and  the 
people  shouted  their  applause.  Frederic 
of  Lorraine  and  the  archbishop  of  Colcgne 
alone  were  discontented,  and  quUted  the 


133 


INTERNAL  PEACE— ITALY— ERNEM 


assembly  ;  but  when  they  beheld  the  una- 
nimity -of  all  the  others,  and  that  the 
younger  Conrad  had  at  once  acceded  to  the 
choice  made,  they  became  reconciled,  and 
returning,  rendered  homage  with  the  rest 
of  the  princes. 

The  new  king  was  now  conducted  to 
Mentz,  to  oe  there  solemnly  anointed  and 
crowned.  On  the  road  to  the  church,  the 
procession  was  stopped  by  the  number  of 
petitioners,  who  prayed  for  justice.  The 
bishops  became  impatient,  but  Conrad 
listened  tranquilly  to  their  prayers  and 
said,  "  To  exercise  justice,  whether  it  be 
convenient  to  me  or  not,  is  my  first  duty." 
These  words  were  heard  with  joy  by  all 
around  ;  thence  .great  hopes  were  formed 
of  the  new  king,  and  Conrad  did  not  disap- 
point them.  He  commenced  his  reign  by 
visiting  all  parts  of  Germany ;  he  prac- 
tised justice,  restored  order,  and  showed  so 
much  strict  judgment,  combined  with  mercy, 
that  all  united  in  one  opinion,  that  no  king 
since  Charlemagne  had  so  well  merited  to 
occupy  his  seat  upon  the  imperial  throne. 
Robbers  he  punished  so  severely,  that 
now  there  was  more  general  security 
than  had  been  known  for  a  long  period, 
while  commerce  flourished  once  again.  He 
secured  for  himself  and  his  race  the  voice 
of  the  people,  by  promoting  the  develop- 
ment of  the  municipal  institutions  by  every 
possible  means. 

Thus  did  he  govern  his  kingdom  inter- 
nally. In  his  foreign  relations,  he  labored 
equally  for  the  dignity  and  greatness  of 
Germany.  Shortly  after  the  commence- 
ment of  his  reign,  he  advanced  into  Italy, 
where  in  Milan  he  was  crowned  king  of 
Italy,  and  subsequently  in  Rome,  emperor. 
The  festival  was  rendered  more  august 
by  the  presence  of  two  kings,  Rudolphus 
of  Burgundy,  and  the  great  Canute,  king 
of  England  and  Denmark.  With  the 
latter,  Conrad  formed  a  strict  friendship  ; 
he  united  his  son,  Henry,  with  his  daughter, 
Kunihilda,  and  regulated  also  with  him  the 
limits  between  Germany  and  Denmark,  so 
that  the  river  Eider,  between  Holstein  and 
Silesia,  became  the  boundary  of  both  coun- 
tries. He  thus  gave  up,  it  is  true,  the 
margraviate  of  Silesia  ;  but  the  country 
ivas  difficult  to  defend,  and  Conrad  was  the 
gainer  in  other  respects.  Henry  II.  had  al- 
ready concluded  an  hereditary  alliance  with 
King  Rudolphus  of  Burgundy,  so  that  after 
his  death  Burgundy  should  fall  to  Germany 


Conrad  renewed  the  treaty,  and  after  the 
death  of  Rudolphus  he  took  actual  posses- 
sion of  that  country,  although  a  portion  oi 
the  Burgundians  had  called  forward  Coun 
Odo,  of  Champagne,  whom,  however,  Con- 
rad drove  back,  and  was  forthwith  recog- 
nised as  king.  This  kingdom  comprised 
the  beautiful  districts  of  the  southeast  of 
France,  which  were  afterwards  called 
Provence,  Dauphiny,  Franche-Comte,  and 
Lyons,  together  with  Savoy,  and  a  portion 
of  Switzerland,  thus  placing  Germany,  by 
means  of  the  important  sea-ports  of  Mar- 
seilles and  Toulon,  in  connection  with  the 
Mediterranean  :  an  important  acquisition, 
which,  however,  afterwards,  in  the  times  of 
weaker  emperors,  became  neglected,  and 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French. 

Conrad,  however,  was  forced  to  experi- 
ence, that  this  very  acquisition  of  Burgun- 
dy became  a  subject  of  dissension  in  his  own 
family,  and  thence  a  source  of  vexation  to 
himself.  His  step-son,  Ernest,  duke  of 
Swabia,  (the  son  of  his  queen,  Gisella,  by 
her  former  husband  Herman,  duke  of 
Swabia,)  considered  he  possessed  the  first 
right  to  the  crown  of  Burgundy,  because 
his  mother  was  the  niece  of  Rudolphus, 
king  of  Burgundy.  Dissatisfied  with  Con- 
rad's conduct,  in  getting  this  territory  an- 
nexed to  the  German  empire,  he  deserted 
him  in  the  Italian  campaign,  excited  dissen- 
sion against  him  in  Germany,  and  was  in 
hopes,  by  the  aid  of  his  friends,  to  invade 
and  conquer  Burgundy.  Conrad,  however, 
hastened  back,  disappointed  him  in  his  ef- 
forts, and  as  Ernest  could  not  succeed  in 
gaining  over  the  Swabian  vassals  to  his 
purpose,  he  was  forced  to  surrender  at  dis- 
cretion, and  his  step-father  sent  him  a  pris- 
oner to  the  strong  castle  of  Giebichenstein, 
in  Thuringia.  After  an  imprisonment  of 
three  years,  he  set  him  at  liberty,  and  of- 
fered to  restore  him  to  his  duchy,  if  he 
would  deliver  up  to  him  his  friend  and 
principal  accomplice,  Count  Werner,  of 
Kyburg.  This,  however,  Ernest  hesitated 
and  finally  refused  to  do,  and  he  was  ac- 
cordingly deposed  ;  and  at  a  diet  of  the 
princes  and  nobles -of  the  empire,  he  was 
banished  the  country,  together  with  all  his 
partisans.  He  fled  for  refuge  to  his  cousin, 
Count  Odo,  of  Champagne,  accompanied  by 
Count  Werner,  and  a  few  faithful  friends ; 
but  soon  afterwards  returned,  while  his  fa- 
ther was  on  an  expedition  against  trie  Hun« 
garians,  concealed  himself  among  the  cav- 


DEATH  OF  ERNEST— CONRAD'S  DEATH— HENRY  III. 


139 


cms  of  the  Black  Forest,  and  once  more 
endeavored  to  gain  adherents  in  Swabia. 
But  the  bishop  of  Constance,  as  administra- 
tor of  the  duchy  for  Gisella's  second  son 
Herman,  (yet  a  minor,)  to  whom  Conrad 
had  transferred  it,  sent  Count  Mangold,  of 
Vehringen,  against  him,  when  both  armies 
met,  (1030,)  and  fought  a  severe  battle, 
until  both  Ernest  and  Werner,  together 
with  Mangold,  were  killed.  The  adven- 
:ures  of  Duke  Ernest  became  the  subject 
of  many  heroic  "lays  and  legends  ;  and  the 
most  wonderful  deeds  performed  by  his 
army  were  connected  with  his  name,  and 
eventually,  collected  together  by  later  poete, 
formed  one  entire  work.  Meantime,  the 
campaign  undertaken  by  the  emperor 
against  the  Hungarians  proved  triumphant, 
and  he  obliged  Stephen,  their  king,  to  sign 
a  favorable  treaty  of  peace.  He  forced, 
also,  to  their  former  obedience  the  Slavo- 
nian and  Vandalian  tribes,  who  were  still 
seated  on  the  Oder,  and  northward  on  the 
Elbe;  and  Hamburg,  which  they  had  de- 
stroyed, raised  itself  by  degrees  from  its 
ruins. 

The  emperor  was  also  a  zealous  promo- 
ter of  the  institution  whereby  the  churcn 
sought  to  set  some  limits  to  the  rude  force 
of  the  faust-rcchi — namely,  that  of  the 
Peace  of  God.  From  Wednesday  evening 
at  sunset  until  sunrise  on  Monday  morning, 
all  feuds  were  to  cease,  no  sword  be  raised, 
and  universal  security  protect  the  affairs  of 
life.  He  who  should  transgress  against 
the  peace  of  God,  (treuga  or  treva  Dei,) 
was  to  be  punished  with  the  heaviest  ban. 
Odilo,  of  Clugny,  is  named  as  the  origina- 
tor of  this  institution,  and  the  clergy  of 
Burgundy  and  the  Low  Countries,  where 
the  most  sanguinary  feuds  prevailed,  with 
the  consent  of  Conrad,  first  united  them- 
selves,  in  the  year  1033,  for  this  purpose. 

Conrad  returned  sickly  from  his  second 
expedition  into  Italy,  wherein  disease  re- 
duced his  army;  and  his  own  step-son, 
Merman  of  Swabia,  and  Kunihilda,  the 
young  consort  of  his  son  Henry,  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Danish  king,  both  died  there. 
He  himself  never  thoroughly  recovered, 
and  died  at  Utrecht,  in  1039.  His  biogra- 
pher, Wippo,  thus  speaks  of  him: — "I 
should  expose  myself  to  the  charge  of  flat- 
.ery,  were  1  to  relate  how  generous,  how 
steadfast,  how  undaunted,  how  severe  to- 
wards the  bad,  how  good  towards  the  vir- 
tuous, how  firm  against  the  enemy,  and 


how  unwearied  and  urgent  in  affairs  he 
was,  when  the  welfare  of  the  empire  de- 
manded it." 

His  consort,  Gisella,  one  of  the  most  no- 
ble of  German  women,  and  who  loved  him 
most  tenderly,  refused  every  consolation, 
and  mourned  her  husband  in  the  convent  of 
Kaufungen,  near  Cassel,  until  her  death. 
The  corpse  of  the  emperor  was  brought  to 
Spires,  and  deposited  in  the  noble  cathedral 
which  he  himself  had  founded. 

This  emperor  had  evidently  formed  the 
idea,  which  may  be  called  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  whole  Salic  imperial  race — 
namely,  to  raise  the  imperial  power  of 
Germany  to  the  most  unlimited  extent,  to 
restrict  the  dominion  of  the  princes  within 
narrow  bounds ;  and,  in  order  to  complete 
this,  he  endeavored  to  gain,  by  every  favor, 
the  assistance  of  the  inferior  vassals,  who 
had  almost  become  slaves  to  them.  To 
this  tended  an  important  law,  (constitutio 
de  feudis,)  which  Conrad  made  in  the  year 
1037,  on  his  second  expedition  to  Italy,  for 
that  country,  and  which  was  soon  after- 
wards transferred  to  Germany,  namely — 
that  feudal  estates,  which  had  belonged  to 
t'ne  father,  should  not  be  taken  capriciously 
from  the  sons,  but  only  in  criminal  cases, 
decided  by  tribunals  composed  of  their  co- 
vassals.  Thereby  he  prepared  for  the 
lesser  vassals  the  full  right  of  property ;  so 
that  from  them  there  must  necessarily 
have  arisen  a  distinct,  free  order,  for  the 
support  of  the  emperor  against  the  greater 
vassals.  These,  on  the  contrary,  and  par- 
ticularly the  dukes,  he  sought  to  bring 
back  to  their  old  condition  of  mere  imperial 
functionaries ;  and  even  gave  the  duchies 
of  Swabia,  Bavaria,  and  Franconia,  to  his 
son  Henry,  who  seemed  fully  adapted  to 
carry  still  farther  his  great  and  extensive 
plan.  Had  success  attended  it,  Germany 
would  have  become  earlier  what  France 
became  later,  an  undivided,  powerful  em- 
pire. But  the  Salic  race  was  stayed  in  its 
mid-career,  partly  by  its  own  fault,  and 
partly  by  the  rapid  rising  of  the  papal  chair, 
whose  authority  developed  itself  with  as- 
tonishing energy,  and  whose  victory  over 
his  grandson,  Henry  IV.,  the  powerful 
Conrad  certainly  had  not  anticipated. 

Conrad's  son,  Henry,  or  the  black,  whom 
the  Germans  had  chosen  during  his  father's 
life,  was  twenty-two  years  of  age ;  but  the 
hopes  formed  of  him  were  great,  and  they 
proved  not  unfounded.  Like  his  father, 


140 


ITALY— THE  GERMAN  TOPES—LEO 


If. 


he  was  of  a  high  mind  and  a  determined 
will,  obstinate  and  firm,  and  at  the  same 
time  eloquent  and  well-informed,  for  the 
prudent  Gisella  had  early  induced  him  to 
cultivate  his  mind  as  much  as  possible  by 
reading,  although  at  that  time  books  were 
very  scarce.  No  emperor  since  Charle- 
magne maintained  more  vigorously  the  im- 
perial dignity  in  Italy,  Germany,  and  the 
neighboring  lands,  or  ruled  more  power- 
fully within  the  limits  of  his  extensive  em- 
pire. What  served  to  increase  his  great 
fame  was,  that  he  so  humbled  the  wild 
Hungarians,  who  a  hundred  years  before 
were  the  terror  of  Germany,  that  the  Hun- 
garian nobility,  after  a  lost  battle,  took  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  him  in  the  city  of 
Stuhlweissen,  in  the  year  1044,  and  that 
Peter,  their  king,  re-established  by  Henry, 
received  the  country  as  a  feud  from  him, 
by  means  of  a  golden  lance.  It  is  true  this 
was  no  durable  subjection ;  still  the  act  of 
itself  is  sufficiently  glorious  for  Henry, 
while  thereby  he  gained  a  portion  of 
Hungary,  from  Kahlenburg  to  Leitha, 
which  he  united  with  the  marches  of  Aus- 
tria. 

The  king  then,  in  1046,  turned  his  at- 
tention towards  Italy,  to  settle  the  great 
disorders  existing  there.  There  three  popes 
held  their  sway  at  once :  Benedict  IX., 
Sylvester  III.,  and  Gregory  IV.  Henry, 
in  order  to  be  wholly  impartial,  convoked 
a  council  at  Sutri.  Here  they  were  all 
three  deposed,  as  irregularly  elected ;  and 
then,  in  Rome,  at  the  desire  of  the  collec- 
tive clergy  and  nobility,  Henry,  who,  fol- 
lowing the  example  of  Charlemagne,  had 
received  the  dignity  of  patrician  for  him- 
self and  successors,  made  a  German,  Suid- 
ger,  bishop  of  Bamberg,  pope,  who  took 
the  name  of  Clement  II. ;  and  at  the 
Christmas  festival,  1046,  he  crowned  Hen- 
ry emperor.  Subsequently,  Henry  gave 
the  Romans  three  successive  popes,  for 
they  were  obliged  to  promise  him,  as  they 
had  done  to  Otho,  to  acknowledge  no  pope 
without  the  imperial  sanction. 

After  these,  the  papal  chair  was  filled 
by  two  more  German  popes,  and  these  six 
pontiffs  from  Germany :  Clement  II.,  Dama- 
sus  II.,  Leo  IX.,  Victor  II.,  Stephen  X., 
and  Nicholas  II.,  who  succeeded  each  other 
m  very  quick,  but  uninterrupted  rotation, 
labored  with  one  concurring  mind  for  the 
good  of  the  church,  and  raised  it  again 
from  the  ruinous  state  into  which  it  had 


been  thrown,  through  dissension  in  Rome 
itself,  the  immoral  conduct  practised  by 
many  of  the  clergy,  and  the  purchase  of 
spiritual  offices  for  money.  Thus  they 
paved  the  way  for  the  plans  of  that  spir- 
itual dominion  of  the  world,  which  Hilde- 
brand,  or  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  afterward? 
succeeded  in  executing.  In  our  subsequent 
history  of  this  celebrated  pope,  we  shall 
allude  farther  to  this  question.  Here, 
however,  we  must  at  once  say,  for  the  hon. 
or  of  these  German  pontiffs,  that  by  their 
efforts,  influenced  by  a  noble  and  firm 
mind,  and  true  zeal  towards  promoting  the 

frity  and  dignity  of  the  church,  they  must 
classed  as  the  precursors  in  the  reforms 
eventually  introduced.  Leo.  IX.  (formerly 
Bruno,  bishop  of  Toul,  and  a  relation  of 
the  emperor  Henry  III.)  was  especially 
to  be  esteemed  as  a  man  of  the  most  elevat- 
ed moral  virtue  and  true  nobleness  of  mind. 
His  humility  was  so  great,  that  after  he  was 
elected  pope,  he  left  his  bishopric  of  Toul 
for  Rome  on  foot,  and  with  the  pilgrim's  staff 
in  hand,  he  journeyed  all  the  distance  thus 
lowly,  accompanied  by  Hildebrand,  then 
chaplain  to  the  deposed  pope,  Gregory  VI., 
in  whom  Leo  had  already  recognised  a  man 
of  extraordinary  genius. 

His  zeal  for  the  purification  of  the  church 
urged  him  forthwith  to  operate  against  the 
prevailing  system  of  Simonism,  or  the  pur- 
chasing of  spiritual  offices  with  money,  and 
the  immoral  life  led  by  the  clergy.  He 
presided  at  three  councils  which  were  con- 
voked for  this  purpose,  in  Rome,  Rheims, 
and  Mentz ;  and  he  succeeded  in  bringing 
to  bear,  within  a  year,  the  most  important 
reforms.  He  then  travelled  from  the  one 
country  of  Christendom  to  the  other,  wher- 
ever his  presence  was  most  necessary,  in 
order  to  promote  and  establish  personally 
the  purification  of  the  church.  He  died  in 
the  year  1054,  too  soon  for  the  great  work 
he  had  in  hand ;  but  his  successors  con- 
tinued to  complete  what  he  had  commenced 
according  to  his  grand  plan. 

Meantime,  in  Germany.  Henry  ruled  as 
a  wise  and  powerful  sovereign.  He  aban- 
doned, certainly,  to  other  princes,  the 
duchies  which  he  himself  formerly  possess- 
ed, but  only  to  such  as  were  rulers  of  very 
limited  power,  and  who  received,  it  is  true, 
the  name  but  not  the  ancient  prerogative 
of  duke,  as  viz. :  Bavaria  to  Henry  of  the 
house  of  Luxemburg,  and,  after  him,  to 
Conrad,  of  the  Palatinate  ;  Cannthia  1C 


HENRY'S  PERSONAL  COURAGE— HIS  DEATH. 


141 


Guelf,  son  of  Guclf,  the  Swabian  count; 
Swabia  itself  to  Otho,  count  palatine,  on 
the  Rhine.  In  S\vabia,  the  Guelfic  house 
was  very  powerful,  and  would  therefore 
willingly  have  possessed  the  duchy  ;  but 
it  was  precisely  for  that  reason,  that  Henry 
placed  Count  Guelf  in  Carinthia,  in  order 
that  the  duke  might  not  possess  great  here- 
ditary lands  in  the  country.  Thus  he  acted 
as  he  pleased  with  the  imperial  dignities, 
while  he  favored  the  inheritance  of  the 
smaller  fiefs.  Upper  Lorraine  passed 
through  him  to  Count  Albert,  of  Longvvy, 
an  ancestor  of  the  present  Austrian  house. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Henry  gave 
a  striking  proof  of  his  personal  courage, 
for  at  an  interview  which  took  place  be- 
tween him  and  King  Henry  of  France, 
near  Mentz,  in  the  year  1056,  a  dispute 
arose  between  them,  and  the  latter  king 
charged  him  with  a  breach  of  his  word. 
As  it  beseemed,  Henry  replied  only  by 
casting  his  gauntlet  down  before  the  king, 
who,  however,  during  the  following  night, 
retired  within  his  frontiers.  Nothing  could 
be  more  pleasing  to  the  Germans  than 
this  chivalrous  bearing  of  their  emperor. 

Henry  now  returned  to  Saxony,  where 
his  favorite  seat  Goslar  lay,  in  the  Hartz, 
and  which  he  raised  to  a  considerable 
city.  We  must  not  wonder  that  a  king  of 
the  Prankish  race  should  fix  his  seat  in 
rfaxony,  considering  that  he  did  so  on  ac- 
count of  its  rich  mines,  which  existed 
close  to  this  said  Goslar,  in  the  Hartz. 
Mines,  in  those  times,  were  the  exclusive 
property  of  the  emperor.  In  Goslar, 
Henry  built  a  fortress,  a  palace,  churches, 
and  ramparts  round  the  town,  and  he 
obliged  the  Saxons  of  the  surrounding 
country  to  render  excessive  service.  This 
increased  the  ill-will  they  felt  at  seeing  an 
imperial  fortress  thus  suddenly  created  in 
their  country  ;  and  although  under  so  se- 
vere and  powerful  an  enemy,  they  could 
not  give  utterance  to  their  thoughts,  it 
nevertheless  produced  the  more  bitter  fruits 
for  his  son.  Henry  died  suddenly,  in  the 
year  1056,  at  Bothfeld,  near  Blankenburg, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Hartz,  (whither  he  had 
gone  to  hunt,)  in  the  prime  of  life,  being 
only  thirty-seven  years  old,  and  in  the 
midst  of  great  plans  which  he  formed  for 
the  future. 

This  emperor  was  strictly  and  bigotedly 
pious,  notwithstanding  his  strong  mind  and 
sternness  of  will.  He  never  placed  his 


crown  upon  his  head  without  having  pre- 
viously confessed,  and  received  from  his 
confessor  permission  to  wear  it.  He  like- 
wise subjected  himself  to  the  expiatory 
penalties  and  punishments  of  the  church, 
and  often  submitted  his  body  to  be  scourg- 
ed by  his  priests.  Thus  the  rude  and 
barbarous  manners  ol'  those  times  held  in 
no  contempt  corporeal  chastisement — as 
practised  among  them  to  curb  the  violence 
of  passion — even  when  inflicted  upon  the 
body  by  the  sufferer's  own  lash. 

Henry  III.  may,  nevertheless,  be  named 
among  those  emperors  who  have  proved 
the  cultivation  of  their  own  mind,  by  their 
love  for  the  sciences,  by  their  predilection 
in  favor  of  distinguished  men,  and  by  their 
promotion  of  intellectual  perfection  gene- 
rally. Ever  since  he  had  received  the 
poem  addressed  to  him  in  Latin  by  Wippo, 
(the  biographer  of  his  father,)  in  which  he 
encouraged  him  to  have  the  children  of  the 
secular  nobles  educated  in  the  sciences, 
he  continued  to  evince  the  greatest  inter- 
est in  the  erection  of  schools.  Those  of 
Liege,  Lobbes,  Gemblours,  Fulda,  Pader- 
born,  St.  Gallen,  Reichenau,  &c.,  flour- 
ished especially  under  his  reign ;  and  it 
was  in  the  two  last-mentioned  schools  that 
Herman  le  Contracte,  one  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  that  time,  received  his 
education.  This  extraordinary  philoso- 
pher was,  from  his  childhood,  such  a  crip- 
ple, that  he  could  only  be  conveyed  from 
one  place  to  another  in  a  portable  chair. 
He  wrote  also  with  the  greatest  difficulty, 
and  stammered  so  painfully  to  hear,  that 
his  pupils  required  a  long  time  before  they 
could  understand  him  ;  while,  however, 
he  was  so  admired  and  sought  after  by 
them,  that  they  flocked  to  him  in  multi- 
tudes from  all  parts.  His  chronicles  be- 
long to  the  most  distinguished  historical 
sources,  including  the  first  division  of  the 
llth  century. 

The  sciences  and  the  arts  under  Henry 
III.  progressed  to  an  extent  by  no  means 
unimportant ;  and  if  much  became  neg- 
lected under  the  long  and  turbulent  reigi- 
of  his  successor,  Henry  IV.,  still  the  foun 
dation  was  then  laid  for  tha.  glorious  de- 
velopment which  is  presented  to  us  in  tho 
after-times,  under  the  reign  of  the  Hohen- 
staufens. 

The  princes  had  already  recognised  the 
succession  of  Henry's  son  immediately  on 
his  birth.  Unfortunately  for  the  empire, 


M2 


HENRY  IV— THE  ARCHBISHOPS. 


upon  the  death  of  his  father  the  young 
king  was  only  a  child  six  years  old. 

His  education  and  the  government  of 
the  realm  were  at  first  in  the  hands  of  his 
excellent  mother  Agnes,  who,  however, 
was  not  in  a  condition  to  retain  the  nobles 
of  the  empire  in  dependence,  and  thus 
complete  the  father's  work.  She  sought 
rather  by  favoring  some  of  them  to  ac- 
quire support  for  her  government,  and 
therefore  gave  Swabia,  and  at  the  same 
time  the  dominion  of  Burgundy,  to  Count 
Rudolphus  of  Rheinfelden,  and  Bavaria  to 
Otho  of  Nordheim,  confirming  the  grant 
with  a  dangerous  clause,  viz.,  that  these 
dignities  should  remain  hereditary  in  their 
houses.  Henry,  bishop  of  Augsburg, 
possessed  especially  her  confidence,  but 
this  speedily  caused  envy  and  jealousy. 
At  the  head  of  the  discontented  stood  the 
Archbishop  Hanno  of  Cologne,  an  ambi- 
tious and  prudent,  but  austere  and  severe 
man.  In  order  to  gain  possession  of  the 
voung  king,  and  thereby  of  the  govern- 
ment, he  went  at  Easter  in  1062  to  Kaiser- 
werth  on  the  Rhine,  where  at  that  moment 
the  court  of  the  empress  was  assembled, 
and  after  the  dinner  he  persuaded  the 
boy  to  go  and  view  a  particularly  beauti- 
ful vessel,  recently  built.  He  had  scarce- 
ly, however,  got  on  board,  when  the  sail- 
ors, at  a  signal  given  by  the  archbishop, 
loosened  her  moorings,  and  rowed  to  the 
middle  of  the  Rhine,  which  so  much  ter- 
rified the  youth,  that  he  suddenly  jumped 
into  the  river,  and  would  certainly  have 
been  drowned  had  not  Count  Eckbert  of 
Brunswick  sprung  after  him  and  saved 
him  at  the  hazard  of  his  life.  He  was 
cheered  up,  and  many  fair  promises  being 
held  out  to  him,  he  was  thus  decoyed 
away  and  taken  to  Cologne.  His  mother 
was  much  alarmed  and  grieved,  and  when 
she  perceived  that  the  German  princes  had 
no  longer  confidence  in  her,  she  determined 
to  conclude  her  life  in  quiet  retirement, 
and  went  to  Rome. 

The  Archbishop  Hanno,  in  order  that  it 
might  not  appear  as  if  he  wanted  to  retain 
the  highest  power  in  his  own  hands,  made 
an  order  that  the  young  king  should  dwell 
by  turns  in  the  different  countries  of  Ger- 
many, and  that  the  bishop,  in  whose  dio- 
cese he  dwelt,  should,  for  the  Jime  being, 
have  the  protectorship  and  the  chief  govern- 
ment of  the  kingdom.  His  chief  object, 
however,  was  to  get  the  mind  of  the  orince 


under  his  own  control,  but  in  this  he  could 
not  succeed.  His  character  and  mannei 
were  not  such  as  to  gain  the  heart  of  the 
youth,  for  he  was  severe,  haughty,  and 
authoritative,  and  as  it  is  related  of  him, 
that  he  even  applied  the  scourge  with  seve- 
rity to  his  father,  the  powerful  Henry  the 
Black,  it  may  likewise  be  presumed  that 
he  often  treated  the  youth  very  roughly. 
Among  the  remaining  bishops  there  was 
one  who  was  a  very  different  man,  as  am- 
bitious as  Hanno,  but  subtle  and  flattering, 
and  who  gained  the  youth  by  granting  all 
his  wishes  :  this  was  the  Archbishop  Adal- 
bert of  Bremen.  This  ambitious  man 
wished  to  unite  the  whole  of  the  north  of 
Germany  into  one  great  ecclesiastical  do- 
minion, and  to  place  himself  at  its  head  as 
a  second  pope.  In  fact  he  was  already  in- 
vested almost  with  the  authority  and  dignity 
of  a  patriarch  of  the  north  ;  for  by  his  zeal- 
ous efforts  to  propagate  Christianity  there, 
many  bishoprics  had  been  founded  in  the 
Slavonic  countries,  such  as  Ratzeburg  and 
Mecklenburg,  as  well  as  several  churches 
in  Denmark,  Norway,  and  Sweden.  He 
hated  the  temporal  princes,  because  they 
stood  in  the  way  of  these  objects,  and  in 
order  to  suppress  them  he  wished  to  raise 
the  imperial  power  to  unlimited  despotism. 
Hanno  of  Cologne  and  his  confederates 
stood  in  the  most  decided  opposition  to  him 
in  this  view,  for  they  endeavored  to  raise 
the  dignity  of  the  princes  upon  the  ruins  of 
the  empire  ;  and  thus  both  parties,  without 
any  reserve,  went  passionately  to  extremes. 
While  Hanno  was  on  a  journey  to  Rome, 
where  he  remained  some  time,  Adalbert 
obtained  entire  possession  of  the  young 
prince.  Nothing  worse  could  have  hap- 
pened to  the  youth  than  to  be  subject  to  the 
influence  of  two  such  different  men,  and  to 
this  change  of  treatment  so  entirely  opposite  j 
for  after  having  been  treated  with  the  great- 
est severity,  he  was  now  allowed  to  sink  by 
too  great  lenity  and  indulgence  into  dissi 
pation  and  sensuality. 

Henry  was  distinguished  for  great  mental 
as  well  as  physical  qualities  ;  he  was  en- 
dowed  with  daring  and  ardent  courage, 
quickness  of  resolve,  and  a  chivalric  rnind 
which  might  have  been  directed  to  the  most 
noble  objects.  But  now  his  active  ana 
fiery  nature  became  transformed  into  a  re- 
vengeful  and  furious  disposition,  and  his 
elevated  mind  degenerated  into  selfish  pride 
and  domination.  Besides  which,  he  loved 


THE  SAXONS— THEIR  HOSTILITY 


143 


sensual  pleasures,  and  thence  became  often 
idle  and  careless.  A  good  thought  and  a 
praiseworthy,  honorable  action  in  him 
changed  speedily  to  an  opposite  character, 
because  throughout  his  whole  life  he  was 
wanting  in  a  fixed  leading  principle  where- 
on to  base  his  actions.  That  steady  calm 
repose  and  moderation,  ever  immutable, 
and  which  constitute  the  highest  majesty  of 
kings,  were  by  him  unattainable  and  never 
possessed  ;  and  thus  are  reflected  in  his 
whole  existence  the  dissimilar  and  even 
contradictory  sentiments  and  principles  of 
those  by  whom  lie  was  educated. 

It  was  strongly  evinced  and  verified  as  a 
great  truth  in  Henry  IV.,  that  according  to 
our  disposition  and  inward  being,  so  is  our 
late.  If  the  former  be  fixed  and  firm,  our 
life  as  surely  takes  a  fixed  direction.  But 
Henry's  life  was  as  unequal  as  his  mind : 
the  variation  of  good  fortune  with  misfor- 
tune, elevation  with  abasement,  and  haugh- 
tiness with  humiliation — such  were  the 
transitions  of  his  life,  even  unto  the  mo- 
ment of  his  death. 

Adalbert  had  transplanted  from  his  own 
soul  to  that  of  his  pupil  two  feelings  of  the 
deepest  aversion — the  first  was  directed 
against  all  the  princes  generally,  and  the 
second  against  those  of  Saxony,  and  espe- 
cially the  ducal  house  of  Billung,  and  the 
whole  Saxon  people,  with  whom  he  had 
previously  had  many  disputes  relative  to 
his  archbishopric  of  Bremen.  He  there- 
fore impressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  young 
king,  that  as  the  princes,  but  chiefly  those 
of  Saxony,  were  striving  for  independence, 
he  should  reduce  them  by  times  to  obedience 
and  crush  them.  These  principles  embit- 
tered and  destroyed  the  tranquillity  of  the 


King's  whole 


life,  for  although  the   ambi- 


tious archbishop,  after  he  had  declared  the 
king  to  be  of  age  at  Worms  in  1065,  was, 
by  means  of  the  princes,  removed  from 
Henry  in  the  following  year,  his  ward 
never  forgot  his  instructions,  and  when,  in 
1069,  Adalbert  again  visited  the  court  of 
the  young  monarch,  he  used  all  his  former 
influence  to  strengthen  and  confirm  him  in 
this  hatred. 

The  Saxons  speedily  perceived  the  king's 
purpose  of  making  their  country  imme- 
diately dependent  on  the  crown  ;  for  he 
dwelt  chiefly  at  Goslar,  and  commenced 
building  in  the  mountains  of  the  Hartzand 
in  Thuringia  a  multitude  of  fortresses,  and 
manned  them  with  garrisons,  to  enable 


them  to  curb  the  natives  more  easily.  The 
same  Benno  (afterwards  bishop  of  Osna- 
hurg)  who,  under  Henry  III.,  upon  the 
building  of  Goslar  itself  had  already  forced 
the  Saxons  into  service,  now  superintended 
these  buildings.  The  chief  of  these  for- 
tresses was  that  of  Hartzburg,  near  Gos- 
lar, Henry's  favorite  place,  but  an  eye- 
sore to  the  Saxons.  Murmurs  passed 
around,  and  the  people  complained  that 
the  freedom  they  enjoyed  from  their  ances- 
tors was  about  to  be  destroyed.  It  was  also 
related,  that  while  one  day  surveying  the 
country  around  from  a  mountain  in  Saxony, 
the  king  exclaimed  :  "  Saxony  is  indeed  a 
beautiful  country,  but  those  who  inhabit  it 
are  miserable  serfs." 

There  were  two  other  causes  which  in- 
creased the  discontent.  Henry,  as  a  child, 
had  already  been  betrothed  by  his  father 
to  Bertha,  the  daughter  of  the  margrave  of 
Susa,  in  Italy,  and  he  had  afterwards 
married  her.  Now,  however,  he  wished 
to  be  divorced  from  her,  and  as  for  this 
purpose  he  'required  the  assistance  of  the 
spiritual  princes,  he  accordingly  sought  to 
conciliate  before  all  others  the  friendship 
of  Sigfried,  archbishop  of  Mentz.  But  as 
his  passions  always  drove  him  blindly  on 
to  the  object  he  was  so  anxious  to  grasp,  so 
likewise  the  means  he  now  employed  to  at- 
tain it  were  equally  bad.  He  commanded 
and  forced  the  Thuringians  to  pay  to  the 
archbishop  the  tithe  of  their  goods  which  he 
had  formerly  claimed,  and  they  had  refused. 
Thus  he  had  now  made  the  Thuringians 
doubly  his  enemies.  Meantime,  however, 
owing  to  the  opposition  shown  on  the  part 
of  the  pope,  he  was  not  divorced  from  the 
queen  ;  and  subdued,  shortly  afterwards, 
by  her  noble  and  dignified  conduct,  his 
heart  once  more  turned  towards  her,  and 
she  faithfully  continued  to  share  with  him 
his  good  and  bad  fortune. 

Besides  this,  Henry  treated  the  Saxon 
count,  Otho  of  Nordheim,  to  whom  his 
mother  had  given  the  duchy  of  Bavaria, 
so  badly,  that  all  the  nobles,  but  chiefly 
those  of  Saxony,  were  highly  exasperated. 
This  Duke  Otho  was  a  friend  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  and  might  probably 
thereby  have  become  obnoxious  to  the  king, 
or  the  latter  perhaps  turned  the  hatred  he 
had  imbibed  from  Adalbert  against  all  the 
nobles,  more  particularly  against  Otho, 
upon  whose  arm  the  Saxon  people  chiefly 
depended.  And  when  at  this  moment  an 


144 


HENRY'S  INJUSTICE— THE  SAXONS  OVERPOWER  HIM. 


accuser  appeared,  named  Egino,  (probably 
employed  for  that  purpose,)  and  charged 
the  duke  with  having  tried  to  persuade  him 
to  assassinate  the  king,  and  Otho  refused  to 
do  battle  with  him  because  he  was  not  of 
the  same  rank,  and  bore  besides  a  bad  cha- 
racter, Henry,  by  an  unjust  sentence,  de- 
posed him  forthwith  from  his  duchy  of  Ba- 
varia, and  destroyed  with  fire  and  sword  all 
his  hereditary  lands  in  Saxony.  He  gave 
his  duchy  of  Bavaria  (in  1070)  to  Guelf 
the  Young  (IV.)  the  son  of  the  Italian  Mar- 
grave Azzo,  and  the  founder  of  the  junior 
Guelfic  house,  the  elder  house  having  be- 
come extinct  by  the  death  of  Duke  Guelf 
of  Carinthia  in  1055. 

But  in  Otho  of  Nordheim  he  had  now 
aroused  for  his  whole  life-time  a  most  val- 
iant and  inveterate  enemy.  He  joined 
Count  Magnus  of  Saxony,  son  of  Duke 
Ordulf,  a  noble  youth,  bold  and  valiant  in 
arms,  and  united  himself  with  him  ;  but 
pressed  by  the  royal  forces,  they  were 
obliged  to  yield  themselves  both  prisoners 
to  Henry  before  they  had  hardly  prepared 
themselves  for  battle.  After  the  lapse  of  a 
year  Henry  set  Otho  at  liberty,  but  he  re- 
tained Magnus  in  prison  in  the  Hartzburg, 
because  he  refused  at  his  command  to  re- 
nounce his  rights  to  his  father's  duchy  ;  and 
although  Otho  nobly  offered  to  take  his 
friend's  place  in  prison,  he  refused  to  listen 
to  him.  Thence  arose  the  natural  conclu- 
sion, that  it  was  the  king's  intention  to  take 
possession  of  the  duchy  of  Saxony  himself, 
and  leave  the  young  prince  to  die  in  cap- 
tivity. 

These  circumstances  were  the  origin  of 
t'nat  deep  and  violent  enmity  between  Hen- 
ry and  the  Saxons,  and  which  prepared  the 
most  bitter  and  melancholy  reverses  for  the 
king,  and  incited  both  parties  to  acts  of  the 
most  implacable  hatred  and  revenge. 

The  Saxons,  with  Otho  of  Nordheim  at 
their  head,  concluded  with  each  other  a 
close  alliance.  All  the  Saxon  and  Thu- 
ringian  nobles,  temporal  and  spiritual,  be- 
longed to  it,  and  among  others,  Burkhard, 
bishop  of  Halberstadt,  who  was  a  nephew 
of  the  archbishop  of  Cologne,  and  had  im- 
bibed from  the  latter  his  hatred  against  the 
imperial  misrule  and  ascendency.  This 
was  still  the  time  when  the  clergy  them- 
selves went  into  battle,  and  frequently 
fought  at  the  head  of  their  warlike  hosts. 

Quite  unexpectedly,  and  while  Henry 
was  at  Goslar,  in  the  year  1073,  a  deputa- 


tion from  the  Saxons  came  to  him  and  de- 
manded of  him  as  follows :  "  That  he  should 
destroy  his  fortresses  in  their  country  •  set 
Magnus,  the  heir  of  their  Saxon  duchy,  free 
from  his  imprisonment ;  not  always  remain 
in  Saxony  ;  honor  the  ancient  constitution 
of  the  country  ;  and  in  imperial  affairs  net 
give  ear  to  bad  advisers,  but  take  counsel 
of  the  states.  If  he  would  perform  these 
conditions,"  they  added,  "  no  nation  in  Ger- 
many would  be  found  more  faithful  and 
devoted  to  him  than  that  of  the  Saxons.'*' 
Henry,  however,  dismissed  the  deputation 
with  contempt.  The  Saxons,  accordingly, 
now  brought  into  speedy  effect  and  imme- 
diate execution  the  threatened  consequen- 
ces, and  advanced  towards  Goslar  with 
60,000  men.  Henry  fled  with  his  treasures 
to  the  strong  fortress  of  Hartzburg,  and  as 
the  enemy  speedily  followed  him,  he  took 
to  flight  and  sought  refuge  amid  great 
danger  in  the  Hartz  mountains.  He  was 
obliged,  for  three  days,  to  wander  without 
food  and  drink,  and  with  but  few  compan- 
ions, under  the  guidance  of  a  yager,  imagin- 
ing in  every  whisper  of  the  wind  passing 
along  the  tops  of  the  firs,  to  hear  the  steps 
of  his  pursuers.  At  last  he  reached  Esch- 
wege,  on  the  river  Werra.  From  thence 
he  went  to  the  Rhine,  towards  Tribur,  and 
sent  messengers  throughout  the  whole  em- 
pire, summoning  all  to  arms  against  the 
Saxons.  But  the  Saxons  wisely  profited  by 
the  interval,  destroyed  fortress  after  for- 
tress, and  took  possession  of  the  strong  cas- 
tle of  Luneburg  with  its  whole  garrison ; 
and  which  lucky  circumstance  they  took 
advantage  of  to  free  their  duke,  Magnus, 
for  they  now  demanded  his  freedom  of  the 
emperor  under  the  threat,  that,  if  not  grant- 
ed, they  would  hang  up  the  whole  garrison 
of  Luneburg  as  robbers.  Henry  was  obliged 
therefore,  however  unwillingly,  to  yield 
and  set  Magnus  at  liberty,  together  with 
seventy  other  nobles  and  knights.  The 
monarch's  humiliation,  however,  did  not 
end  here,  for  he  was  now  likewise  deserted 
by  the  princes  of  Southern  Germany,  and 
even  the  archbishop  of  Mentz,  on  whose 
account  he  had  made  so  many  enemies, 
left  him.  A  circumstance  also  occurred 
at  this  moment  which  formed  a  parallel 
case  with  that  of  Egino  and  Otho  of  Nord- 
heim, only  that  here  the  king  was  made 
out  to  be  the  assassin.  Reginger,  a  knight 
and  former  favorite  of  Henry,  now  came 
forward  and  made  public  that  "  the  king 


HIS  REVENGE— DEFEATS  THE  SAXONS. 


146 


had  employed  him  to  murder  the  Dukes 
Rudolphus  of  Swabia  and  Berthold  of  Ca- 
rinthia."  This  statement  might  possibly 
have  been  a  mere  manoeuvre  of  the  enemy, 
in  order  to  prejudice  public  opinion  against 
Henry,  similar  to  that  which  he  had  him- 
self previously  employed  against  Otho  of 
Nordheim.  But  it  was  equally  successful, 
for  it  was  even  proposed  to  elect  a  new 
king,  and  the  ungrateful  Archbishop  Sig- 
fried  convoked  the  princes  for  that  purpose 
to  hold  a  diet  at  Mentz. 

In  this  emergency,  when  all  his  friends 
had  deserted  him,  the  citizens  of  Worms 
alone  remained  faithful  to  the  king.  They 
opened  their  gates  to  him  against  the  will 
of  their  archbishop,  offered  him  men  and 
arms,  and  by  their  generous  attachment 
and  fidelity  again  restored  his  despondent 
mind,  and  as  far  as  their  means  admitted 
they  wholly  supported  him,  no  one  else  at- 
tempting to  assist  him.  At  this  period, 
certain  cities  in  Germany  already  began 
to  have  a  voice  in  the  imperial  diets,  and 
they  became  the  chief  support  of  imperial 
authority  against  the  princes;  thence  we 
see  how  much,  by  industry  and  activity, 
they  must  have  increased  since  the  time  of 
Henry  I.,  both  in  the  number  and  in  the 
wealth  of  their  inhabitants.  But  the  faith- 
ful people  of  Worms  could  not  defend  him 
against  the  entire  power  of  all  the  accu- 
mulated evils  which  now  hung  over  his 
head.  He  was  obliged,  in  order  not  to 
lose  his  crown,  to  make  hard  terms  of 
peace  with  the  Saxons  in  1074,  and  to  de- 
liver up  to  them  all  his  fortresses,  even  his 
beloved  Hartzburg.  After  contemplating 
it  with  sorrow  and  regret  for  the  last  time, 
as,  in  the  midst  of  the  Saxons,  he  rode  to 
Goslar,  he  once  more,  and  even  most  ear- 
nestly entreated  them  to  grant  its  preserva- 
tion, but  the  proud  fortress  was  doomed  to 
fall,  and  in  its  destruction  hatred  raged  so 
furiously,  that  the  embittered  populace, 
without  even  the  knowledge  or  consent  of 
the  princes,  plundered  and  burnt  both  its 
church  and  altar,  tore  open  the  imperial 
tombs,  and  desecrated  the  remains  of  Hen- 
ry's brother  and  infant  son. 

But  the  Saxons  very  soon  experienced 
that  the  most  dangerous  enemy  to  good  for- 
tune is  the  arrogance  of  our  own  heart ; 
and  one  of  those  singular  changes  of  for- 
tune which  distinguished  Henry's  entire 
reign  now  suddenly  displayed  itself.  He 
had  well  learned  by  this  time,  that  men  must 
19 


be  differently  treated  to  the  fashion  Adal- 
bert had  taught  him,  and  that  in  order  to 
conquer  a  people,  something  more  is  neces- 
sary than  building  isolated  fortresses  in 
their  country.  Accordingly  he  now  began 
to  address  the  German  princes  in  a  very 
opposite  manner  to  what  he  had  hitherto 
done  ;  he  sought  to  gain  them  individually, 
especially  as  their  assemblies  were  in  gen. 
eral  prejudicially  opposed  to  him,  and  for 
this  purpose  he  employed  a  different  but 
more  suitably-adapted  means  with  each  of 
them  separately.  To  all  of  them  he  com- 
plained bitterly  of  the  shameful  and  revolt- 
ing destruction  of  Hartzburg,  and  as  soon 
as  the  public  voice  became  more  favorable 
towards  him,  he  issued  a  general  summons 
against  the  Saxons.  This  time  obedience 
immediately  followed,  and  a  strong  army 
was  speedily  collected  both  of  knights  and 
vassals,  from  all  parts  of  the  kingdom, 
even  from  Bohemia  and  Lorraine,  an  army 
such  as  had  not  been  seen  for  a  long  time, 
while  the  Saxons,  who  had  only  hastily 
assembled  a  few  troops,  and  by  the  arti- 
fices of  the  king  had  become  disunited 
among  themselves,  were  severely  beaten, 
in  1075,  near  Hohenburg,  not  far  from 
Langensalza,  on  the  river  Uristrut.  Henry 
pursued  the  fugitives  as  far  as  Magdeburg 
and  Halberstadt,  and  desolated  their  coun- 
try with  fire  and  sword.  His  vengeance 
was  terrific,  like  all  his  ungovernable  pas- 
sions. But  in  the  following  year,  the  other 
princes,  who  would  not  suffer  the  poor  peo- 
ple to  be  entirely  destroyed,  stepped  be- 
tween as  mediators.  Henry  granted  the 
Saxons  a  peace  after  their  nobles  had 
humbly  knelt  to  him  before  all  the  army ; 
but  instead  of  effecting  a  complete  recon- 
ciliation by  a  full  pardon,  he,  contrary  to 
the  promise  he  gave  through  his  ambassa- 
dors, retained  many  of  the  Saxon  nobles  as 
prisoners,  and  made  over  their  fiefs  to  his 
vassals.  The  most  dangerous  of  all  their 
princes,  however,  Otho  of  Nordheim,  he 
allowed  to  return  to  his  estates,  and  even 
appointed  him  administrator  over  Saxony. 
He  caused  all  the  destroyed  fortresses,  in- 
cluding Hartzburg,  to  be  rebuilt,  erected 
additional  ones,  and  had  them  garrisoned 
by  his  own  troops,  who,  as  before,  oppress- 
ed the  land  by  arrogance  and  extortion  ; 
thus  the  seeds  of  future  revolt  were  again 
planted  in  this  quarter,  while  from  an  op- 
posite  direction  an  enemy  presented  him- 
self, far  more  powerful,  and  who  fbughf 


140 


POPE  GREGORY  VII.— REFORMS  THE  CHURCH. 


against  him  with  very  different  weapons  to 
those  of  the  Saxons. 

Hildebrand  (afterwards  Gregory  VII.) 
was  the  son  of  a  carpenter  at  Saone,  an 
Italian  city.  He  entered  the  clerical  state, 
and  as  he  possessed  extraordinary  mental 
powers,  he  was  taken  by  Pope  Leo  IV.,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  from  the  monas- 
tery of  Clugny  to  Rome,  and  there  made 
sub-deacon  of  the  Roman  church,  and  af- 
terwards chancellor  ;  henceforward  he 
alone  directed  the  government  of  the  popes, 
and  became  the  soul  of  the  pontifical  court. 
His  object  was  to  raise  the  pope  above  all 
the  princes  and  kings  of  the  earth,  and 
this  aim  he  pursued  during  his  whole  life 
with  so  much  prudence,  constancy,  power, 
and  greatness  of  mind,  that  he  must  be 
placed  among  the  most  extraordinary  men 
in  the  history  of  his  times.  When  he  first 
appeared  great  misuses  had  crept  in  among 
the  higher  and  lower  clergy ;  the  majority 
purchased  their  holy  offices  with  gold, 
whereby  unworthy  men  could  attain  to 
high  and  important  places.  Immorality, 
dissipation,  and  vices  of  every  kind  were 
not  rare  among  them,  and  as  they  were 
the  slaves  of  their  own  sins,  so  also  by 
their  love  for  temporal  possessions  they  at- 
tached themselves  to  temporal  princes,  who 
rewarded  them  with  their  possessions.  Hil- 
debrand therefore  resolved,  inspired  as  he 
was  for  the  freedom  of  the  church  and  the 
morality  of  the  clerical  order,  to  lay  the 
axe  to  the  root  of  these  evils. 

His  first  endeavors  were  very  justly 
directed  against  the  purchase  of  spiritual 
offices  with  gold,  which  was  called  the 
crime  of  simony  (in  reference  to  the  his- 
tory of  Simon  the  magician,  related  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  viii.  18-24)  and  was 
considered  a  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost. 
It  is  shown  with  what  moral  power  and 
superiority  of  mind  he  knew  how  to  influ- 
ence men,  in  the  example  of  an  archbish- 
op of  France,  who  was  charged  with  this 
crime,  but  had  cunningly  gained  over  the 
informers  by  gold.  Hildebrand,  so  says 
the  original  document,  sat  as  representa- 
tive of  the  pope  in  judgment  upon  the  af- 
fair. The  archbishop  then  stepped  boldly 
into  the  assembly  and  said,  "  Where  are 
they  who  charge  me  ?  Let  him  step  forth 
who  will  condemn  me  !"  The  bribed  com- 
plainants were  silent.  Hildebrand  then 
turned  himself  to  him  and  said  :  "  Dost 
hou  l^lievp  that  the  Holy  Ghost  with  Fa- 


ther and  Son  are  one  being  ?"  To  which 
the  other  replied  :  "  I  believe'it."  He  now 
commanded  him  to  repeat :  "  Honor  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and 
while  the  archbishop  was  pronouncing  the 
words,  he  looked  at  him  with  such  a  pier- 
cing, penetrating  glance,  that  the  conscience 
of  the  convicted  clergyman  was  so  struck 
with  his  guilt,  that  he  was  unable  to  add 
"  The  Holy  Ghost,"  although  he  several 
times  tried  it.  This  was  considered  a  di- 
vine judgment.  The  archbishop  fell  at 
his  judge's  feet,  acknowledged  his  crime, 
and  confessed  himself  unworthy  to  hold  the 
priestly  office ;  after  which  confession  he 
was  enabled  to  repeat  those  words  with  a 
distinct  voice.  This  circumstance  worked 
so  powerfully  upon  the  minds  of  the  people, 
that  twenty-seven  other  churchmen  and 
several  bishops,  as  yet  unaccused,  laid 
down  their  offices,  because  they  had  ac- 
quired them  with  gold. 

In  order,  therefore,  that  the  clergy  should 
now  be  made  entirely  free  from  the  tem- 
poral power,  it  became  essential  that  the 
head  of  the  church  should  no  longer  be 
named  by  the  emperor,  but  be  appointed 
by  a  free  election.  This  had  been  dif- 
ferently settled  at  the  time  that  Henry  III. 
caused  the  promise  to  be  made  to  him,  that 
the  Romans  should  acknowledge  no  pope 
without  the  imperial  sanction,  and  under 
this  emperor  Hildebrand  probably  would 
not  have  carried  his  object.  But  he  now 
took  advantage  of  the  moment  while  the 
new  emperor  was  still  a  child,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  the  year  1059,  under  Pope 
Nicholas  II.,  in  having  a  law  made,  that 
every  pope  should  be  chosen  by  the  cardi- 
nals, but  with  the  clause  that  the  sanction 
or  confirmation  of  the  emperor  should  be 
added,  as  it  was  only  in  subsequent  times 
that  endeavors  were  made  even  to  abolish 
this  decree,  and  to  put  a  false  construction 
upon  the  law  of  Pope  Nicholas. 

When  Hildebrand  as  chancellor  had,  by 
this  and  other  regulations,  prepared  every 
thing  for  his  great  object,  he  was  himself 
elected  pope  in  the  year  1073,  and  called 
himself  Gregory  VII.,  in  order  thus  to  de- 
clare the  deposition  of  Gregory  VI.  by 
Henry  III.  as  invalid.  The  emperor  Henry 
IV.,  who  now  ruled  the  empire  himself, 
sent  his  faithful  adherent,  Count  Eberhard, 
to  Rome,  to  demand  of  the  Romans  why 
they  had  dared  without  the  imperial  pei- 
mission  to  elect  a  pope.  Gregory,  wh«" 


GREGORY  AND  THE  INVESTITURE. 


141 


did  not  wish  at  this  moment  to  commence 
llie  dispute  with  the  emperor,  excused 
nimself  hy  the  plea  that  the  people  had 
forced  Jiim  to  receive  the  papal  dignity, 
but  that  he  had  not  allowed  himself  to  be 
ordained  before  lie  had  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  emperor  and  of  the  German 
princes.  With  this  excuse  Henry  was 
contented,  and  the  pope  was  confirmed. 
Henry  thus  showed,  tbat  in  the  blindness 
of  his  fury  against  the  Saxons,  he  had  not 
at  all  perceived  that  all  this  time  the  de- 
gradation of  all  temporal  dominion,  and 
tii  •  elevation  of  a  spiritual  empire,  was 
now  being  gradually  prepared  in  Rome. 

Gregory  now  stepped  forth  with  new  and 
v-ery  severe  laws  against  simony,  and 
against  the  marriage  of  priests.  He  de- 
sired, like  the  earlier  popes  and  father, 
that  the  priests  of  the  church  should  con- 
secrate themselves  wholly  to  the  divine 
service,  restrain  themselves  from  all  sen- 
suality, and  not  even  chain  themselves  to  the 
love  of  the  earth's  possessions  by  the  mar- 
riage tie.  It  is  true  that  in  Italy,  as  well 
as  ia  France  and  Germany,  this  prohibi- 
tion found  at  first  great  opposition  among 
the  clergy,  for  many  of  them,  particularly 
among  the  lower  clergy,  were  already 
married,  but  Gregory  found  in  the  people 
themselves  the  support  necessary  for  the 
execution  of  his  law.  The  populace,  ex- 
cited against  the  married  priests,  forced 
them,  partly  through  the  severest  misusage, 
to  separate  themselves  from  their  wives, 
but  it  lasted  a  full  century  before  the  celi- 
bacy of  the  clergy  was  fully  established. 
The  attainment  of  this  object  was  of  the 
greatest  importance  to  Gregory  for  the 
completion  of  his  extensive  plans ;  for  if 
the  clergy  throughout  all  Christian  coun- 
tries were  no  longer  bound  by  their  do- 
mestic cares  and  anxiety  for  their  children, 
and  were  made  independent  of  the  tempo- 
ral lords,  the  pope  would  thereby  gain  so 
many  thousand  more  zealous  servants,  who 
would  listen  only  to  his  command,  and  con- 
tribute to  lix  firmly  the  dominion  of  the 
church  over  all  temporal  power.  But  in 
order  to  possess  such  servants  they  must 
be  rendered  still  more  independent,  and 
not  receive,  even  in  any  shape,  their  tem- 
poral possessions  from  the  hands  of  princes 
as  a  fief;  for  the  same  as  the  lay  vassals 
received  a  banner  as  a  mark  of  their  ser- 
vices, so  also  the  grand  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nitaries received  from  the  princes  as  a 


similar  sign,  a  ring  and  a  shepherd's  crook, 
which  thus  formed  the  investiture.  Greg- 
ory, therefore,  prohibited  the  clergy  from 
receiving  this  said  symbol  of  investiture 
from  the  hands  of  the  nobles ;  and  he  in- 
sisted that  for  their  elevation  they  were  to 
be  beholden  to  the  papal  chair  alone,  and 
only  to  the  pope  were  they  to  swear  the 
oath  of  obedience.  According  to  this  prin- 
ciple, the  pontiff  necessarily  became  sover- 
eign lord  of  one  third  of  all  the  property 
in  the  Catholic  countries. 

Such  then  is  the  commencement  of  the 
long  and  violent  dispute  of  investiture,  and 
especially  of  the  contest  between  the  em- 
peror and  the  pope,  the  state  and  the  church, 
and  which  by  degrees  weakened  and  de- 
stroyed both.  We  have  already  noticed 
previously  that  the  peaceful  co-operation 
of  both  the  papal  and  imp'erial  dignity 
might  have  formed  a  solid  basis  for  the 
happiness  of  the  people;  but  now  the  epoch 
commenced  when  both  these  powers  strove 
singly  to  rise  more  elevated  than  the  other. 
For  if,  on  the  one  hand,  the  pope  wished  to 
reign  not  only  in  spiritual  but  also  in  tem- 
poral affairs  over  all  princes  and  kings,  and 
was  anxious  to  take  away  as  well  as  to 
provide  crowns,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
emperor  would  not  admit  in  just  and  rea- 
sonable cases  the  authority  of  the  pope,  but 
insisted  he  could  rule  with  the  edge  of  the 
sword  even  over  invisible  and  spiritual  af- 
fairs and  the  conscience  of  man.  Thus  the 
two  powers  which  in  concord  together 
might  have  made  the  world  happy,  de- 
stroyed each  other,  and  after  a  contest  of  a 
century  and  a  half,  and  after  unutter- 
able confusion  and  dissension  in  Germany 
and  Italy,  the  imperial  dignity  lost  its 
ancient  splendor  and  its  intrinsic  power, 
while  the  head  of  the  church  became  ex- 
ternally dependent  upon  a  foreign  power. 
In  this  schism  great  men  stood  opposed  to 
each  other,  who  might  have  exercised  their 
energy  and  powers  much  more  beneficially 
for  society ;  but  this  very  contest  neces- 
sarily entered  into  the  great  plan  of  the 
history  of  the  world,  and  it  prepared  those 
developments  which  otherwise  would  not 
have  followed. 

Pope  Gregory  continued  to  advance  still 
farther  in  his  principles.  Not  satisfied 
with  having  separated  the  church  with  all 
its  endowments  wholly  from  temporal  do- 
minion,  he  also  now  solemnly  declared  tha 
emperors,  kings,  and  princes,  together  with 


148 


GREGORY  THREATENS  riENRY— HENRY  DEPOSES  GREGORY. 


all  their  power,  were  subject  to  the  pope. 
These  principles  are  especially  expressed 
in  his  own  letters :  "  The  world,"  he  says 
in  one  of  them,  "  is  guided  by  two  lights  : 
by  the  sun,  the  larger,  and  the  moon,  the 
lesser  light.  Thus  the  apostolic  power  re- 
presents the  sun,  and  the  royal  power  the 
moon ;  for  as  the  latter  has  its  light  from 
the  former,  so  only  do  emperors,  kings,  and 
princes,  receive  their  authority  through  the 
pope,  because  he  receives  his  authority 
through  God.  Therefore,  the  power  of  the 
Roman  chair  is  greater  than  the  power  of 
the  throne,  and  the  king  is  accordingly  sub- 
ject to  the  pope,  and  bound  in  obedience  to 
him.  If  the  apostles  in  heaven  can  bind 
and  loosen,  so  may  they  also  upon  earth 
give  and  take,  according  to  merit,  empires, 
kingdoms,  principalities,  duchies,  and  every 
other  kind  of  possession.  And  if  they  be 
appointed  as  sovereign  judges  over  spiritual, 
they  must  likewise  be  so,  and  far  more  in 
proportion,  over  temporal  affairs ;  and  if, 
finally,  they  have  the  right  to  command  an- 
gels, who  are  most  assuredly  placed  above 
the  most  powerful  monarchs,  how  much 
more  may  they  not  give  judgment  over  the 
poor  slaves  of  those  angels.  Besides,  the 
pope  is  the  successor  of  the  apostles,  and 
their  representative  upon  the  chair  of  St. 
Peter  ;  he  is  the  vicar  of  Christ,  and  con- 
sequently placed  over  all." 

These  principles  Gregory  resolved  to 
exercise  generally,  and  first  of  all  upon  the 
emperor  himself,  as  the  head  of  the  kings 
and  princes,  in  order  thereby  to  prove  his 
power  before  the  whole  world.  At  the 
same  time,  Henry,  living  as  he  did  in  con- 
tinual dissension  with  his  subjects,  had  less 
real  power  than  any  other  king,  while  his 
name  being  greater,  the  victory  over  him 
must  consequently  become  more  glorious, 
and  from  the  passionate  character  of  this 
prince  in  all  his  proceedings,  the  pope 
soon  found  it  easy  to  furnish  a  pretext. 
Complaints  against  the  emperor  came  to 
Rome  from  every  quarter,  while  the  Sax- 
ons, likewise,  bitterly  complained  because 
he  still  kept  many  of  their  princes  prisoners. 
Gregory  accordingly  caused  it  to  be  sig- 
nified to  the  emperor,  "  That  at  the  ensuing 
fast  he  must  appear  before  the  synod  at 
Rome,  to  answer  for  the  crimes  laid  to  his 
charge  ;  otherwise,  it  was  now  made  known 
to  him,  thafc-he  would  be  cast  out  from  the 
bosom  of  the  church  by  the  apostolic  ban." 

Henry  was  more  indignant  than  terrified 


at  these  words,  for  the  invisible  power  ol 
the  papal  ban  of  excommunication  had  hith- 
erto been  little  proved.  He  assembled  the 
German  bishops  at  Worms,  in  the  yeai 
1076,  and  there,  with  equal  precipitation 
and  impatience,  he  caused  to  be  pronounced 
at  once  against  the  pope  the  same  sentence 
of  deposition  with  which  the  latter  had 
threatened  him.  He  then  wrote  him  a  let- 
ter of  the  following  contents  : 

"  Henry,  king,  not  by  force,  but  by  the 
sacred  ordination  of  God,  to  Hildebrand — 
not  the  pope,  but  the  false  monk  : 

"  This  greeting  hast  thou  merited  by  the 
confusion  thou  hast  spread  throughout  all 
classes  of  the  church.  Thou  hast  trampled 
under  thy  feet  the  ministers  of  the  holy 
church,  as  slaves  who  know  not  what  their 
lord  does ;  and  by  that  desecration  hast 
thou  won  favor  from  the  lips  of  the  corn- 
mon  herd  of  people.  We  have  long  suf- 
fered this  because  we  were  desirous  to 
maintain  the  honor  of  the  Roman  chair. 
But  thou  hast  mistaken  our  forbearance  for 
fear,  and  hast  become  emboldened  to  raise 
thyself  above  the  royal  power,  bestowed 
upon  us  by  God  himself,  and  threatened  to 
take  it  from  us,  as  if  we  had  received  our 
dominion  from  thee.  Thou  hast  raised  thy- 
self upon  the  steps  which  are  called  cun- 
ning and  deception,  and  which  are  accursed. 
Thou  hast  gained  favor  by  gold,  won 
power  by  favor,  and  by  that  power  thou 
hast  gained  the  chair  of  peace,  from  whence 
thou  hast  banished  peace  itself  by  arming 
the  inferior  against  the  superior.  St.  Pe- 
ter, the  true  pope,  himself  says  :  '  Fear  God 
and  honor  the  king  !'  but  as  thou  dost  no1 
fear  God,  thou  dost  not  honor  me,  his  en- 
voy. Descend,  therefore,  thou  that  liest 
under  a  curse  of  excommunication  by  our 
and  all  bishops'  judgment,  descend  !  Quit 
the  apostolic  seat  thou  hast  usurped  !  And 
then  shall  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  be  ascended 
by  one  who  does  not  conceal,  under  the  di- 
vine word,  his  arrogance.  I,  Henry,  by 
God's  grace,  king,  and  all  our  bishops,  say 
to  thee,  '  Descend,  descend  !'  " 

Upon  this  the  pope  held  a  council  also, 
and  not  only  pronounced  the  sentence  of 
excommunication  against  Henry,  but  he 
deposed  him  in  the  following  words  :  "  In 
the  name  of  the  Almighty  God,  I  forbid  to 
King  Henry,  the  son  of  the  Emperor  Henry, 
who,  with  haughtiness  unheard  of,  hay 
arisen  against  the  church,  the  government 
of  the  German  and  Italian  empire,  and  al>- 


HENRY'S  EXCOMMUNICATION— THE  EMPEROR  A  FUGITIVE. 


149 


solve  all  Christians  from  the  oath  which 
they  have  made  or  will  make  to  him,  and 
forbid  that  any  one  serve  him  as  king.  And 
occupying  thy  office,  holy  Peter,  I  bind  him 
with  the  bands  of  a  curse,  that  all  nations 
may  learn  that  thou  art  the  rock  whereon 
the  Son  of  God  founded  his  church." 

When,  at  the  Easter  festival  of  the  year 
1016,  Henry  received,  at  Utrecht,  the  news 
of  his  excommunication,  he  immediately 
pronounced,  on  his  part,  through  the  vio- 
lent bishop,  William  of  Utrecht,  an  ana- 
thema against  Gregory  ;  and  the  bishops 
of  Lombardy,  the  enemies  of  the  pope,  re- 
newed this  anathema  in  a  council  assem- 
bled at  Pavia,  under  the  presidency  of  Wi- 
bert,  archbishop  of  Ravenna. 

The  impression  made  by  these  unheard- 
of  events  was  varied,  according  to  the  dis- 
position and  feelings  of  the  people.  The 
Saxons  rejoiced,  for  their  cause  was  now 
the  cause  of  the  church,  and  henceforward 
their  usual  shout  of  war  was  "  Holy  Peter !" 
while,  throughout  the  empire  generally, 
there  was  a  division  of  parties ;  every- 
where the  cry  was,  "  The  pope  for  ever  !" 
or,  "  The  emperor  for  ever !"  This  was, 
indeed,  a  time  of  bitter  contention,  and  ha- 
tred reigned  throughout  the  whole  country. 
Had  the  king  been  a  good,  irreproachable 
man,  possessing  the  greatness  of  soul  which 
can  bind  and  rule  the  hearts,  the  power  of 
the  mere  word  would  not  have  overcome 
him,  for  it  was  only  from  public  opinion 
that  this  word  received  its  force.  But  he 
had  now  numerous  and  bitter  enemies,  and 
his  arrogance  after  conquering  the  Saxons 
had  served  to  increase  their  number.  Be- 
sides the  Saxons,  his  conduct  had  like- 
wise made  Rudolphus,  duke  of  Swabia,  ex- 
.remely  hostile  towards  him,  while  the 
pope's  legates  exercised  all  their  influence 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people.  Thence  it 
happened  that  the  majority  of  German 
princes  assembled  together  at  Tribur,  on 
the  Rhine,  in  order  to  elect  a  new  emperor. 
Henry  hastened  to  Oppenheim,  in  the  vi- 
cinity, and  at  length,  after  many  entreaties 
and  vows  of  reform,  he  obtained  from  them 
an  extension  of  one  year's  delay ;  and  it 
was  decided  that,  in  the  mean  time,  the  pope 
should  be  requested  to  come  to  Augsburg, 
and  himself  closely  investigate  the  affair; 
but  if  Henry,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  was 
not  freed  from  excommunication,  they  re- 
solved to  proceed  immediately  to  a  fresh 
election. 


In  this  desperate  state  Henry  formed 
quite  an  unexpected  resolution.  In  the 
anxiety  he  experienced  lest,  in  the  diet  at 
Augsburg,  where  his  enemies  constituted 
the  majority  of  the  members,  nothing  favor- 
able towards  him  should  be  determined 
upon,  he  set  off  himself,  notwithstanding  he 
possessed  no  means,  and  was  obliged  almost 
to  beg  for  his  support,  (while  likewise  the 
princes  still  occupied  the  passes  between 
Italy  and  Germany,)  and  resolved  to  cross 
the  Alps,  accompanied  only  by  his  consort 
and  one  faithful  companion.  He  passed 
through  Savoy,  where  he  was  furnished  by 
his  mother-in-law,  the  margravine  of  Susa, 
with  a  few  more  attendants,  and  as  it  was 
winter,  and  indeed  so  severe  a  winter  that 
the  Rhine,  from  Martinmas  until  the  first 
of  April,  was  completely  frozen,  the  jour- 
ney over  the  mountains  covered  with  snow 
and  ice  was,  consequently,  attended  with 
immeasurable  difficulties  and  danger,  and 
the  empress,  wrapped  up  in  an  ox-hide, 
was  obliged  to  be  slidden  down  the  preci- 
pitous paths  of  Mount  Cenis  by  the  guides 
of  the  country,  hired  for  the  purpose.  He 
arrived  at  last  in  Italy,  and  his  presence, 
to  his  astonishment,  was  hailed  with  joy ; 
for  the  report  had  already  spread  "  that 
the  emperor  was  coming  to  humiliate  the 
haughty  pope  by  the  power  of  the  sword." 
In  Upper  Italy  a  strong  hatred  had  long 
been  cherished  against  Gregory;  the  tem- 
poral lords  were  indignant  at  his  recent  re- 
gulations, and  among  the  clergy  there  were 
many  whom  his  laws  against  simony  and 
the  marriage  of  priests  had  made  his  ene- 
mies. Besides,  many  Italians,  even  the 
archbishops  of  Milan  and  Ravenna,  had 
shared  in  the  sentence  of  excommunication. 
Had  Henry,  therefore,  not  been  too  much 
dejected  and  disheartened  by  what  he  had 
experience  1  in  Germany,  he  might  speedily 
have  acquired  a  numerous  train  of  adhe- 
rents in  Italy,  to  offer  opposition  to  his  mighty 
enemy,  but  he  now  had  conciliation  alone 
in  view ;  the  pope,  too,  was  at  this  moment 
on  his  journey  to  Germany,  to  meet  the  diet 
at  Augsburg,  and  there  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  the  king.  Upon  hearing,  however, 
of  Henry's  sudden  arrival  in  Italy,  and  not 
knowing  as  yet  whether  he  was  to  expect 
good  or  bad  from  him,  he  deviated  from  his 
direct  route,  and  proceeded  to  the  strong 
castle  of  Canossa,  there  to  gain  an  asylum 
with  the  Countess  Matilda,  the  daughtei 
and  heiress  of  the  rich  Margrave  Boniface, 


150 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  THE  POPE  AT  CANOSSA. 


of  Tuscany,  and  who  was  a  zealous  friend 
of  the  papal  chair;  having  even,  at  this 
moment,  privately  made  over  to  it  all  her 
inheritance. 

Matilda  was  the  most  powerful  and  influ- 
ential princess  in  Italy,  and  reigned  as 
queen  throughout  Tuscany  and  Lomhardy, 
while  she  was  likewise  equally  distinguish- 
ed for  her  mental  attainments  and  firmness 
of  spirit,  as  well  as  for  her  piety  and  virtue. 
She  contested  with  all  her  power,  during  a 
period  of  Thirty  years,  for  the  elevation  of 
the  pontifical  chair,  having  embraced  this 
idea  wiih  all  the  strength  of  her  natural 
character,  and  to  which  she  was  still  more 
influenced  by  the  new  severe  regulations 
adopted  by  Gregory  VII.,  which  so  per- 
fectly agreed  with  her  own  austere  and 
rigid  principles  of  virtue.  She  was  mar- 
ried to  Gozelo,  duke  of  Lower  Lorraine, 
but  they  lived  separated  from  each  other, 
owing  to  their  opinions  being  so  completely 
different;  for  while  in  Italy,  where  she 
ruled  over  the  extensive  possessions  of  her 
father  and  mother,  she  herself  was  busily 
occupied  in  the  support  of  Gregory,  her 
husband  was  doing  all  he  could  in  aid  of 
the  emperor. 

Henry  now  turned  himself  therefore  to 
the  Princess  Matilda,  in  order  to  get  her  to 
speak  to  the  pope  in  his  favor.     The  latter, 
at  first,  would  by  no  means  hear  of  a  re- 
conciliation, but  referred  all  to  the  decision 
of  the  diet ;  at  last,  however,  upon  much 
entreaty,  he  yielded  permission  that  Henry, 
in  the  garb  of  a  penitent,  covered  with  a 
shirt  of  hair,  and  with  naked  feet,  might 
be  received  in  the  castle.     As  the  emperor 
advanced  within  the  outer  gate  it  was  im- 
mediately  closed,   so  that  his  escort  was 
obliged  to  remain  outside  the  fortress,  and 
he  himself  was   now   alone  in  the  outer 
court,   where,    in   January,   1077,    in   the 
midst  of  a  severe  and  rigorous  winter,  he 
was  obliged  to  remain   three  .whole  days 
barefooted   and    shivering   with   the  cold. 
All  in  the  castle  were  moved.      Gregory 
himself  writes  in  a  letter,   "  That  every 
one   present   had  severely  censured   him, 
and  said  that  his  conduct  more  resembled  ty- 
-annical  ferocity  than  apostolic  severity." 
The  Countess  Matilda,  while  vainly  plead- 
ing for  him,  was  affected  even  to  burning 
tears  of  pity  and  grief,  and  Henry,  in  his 
distress,    at   length   only    prayed   that  he 
might  at  least  be  allowed  to  go  out  again. 
On  the  fourth  of  these  dreadful  days,  the 


x>pe  eventually  admitted  him  before  hiir. 
nd  absolved  him  from  excommunication  ; 
3iit  Henry  was  still  forced  to  subscribe  to 
he  most  severe  conditions.  He  was  obliged 
o  promise  to  present  himself  at  the  day  and 
}lace  the  pope  should  appoint,  in  order  to 
lear  whether  he  might  remain  king  or  not, 
and,  meanwhile,  he  was  to  abstain  from  all 
exercise  of  the  royal  attributes  and  mo- 
narchal power. 

With  shame  and  anger  in  his  heart, 
Henry  now  withdrew,  and  as  soon  as  the 
[talians  and  his  old  friends  still  under  ex- 
communication perceived  the  disposition  he 
now  evinced  towards  the  pope,  they  assem- 
bled around  him,  and  he  remained  during 
he  winter  in  Italy. 

His  penetrating  eye  now  perceived,  dur- 
ng  this  his  first  visit  to  Italy,  that  the  power 
of  the  pope  was  nowhere  so  weak  as  just  in 
hat  very  country  of  dissension  and  venal 
egotism ;  and  that  whoever  only  understood 
:he  art  of  creating  adherents  by  money, 
promises,  and  cunning,  would  very  soon 
succeed  in  collecting  together  a  considera- 
ble party  to  aid  him  against  the  court  of 
Rome.  The  illusory  awe  he  had  hitherto 
felt  for  the  papal  power  now  vanished  ;  his 
former  courage  revived,  and  from  this  mo- 
ment he  commenced  with  the  sword,  as  well 
as  the  pen,  a  war  which  he  sustained,  dur- 
ing thirty  years,  with  the  greatest  skill  and 
determination,  and  in  which  he  very  often 
experienced  the  most  decisive  success. 

The  German  princes,  however,  were  still 
his  enemies,  and  availing  themselves  of  his 
absence,  held  a  diet  at  Forsheim  in  March, 
1077,  and  elected  Rudolphus,  duke  of 
Swabia,  as  rival  emperor.  Germany  be- 
came now  again  divided  by  violent  dissen- 
sion ;  for  Henry  also  commanded  a  strong 
party,  chiefly  among  the  cities  and  those  of 
the  clergy,  who  were  discontented  with 
Gregory's  church  laws.  He  returned  now 
to  Germany ;  war  commenced,  and  for 
three  years  devastated  many  of  the  mosl 
beautiful  countries  of  Germany.  Rudol- 
phus was  obliged  to  retire  from  Swabia, 
and  marched  to  Saxony,  the  Saxon  people 
and  the  valiant  Otho  of  Nordheim  being 
his  warm  supporters.  Henry  gave  the 
duchy  of  Swabia,  together  with  his  daugh 
ter,  Agnes,  to  the  bold  and  ambitious  Count 
Frederic  of  Buren,  who  now  removed  his 
seat  from  the  village  of  Buren,  at  the  foot 
of  the  high  Staufen,  and  fixed  it  upon  the 
pinnacle  of  that  mountain,  where  he  built 


THE  RIVAL  EMPERORS  AND  POPES— DEATH  OF  RUDOLPHUS. 


151 


.he  Castle  Hohenstaufen.  Thus  was  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  greatness  of  this 
house,  althougn,  at  the  same  time,  it  was 
a  cause  of  enmity  between  the  Hohcn- 
staufens  and  the  other  noble  houses  in  the 
vicinity,  who  envied  the  good  fortune  of  this 
new  race,  and  thought  they  had  much 
greater  right  to  the  duchy  of  Swabia.  The 
llohenstaufens,  however,  remained  hence- 
forward faithful  friends  to  the  Salic-Impe- 
rial house. 

Gregory  acted  with  duplicity  in  this  war 
between  the  two  emperors  ;  and  it  ap- 
peared as  if  he  rejoiced  in  the  destruction 
of  Germany,  and  in  the  enervation  of  the 
temporal  power  by  its  own  acts,  for  instead 
of  supporting  the  Saxons  and  their  king, 
Rudolphus,  with  all  the  power  of  his  au- 
thority, in  order  that  they  might  speedily 
gain  the  victory,  he  recognised  neither  of 
the  emperors,  but  only  continued  to  promise 
them  that  he  would  come  to  Germany 
and  be  himself  the  judge  between  them. 
"Nothing,  however,  took  place,"  says 
Bruno,  the  historian  of  this  war,  "  except 
that  the  pope's  legates  arrived  and  waited 
an  both  parties  in  each  camp,  promising  at 
one  moment  to  the  Saxons,  and  in  the  next 
to  Henry,  the  favor  of  the  pope;  while  at 
the  same  time  they  conveyed  away  from 
both  armies  as  much  gold  as  they  could 
obtain — according  to  Roman  custom. "  The 
Saxons  complained  severely  of  this  equivo- 
cal conduct  of  the  pope,  and  they  wrote  to 
him  among  the  rest  as  follows :  "  All  our 
misfortunes  would  never  have  arisen,  or  at 
least  have  been  but  trivial,  if  upon  having 
commenced  your  journey,  you  had  turned 
neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left.  Through 
Dbedience  to  our  shepherd  we  are  exposed 
to  the  rapacity  of  the  wolf,  and  if  we  are 
abandoned  now  by  that  shepherd,  we  shall 
be  more  unfortunate  and  miserable  than  all 
other  people."  This  bold  and  reproachful 
address,  however,  did  not  please  the  pope  ; 
he  returned  no  reply  to  it,  nor  did  it  pro- 
duce more  determination  in  his  conduct 
than  the  subsequent  desperate  battle  fought 
between  the  two  armies  at  Melrichstadt,  in 
Thuringia,  in  the  year  1078 ;  and  it  was 
only  after  Rudolphus  had  gained  superior 
advantage  in  a  second  battle  near  Miihl- 
nausen  in  1080,  that  he  declared  for  him, 
and  even  sent  him  the  crown,*  at  the  same 

*  Tliis    crown    bore    the   following    inscription  :— 
Petra,  dedit  Petro,  Petrus  diadem;i  Rudolpho." 


time  again  excommunicating  Henry.  The1 
latter,  on  the  other  hand,  assembled  a  coun- 
cil at  Brixen,  again  deposed  the  pope,  anc1 
caused  to  be  elected  as  pontiff  against  him 
the  excommunicated  Archbishop  Wibert 
of  Ravenna,  or  Clement  III.  Thus  there 
were  now  two  emperors  and  two  popes. 
The  victory,  however,  this  time  inclined  on 
Henry's  side. 

Meantime,  in  1080,  he  suffered  a  severe 
loss  in  a  third  battle,  on  the  Elster,  in  Sax- 
ony, not  far  from  Gera,  through  the  valor 
of  Otho  of  Nordheim,  who  there  displayed 
the  genius  of  a  truly  great  leader,  but  un« 
fortunately,  Rudolphus  himself  was  fatally 
wounded  in  the  battle  and  died.  His  right 
hand  was  hewn  off,  and  Godfrey,  duke  of 
Lower  Lorraine,  (Godefroy  of  Bouillon,  the 
conqueror  of  the  holy  tomb,)  as  related  in 
some  records,  thrust  the  spear  of  the  im- 
perial banner  into  his  stomach.  According 
to  a  later  account,  when  his  hand  was 
shown  to  him,  King  Rudolphus  is  said  to 
have  remarked  :  "  Behold,  that  is  the  hand 
with  which  I  swore  fidelity  to  King  Henry  !" 
His  fall  was  considered  as  a  judgment  of 
God,  and  Henry's  adherents  increased  in 
proportion  ;  so  that  he  was  now  enabled  to 
undertake  an  expedition  into  Italy  in  order 
to  make  war  upon  his  most  violent  opponent. 
He  marched,  therefore,  with  his  army  and 
came  before  Rome,  which  he  besieged  three 
times,  in  three  successive  years,  and  re- 
duced Pope  Gregory  to  such  extremity  that 
he  was  obliged  to  shut  himself  up  in  the 
castle  of  St.  Angelo,  where  he  was  be- 
sieged by  the  Romans  themselves  ;  never, 
theless,  Gregory's  spirit  was  too  great,  and 
his  will  too  inflexible,  to  humiliate  himself, 
and  follow  the  example  of  Henry  at  Ca 
nossa.  The  emperor  offered  him  reconcilia- 
tion if  he  would  crown  him,  but  he  replied 
firmly  :  "  He  could  only  communicate 
with  him  when  he  had  given  satisfaction  to 
God  and  the  church."  Henry  was  obliged, 
therefore,  with  his  consort,  to  be  crowned 
by  the  rival  pope,  Clement,  at  Easter,  1084, 
after  which  he  retired  from  Italy.  Pope 
Gregory,  however,  was  still  besieged  by 
the  Romans,  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo, 
until  he  was  freed  by  his  friend,  Robert 
Guiscard,  duke  of  Normandy,  who  ruled 
in  Lower  Italy.  The  latter  subjected  the 
city  to  plunder,  and  then  took  with  him  the 
old  and  obstinate  pope  (who,  even,  in  mis- 
fortune, would  not  renounce  any  of  his 
views  and  pretensions)  to  Lower  Italy 


152 


REVOLT  OF  HENRY'S  SONS— DEATH  OF  HENRY  IV.— HENRY  V. 




where  he  died  the  following  year  at  Salerno. 
Mis  party  chose  Victor  to  succeed  him ; 
but  he  possessed  neither  the  genius  nor  the 
force  of  Gregory,  for  even  Clement  main- 
tained the  position  he  held,  and  continued 
to  enjoy  the  chief  authority  in  Rome. 

Favorable  and  tranquil  times  now  seem- 
ed to  dawn  upon  the  emperor  Henry. 
The  successor  of  Rudolphus  of  Swabia, 
Herman  of  Luxembourg,  whom  the  princes 
had  elevated  to  be  his  second  opponent, 
could  not  maintain  himself  against  him, 
and  spontaneously  laid  down  the  dignity. 
A  second,  Egbert  of  Thuringia,  died  by 
assassination,  and  the  Saxons,  after  Otho 
of  Nordheim  was  dead,  and  the  irrecon- 
cilable bishop,  Burkhard,  of  Halberstadt, 
had  been  killed  by  his  own  people,  (after 
he  had  tried,  for  the  fourteenth  time,  to 
excite  them  to  revolt,)  wearied  with  con- 
stant war,  voluntarily  submitted  themselves 
ic  the  emperor — now  made  milder  by  the 
many  painful  trials  he  had  undergone. 
But  fate  had  reserved  for  him  visitations 
still  more  severe.  For  he  was  obliged  to 
jehold  revolt  against  him,  even  in  the  last 
years  of  his  life  ;  his  eldest  son,  Conrad, 
and  after  his  death  in  1101,  his  second  son, 
Henry,  was  gained  over  by  the  papal 
party.  Both  the  successors  of  Gregory, 
Urban  II.  and  Pascal  II.,  renewed  the 
papal  ban  against  Henry  the  father ;  and 
his  son  now  declared  that  he  could  hold 
no  community  with  an  excommunicated 
person.  Nay,  even  when  Henry,  confi- 
ding in  the  apparent  reconciliation  with 
his  son,  was  about  to  attend  the  great  diet 
of  princes  at  Mentz,  the  latter  caused 
him,  by  cunning  and  treachery,  to  be  dis- 
armed, deprived  him  of  the  imperial  in- 
signia, by  means  of  the  archbishops  of 
Mentz  and  Cologne,  and  placed  him  a 
prisoner  at  Ingelheim,  where  he  forced 
him  formally  to  abdicate  the  throne. 

Henry,  however,  found  an  opportunity 
to  escape  from  prison,  and,  full  of  grief 
tmd  trouble,  he  went  to  his  friend  Otbert, 
the  bishop  of  Liege.  The  latter,  and 
Henry,  duke  of  Lorraine,  assembled  an 
army  for  him,  and  beat  back  the  degene- 
rated son  when  crossing  the  Meuse  in  pur- 
suit of  his  father.  But  the  emperor  died 
immediately  afterwards  at  Liege,  oppressed 
at  length  by  a  turbulent  and  vexatious  ca- 
*eer,  in  the  year  1106.  The  number  of 
battles  he.  had  fought  during  his  life — 
being  no  less  than  sixty-five — sufficient- 


y  prove  its  agitated  and  anxious  cliarac- 
ter. 

The  bishop  of  Liege  buried  the  emperui 
as  beseemed ;  but  to  such  length  di<x 
hatred  go,  that  his  body  was  again  ex- 
lumed,  conveyed  to  Spires,  and  there}  for 
five  years,  it  remained  in  a  stone  coffin 
above  the  earth,  in  an  isolated,  unconse- 
rated  chapel,  until  at  last,  in  the  year 
1111,  Pope  Pascal  absolved  him  from  ex- 
communication. He  was  then  interred 
.vith  greater  magnificence  than  any  other 
emperor  before  him. 

In  the  first  years  of  the  reign  of  Henry 
V.,  the  ducal  race  of  the  Billungens,  in 
Saxony,  became  extinct ;  and  he  bestowed 
the  dukedom  upon  Lothaire,  count  of  Sup- 
)lingenburg. 

Henry  V.,  although  he  had  previously 
revolted  against  his  father,  now  acted 
according  to  his  principles  ;  and  in  defi- 
ance of  the  papal  laws,  he  still  continued 
to  impart  the  investiture  with  ring  and 
staff,  a  right,  which,  as  he  declared  to  the 
Dope,  his  ancestors  since  Charles  the 
Grreat  had  legitimately  exercised  for  three 
enturies,  under  sixty-three  popes ;  and  as 
early  as  the  year  1100,  he  marched  with 
a  large  army  of  30,000  horse-soldiers,  be- 
sides infantry  and  servitors,  for  Italy,  in 
order  to  be  crowned  with  the  imperial 
crown,  and,  in  case  of  necessity,  to  main- 
tain his  rights  with  the  sword.  He  was  a 
much  more  dangerous  enemy  than  his  fa- 
ther, for,  besides  his  physical  force,  he 
knew  likewise  how  to  avail  himself  of  cun- 
ning and  hypocrisy.  Pope  Pascal  II. 
made  a  proposition  to  him,  which  would 
have  ended  the  dispute  for  ever,  could  it 
have  been  executed.  He  caused  the  em- 
peror  to  be  apprized  that — "As  he  founded 
his  claims  to  the  investiture  only  upon  the 
donations  which  the  emperors  had  present- 
ed to  the  church — the  cities,  duchies, 
counties,  coins,  tolls,  farms,  and  castles — • 
he  might  take  them  all  back  again  ;  the 
church  would  only  retain  the  presents  of 
private  individuals,  and  the  tithes  and  sac- 
rifices. For,"  said  he,  "  it  is  commanded 
by  the  divine  law,  as  well  as  by  the  law 
of  the  church,  that  the  clergy  shall  not 
occupy  themselves  with  temporal  matters, 
nay,  not  even  appear  at  court,  except  for 
\\\e  purpose  of  saving  an  oppressed  person. 
But  among  you,  however,  in  Germany, 
the  bishops  and  abbots  are  «o  mixed  up 
with  worldly  affairs,  that  the  servants  of 


HENRY  IN  ROME— POPE  PASCAL  II.— SANGUINARY  BATTLE. 


153 


the  altar  have  become  the  servants  of  the 
court." 

The  pope  might  have  been  serious  when 
making  this  proposition,  for  he  was  ex- 
tremely  strict  in  his  principles,  and  thought, 
perhaps,  in  this  manner  to  remedy  the  de- 
generation of  the  clergy,  and  to  bring 
them  back  to  their  original  simple  condi- 
tion But  Henry's  penetrating  mind  fore- 
saw well  that  the  clergy  themselves,  par- 
ticularly those  who,  by  their  possessions, 
were  raised  to  the  rank  of  imperial 
princes,  would  never  consent  to  make 
such  a  restitution ;  therefore  he  promised 
to  dispense  with  the  investiture,  if  the  pope 
would  command  the  bishops  to  give  back 
to  him,  the  emperor,  all  those  possessions 
which  they  had  received  from  Charle- 
magne and  his  successors.  He  then  ad- 
vanced to  Rome,  and  the  solemn  treaty 
upon  this  affair  was  to  be  ratified  between 
him  and  the  pope  in  a  large  assembly  of 
the  bishops,  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter, 
and  then  the  coronation  of  the  emperor 
A-as  to  be  celebrated.  But  when  the  above 
condition  became  the  subject  of  discussion, 
the  most  animated  and  violent  opposition 
arose  between  the  German  and  Italian 
bishops,  and  a  long  and  angry  contest  en- 
sued. At  length  one  of  the  German 
knights  present  exclaimed  :  "  Why  do  you 
all  continue  thus  wrangling?  Let  it  suf- 
fice for  you  to  know  that  our  lord,  the 
emperor,  is  resolved  to  be  crowned  as 
formerly  were  Charlemagne,  Louis,  and 
the  other  emperors  !"  The  pope  replied 
once  more — "  That  he  could  not  perform 
the  ceremony  before  King  Henry  had 
solemnly  sworn  to  discontinue  the  right 
of  investiture."  Henry  then,  by  the 
counsel  of  his  chancellor,  Adalbert,  and 
Burchard,  bishop  of  Miinster,  summoned 
his  guards,  and  caused  the  pope,  as  well 
as  the  cardinals,  to  be  made  prisoners. 
The  Romans,  enraged  and  furious  at  this 
violent  proceeding,  on  the  following  day 
attacked  the  Germans,  who  were  encamped 
around  the  church  of  St.  Peter.  The 
King  speedily  mounted  his  steed,  and 
boldly,  but  rashly,  rushing  into  the  midst 
of  the  enemy,  pierced  five  Romans  with 
his  own  lance,  but  was  himself  wounded 
and  thrown  from  his  horse.  He  was 
rescued  by  Count  Otho,  of  Milan,  who 
hastily  assisted  him  to  mount  his  own 
horse,  which  he  gave  up  to  the  king,  but 
for  which  service  he  was  cut  to  pieces  by 


the  Romans.  A  murderous  combat  was 
continued  throughout  the  whole  day,  until 
at  length  towards  the  evening  the  emperor 
cheered  on  his  troops  to  make  a  final 
charge,  the  result  of  which  was  that  the 
Romans  were  completely  put  to  flight,  and 
were  driven  partly  into  the  Tiber,  and 
partly  across  the  bridges  back  into  the 
city.  The  church  of  St.  Peter,  together 
with  all  that  portion  of  the  city,  remained 
in  the  hands  of  the  Germans,  but  which 
the  emperor  abandoned,  together  with  all 
his  prisoners,  in  order  to  scour  the  country 
around  in  the  most  dreadful  manner.  The 
Romans,  now  reduced  to  extreme  necessi- 
ty, urgently  entreated  the  pope  to  conclude 
a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  emperor.  He 
had  now  been  a  prisoner  sixty-one  days  ; 
and  at  length  yielded  to  their  prayers. 
He,  accordingly,  agreed  that  the  emperor 
should  retain  the  investiture  with  ring  and 
staff,  and  promised,  at  the  same  time,  that 
he  would  never  excommunicate  him  on 
account  of  this  proceeding.  The  treaty 
was  signed  by  fourteen  cardinals,  and  in 
the  emperor's  name  by  fourteen  princes, 
and  Henry  himself  was,  on  the  13th  of 
April,  1111,  solemnly  crowned  emperor 
by  Pascal. 

But  scarcely  were  the  Germans  out  of 
Rome  when  the  whole  clergy  severely 
censured  the  pope,  and  persuaded  him  to 
assemble  a  council  and  excommunicate  the 
agreement  made  between  the  king  and  him, 
as  having  been  extorted  by  violence ;  for, 
according  to  the  promise  made  by  the  pope, 
they  durst  not  pronounce  the  ban  against 
the  emperor  himself.  The  dispute  thus 
commenced  anew,  and  continued,  also, 
under  the  following  popes,  Gelasius  II.  and 
Calixtus  II.,  ten  years  longer.  As  long  as 
Pascal  lived,  the  emperor  was  not  himself 
visited  with  the  general  excommunication 
of  the  church  ;  but  the  legates  and  many 
of  the  heads  of  the  church  excommunica- 
ted him  in  their  dioceses,  and  thereby  gave 
occasion  to  fresh  divisions  and  dissensions 
in  Germany  ;  and  a  great  portion  of  the 
imperial  princes  accordingly  refused  obe- 
dience to  the  emperor  and  his  laws.  Ar- 
bitrary feuds,  robbery,  devastation,  and 
murder  took  the  upper  hand.  The  most 
faithful  allies  of  the  emperor  were  his  re- 
lations of  the  race  of  Ilohenstaufen,  and 
he  raised  their  house  accordingly  still 
higher.  When  Frederic,  the  first  duke 
to  whom  his  father  t.ad  given  the  duchy  of 


154 


THE  INVESTITURE  DISi'L  IE-DEATH  OF  HENRY  V 


Swabia,  died,  he  transferred  it  to  his  eldest 
son,  Frederic,  and,  shortly  afterwards,  he 
gave  the  duchy  of  Franconia  to  his  second 
son,  Conrad. 

His  own  sister  Agnes,  the  widow  of  Duke 
Frederic,  he  married  to  the  Margrave, 
Leopold  of  Austria,  of  the  house  of  Baben- 
berg,  the  father  of  that  Leopold  who  was 
afterwards  duke  of  Bavaria,  and  who  also 
established  on  the  place  where  Windobona 
then  stood,  the  foundation  of  the  present 
city  of  Vienna.  Thus  in  the  south  of 
Germany  the  emperor  gained  the  superi- 
ority, but  in  the  north,  on  the  contrary,  he 
could  acquire  no  lasting  power.  Here  the 
Archbishop  Adalbert  of  Mentz,  who  had 
been  elevated  by  him,  (and  who  was  previ- 
ously his  own  chancellor,  and  had  advised 
him  to  imprison  the  pope,  Pascal,  but  had 
now  become  his  uncompromising  enemy,) 
worked  most  strenuously  against  him,  and 
excited  one  prince  after  the  other  to  oppose 
him.  Saxony,  as  in  his  father's  time,  be- 
came now  the  centre  of  opposition  to  him 
likewise.  The  emperor  advanced  in  the 
year  1115  with  an  army  into  Saxony,  but 
in  a  battle,  not  far  from  Eisleben,  he  was 
entirely  defeated  by  the  Saxon  princes.  An 
expedition,  which  he  soon  afterwards  made 
to  Italy,  gave  him  for  a  short  time  the  supe- 
riority in  Rome,  but  brought  upon  him  in 
1118  the  general  excommunication  of  the 
new  pope,  Gelasius,  which  his  successor 
Calixtus  II.  confirmed.  The  chief  object 
of  dispute  was  still  the  right  of  investiture. 
Finally,  in  the  year  1122,  both  parties, 
tired  of  the  long  dispute,  concluded  a  sol- 
emn treaty  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  where 
both  yielded  to  each  other.  The  emperor 
permitted  the  free  choice  of  bishops,  and 
gave  up  the  investiture  with  the  ring  and 
staff,  as  signs  of  spiritual  jurisdiction,  but 
for  which  concession,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  election  was  to  take  place  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  king,  or  of  his  plenipotentiary, 
and  he  was  to  decide  in  doubtful  cases,  or 
in  any  disagreement  of  the  electors,  and 
?astly,  confer  fiefs  of  temporal  possessions 
"vith  his  sceptre.  The  spiritual  consecra- 
tion of  this  bishop  elect  was  to  take  place 
in  Germany  after  the  investiture  with  the 
sceptre  ;  but  in  Italy  it  was  to  precede  it. 

After  the  records  were  publicly  read,  the 
legate  of  the  pope  gave  the  emperor  the 
kiss  of  peace,  and  afterwards  the  commu- 
nion. The  joy  expressed  by  the  peacefully- 
minded  members  of  the  assembly  upon 


this  reconciliation  was  great ;  all  separate^ 
as  the  records  say,  with  infinite  pleasure. 

The  emperor  reigned  but  a  few  years 
longer — in  peace,  it  is  true,  with  the  church, 
but  not  without  constant  dissensions  in  the 
German  empire.  Amidst  plans  for  strength- 
ening the  imperial  power,  in  order  to  op- 
pose more  firmly  those  disorders,  he  died 
suddenly  at  Utrecht,  in  1125,  in  the  forty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  died  childless, 
and  with  him  the  Salian  house  became  ex- 
tinct. Most  of  his  hereditary  possessions 
came  to  his  nephews,  the  Dukes  Frederic 
and  Conrad  of  Hohenstaufen. 

Henry  did  not  acquire  the  love  of  his 
contemporaries  ;  he  was  despotic,  severe, 
and  often  cruel.  On  the  other  hand,  how- 
ever, it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  he  pos- 
sessed many  great  qualities, — activity, 
boldness,  perseverance  in  misfortune,  and 
a  noble-minded  disposition.  The  main- 
tenance of  the  imperial  dignity  against 
every  enemy  appeared  to  be  with  him  the 
chief  object  of  his  life.  He  was  entombed 
at  Spires  in  the  grave  of  his  ancestors. 

Meantime,  while  the  two  emperors, 
Henry  IV.  and  V.,  were  engaged  in  such 
warm  and  serious  disputes  with  the  pope, 
more  than  a  hundred  thousand  Christians, 
summoned  by  the  voice  of  the  Church,  and 
excited  by  their  own  immediate  enthusi- 
asm, assembled  together,  and  abandoned 
their  country  in  order  to  recover  and  se- 
cure from  the  power  of  the  infidels  the 
tomb  of  the  Saviour  in  that  Holy  Land, 
wherein  his  divine  footsteps  remained  im- 
printed. 

Already,  from  the  earliest  ages,  it  had 
been  a  pious  custom  to  make  pilgrimages 
to  the  Holy  Land,  to  pray  at  its  sacred  pla- 
ces, and  to  bathe  in  the  waters  of  the  Jor- 
dan, which  had  been  consecrated  by  the 
baptism  of  our  Lord.  Constantine  the 
Great,  the  first  Roman  emperor  who  em- 
braced Christianity,  as  well  as  his  mother 
Helena,  issued  orders  for  the  purification 
and  adornment  of  these  holy  places  in 
Palestine,  and  the  restoration  of  the  sacred 
tomb  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Golgotha  ;  and 
they  erected  over  the  tomb,  at  enormous 
outlay,  a  lofty  dome,  supported  by  beauti- 
ful pillars,  with  an  adjoining  oratory,  rich- 
ly adorned.  Eastward  of  the  sepulchre 
Constantine  built  a  larger. and  still  more 
magnificent  temple.  He  celebrated  the 
thirtieth  anniversary  of  his  reign  by  the 
consecration  of  this  temple,  on  which  occa- 


PILGRIMAGES  TO  PALESTINE— PETER  THK  HERMIT. 


155 


sion  lie  was  himself  present ;  and  the  pious 
Helena,  although  in  extreme  old  ago,  made 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land  at  the  same 
time,  and  built  two  churches,  one  at  Beth- 
lehem on  the  spot  where  our  Saviour  was 
born,  and  tlie  omcr  on  the  top  of  the  MounJ 
of  Olives?. 

After  this,  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy 
Land  became  more  and  more  frequent ; 
and  even  in  the  seventh  century,  when  the 
land  was  under  the  dominion  of  the  Arabs, 
the  pilgrims  were  not  obstructed  or  dis- 
turbed in  their  devotions.  For  the  Arabs 
rejoiced  in  the  advantage  they  derived 
from  the  visits  of  so  many  strangers,  and 
took  equal  care  not  to  molest  either  the 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  or  the  Christian 
community.  But  when  the  Turks,  a  sav- 
age and  barbarous  people,  seized  upon  the 
country  in  the  year  1073,  complaint  after 
.complaint  reached  Europe  of  the  cruel 
treatment  heaped  upon  the  pious  pilgrims, 
and  of  the  shameful  profanation  commit- 
ted by  the  infidels  on  the  consecrated 
spots. 

In  the  year  1094,  a  hermit,  named  Peter 
of  Amiens,  appeared  before  Pope  Urban 
II.  on  his  return  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Pal- 
estine, with  a  letter  of  petition  from  the 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  gave  a  most 
affecting  description  of  the  unheard-of  suf- 
ferings experienced  by  the  Christians  resi- 
dent there,  as  well  as  by  the  pilgrims  who 
repaired  thither.  The  pope  praised  and 
encouraged  his  zeal,  and  sent  him  with 
letters  of  recommendation  to  all  the  princes 
in  the  various  Christian  countries,  in  order 
to  arouse  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  to 
prepare  them  for  a  great  expedition.  The 
enthusiastic  language  of  the  hermit,  to 
gether  with  the  fire  which  still  shone  from 
his  deep-sunk  eye,  and  his  wasted,  meager 
form,  on  which  was  imprinted  the  suffer- 
ings he  had  endured,  made  the  deepest 
impression,  and  excited,  wherever  he  went, 
equal  enthusiasm  among  all  classes,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest.  After  this, 
the  year  1095,  the  pope  convoked  a  great 
council  of  the  Church,  at  Piacenza,  in 
Italy,  and  another  at  Clermont,  in  France, 
at  which  were  present  fourteen  archbish- 
ops, two  hundred  and  twenty-five  bishops, 
and  four  hundred  abbots,  besides  numer- 
ous princes,  nobles,  and  knights.  And 
when  Peter  the  Hermit  and  the  pope  ad- 
vanced before  them,  and  with  words  of 
overpowering  fire  and  energy  appealed  to 


and  called  upon  this  assembly  to  come  for- 
ward in  deliverance  of  thu  sacred  tomb,  a 
thousand  voices  shouted  aloud,  "It  is  the 
will  of  God  !  It  is  the  will  of  God  !" 
When  the  pope  and  the  hermit  had  con. 
eluded  their  eloquent  appeal,  Ademar 
bishop  of  Puy,  was  the  first  to  press  for- 
ward, and  throwing  himself  at  the  feet  of 
the  pontiff,  begged  from  his  holiness  per- 
mission to  proceed  to  the  holy  war.  Many 
of  the  clergy  and  laity  followed  his  exam- 
ple, and  as  a  sign  of  their  devotion  to  the 
pious  undertaking,  they  sewed  a  red  cross 
on  their  right  shoulder.  The  final  day  of 
meeting  for  the  great  expedition  was  now 
fixed  to  take  place  on  the  15th  of  August, 
1096. 

Accordingly,  innumerable  multitudes-\ 
assembled,  including  warriors  from  Italy, 
France,  Lorraine,  Flanders,  and  particu- 
larly from  Normandy,  where  the  same 
love  for  distant  and  adventurous  expedi- 
tions that  had  ever  distinguished  their  he- 
roic ancestors,  was  now  evinced  by  the 
present  natives.  Not  only  the  knights  and 
nobles,  but  the  whole  people  were  set  in 
motion,  for  as  also  in  France  the  laboring 
classes  experienced  the  severest  oppres- 
sion, many  of  these  joined  the  expedition  ; 
because,  according  to  the  pope's  decree, 
freedom  wras  attained  by  dedication  to  the 
holy  cross.  Germany,  which  was  then  at 
variance  with  the  pope,  and  agitated  by 
internal  discord,  was  least  affected  by  this 
first  movement.  With  the  commencement 
of  the  spring,  Peter  the  Hermit  set  out  at 
the  head  of  a  crowd  of  people,  whose  im- 
patience would  not  allow  them  to  await  the 
appointed  time,  in  company  with  their 
commander,  a  knight  named  Walter  the 
Pennyless  ;  but  their  arrny  was  deficient 
in  order  and  discipline,  and  especially  in 
a  supply  of  proper  weapons.  Before  it 
reached  Asia,  the  greater  part,  on  account 
of  the  robberies  committed,  were  cut  off 
by  the  Bulgarians  and  Hungarians,  and 
those  who,  under  the  guidance  of  Peter 
and  Walter,  reached  and  landed  on  the 
first  Turkish  territory,  were  so  badly  re- 
ceived and  cut  up  by  the  Turks,  that  very 
few  escaped  ;  and  Peter  was  forced  to  re- 
turn home  with  the  remnant  in  a  very 
melancholy  plight.  A  second  and  still 
ruder  horde  commenced  its  labors  for  the 
cross  of  Christ,  by  slaying  the  Jews  in  the 
cities  on  the  Rhine ;  in  Mentz  alone  nine 
hundred  were  in  this  way  put  to  death. 


150 


THE  FIRST  GRAND  CRUSADE— GODEFROY  OF  BOUILLON. 


In  this  was  evinced  the  universal  hatred 
of  the  people  towards  the  Jews,  who,  by 
their  usurious  practices,  and  the  immense 
wealth  gained  thereby,  brought  down  upon 
their  heads  this  full  measure  of  ven- 
geance. This  party,  and  several  other 
troops  of  crusaders,  however,  only  reached 
Hungary. 

So  unpropitious  a  commencement  might 
easily  have  crushed  all  inclinations  for 
further  attempts,  had  not  these  first  adven- 
turers, in  great  part,  consisted  of  the  lowest 
class  of  the  people,  and  had  not  their  lead- 
ers been  deficient  in  prudence,  experience, 
and  noble  zeal  and  energy.  Accordingly, 
at  the  appointed  time,  in  the  middle  of 
summer,  a  grand  army,  well  appointed 
and  disciplined,  and  burning  with  enthu- 
siastic courage,  was  assembled,  and  on  the 
15th  of  August,  1098, 'set  out  for  its  desti- 
nation. No  king  was  present  as  leader  of 
the  assembled  forces ;  but,  among  the 
princes  and  nobles,  Godfrey,  duke  of 
Lower  Lorraine,  called,  from  his  ancestral 
Eeat,  Godefroy  of  Bouillon,  stood  proudly 
forward,  conspicuous  in  every  heroic 
virtue ;  having  often  fought  in  the  armies 
of  Henry  IV.  He  was  appointed  the 
leader  of  a  body  of  90,000  men,  and  di- 
rected his  course  through  Hungary  and 
the  dominions  of  the  Greek  emperor,  while 
other  princes  proceeded  through  Italy  to 
Constantinople.  He  conducted  his  army, 
with  the  most  admirable  order,  through 
countries  where  so  many  of  the  crusaders 
had  already  perished,  and  having  joined 
the  other  princes,  entered  the  Turkish 
territories  in  the  spring  of  1097.  The 
united  forces  of  the  crusaders  consisted 
of  300,000  men,  and  with  the  women, 
children,  and  servants,  made  up  a  body  of 
half  a  million.  Unfortunately,  however, 
they  already  found  in  the  tribe  of  the 
Sedjoucidians,  who  first  opposed  their  pro- 
gress, an  enemy  equally  cunning  and  ac- 
tive, while  they  met  with  still  greater  and 
more  serious  obstacles,  in  the  deserts  where 
the  Turks  had  destroyed  every  thing  which 
might  have  procured  them  some  suste- 
nance, and  through  which  they  had  to  pass 
from  Asia  Minor  to  Palestine.  Hunger 
and  disease  carried  off  every  day  numbers 
of  men  and  horses ;  even  the  bravest  be- 
gan to  waver,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the 
active  genius  and  heroic  firmness  displayed 
Dy  the  brave  Godfrey,  this  expedition 
would  perhaps  ha*re  expeiienced  the  iame 


unfortunate    result   as   those    tnat    prece. 
ded  it. 

At  length,  in  May,  1099,  the  wearied 
feet  of  the  remaining  portion  of  the  army 
which  had  escaped  so  many  dangers,  trod 
the  cherished  soil  of  that  hallowed  lane 
and  on  the  6th  of  July,  they  beheld  from 
the  top  of  a  mountain  near  Emmaus,  the 
object  of  their  ardent  hopes  and  desires — 
Jerusalem  !  One  universal  shout  of  joy 
filled  the  air,  vibrating  in  undying  echoes 
from  hill  to  hill,  while  tears  of  rapture 
burst  from  every  eye.  Their  noble  leader 
could  scarcely  prevent  them  from  rushing 
forward  at  once,  in  their  wild  enthusiasm, 
to  storm  the  walls  of  the  holy  city.  But 
Godfrey  soon  perceived  that  the  conquest 
of  the  place  was  not  easy,  and  could  not 
be  effected  in  a  moment,  especially  as  the 
garrison  was  much  stronger  in  numbers 
than  the  crusaders,  of  whom  out  of  300,000, 
only  40,000  men  were  now  left.  At  length 
every  preparation  being  made,  and  warlike 
machines  with  storming-ladders  provided, 
in  spite  of  every  existing  difficulty — for 
the  country  around  was  deficient  in  wood — 
the  first  general  assault  was  made  on  the 
14th  of  July  ;  but  as  the  besieged  defended 
themselves  with  the  greatest  bravery,  this 
first  attempt  failed.  On  the  following  day, 
however,  the  Christians  renewed  the  attack, 
and  Godfrey  was  one  of  the  first  that 
mounted  the  enemy's  ramparts.  His 
sword  opened  a  path  for  the  rest ;  the  walls 
were  soon  gained  on  all  sides,  the  gates 
forced  open,  and  the  whole  army  rushed 
into  the  city.  A  dreadful  scene  of  mas- 
sacre now  commenced  ;  in  their  first  fury 
the  victors  put  all  to  the  sword,  and  but 
few  of  the  inhabitants  escaped.  When, 
however,  reason  at  length  resumed  its 
sway,  the  warriors,  wiping  the  blood  from 
their  swords,  returned  them  to  their  scab- 
bards, and  then  proceeded,  bareheaded  and 
barefooted,  to  prostrate  themselves  before 
the  holy  places  ;  and  the  same  city  which 
just  before  had  resounded  in  every  part 
with  the  wild  shrieks  of  the  slaughtered, 
was  now  filled  with  prayers  and  hymns  to 
the  honor  and  glory  of  God. 

The  election  of  a  sovereign  for  the  ne\v 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem  became  now  an 
object  of  consideration,  and  Godefroy  of 
Bouillon  appeared  to  all  as  the  most  worthy 
to  rule  ;  but  he  refused  to  wear  a  crown 
of  jewels  on  the  spot  where  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  had  bled  beneath  one  of  thorn* 


ELECTION  OF  EMPEROR— LOTHAIRE  II.— 1125-1137. 


157 


ind  would  only  take  the  title  of  "Defender 
f>f  the  Holy  Sepulchre."  As  he  died,  how. 
ever,  in  the  following  year,  his  brother 
Baldwin  assumed  at  once  the  title  of  king. 

Of  the  other  crusades,  which  subsequent- 
y  took  place  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Christian  dominion  in  Palestine,  and  in 
which  the  German  emperors  also  took  part, 
our  history  will  speak  hereafter. 

After  the  extinction  of  the  Franks,  a 
moment  had  again  arrived  when  the  Ger- 
man princes,  if  they  were  desirous  of  be- 
•joming  independent  and  sovereign  rulers, 
were  not  obliged  to  place  a  new  emperor 
above  themselves  ;  but  such  a  thought  was 
foreign  to  their  minds,  and  they  preferred 
paying  homage  to  one,  whom  they  had  ex- 
alted to  the  highest  step  of  honor,  rather 
than  behold  Germany,  divided  into  numer- 
ous petty  kingdoms. 

Accordingly,  in  1125  the  German  tribes 
again  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Mentz,  and  ten  princes 
selected  from  each  of  the  four  principal 
families,  viz.  Saxony,  Franconia,  Bavaria, 
and  Swabia,  assembled  in  Mentz  for  the 
first  election.  Three  princes  only  were 
proposed :  Duke  Frederic  of  Swabia,  (the 
mighty  and  courageous  Hohenstaufen,) 
Lothaire  of  Saxony,  and  Leopold  of  Aus- 
tria. The  two  latter  on  their  knees,  and 
almost  in  tears,  entreated  that  they  might 
be  spared  the  infliction  of  such  a  heavy 
burden,  while  Frederic,  in  his  proud 
mind,  ambitiously  thought  that  the  crown 
could  be  destined  for  none  other  but  him- 
self; and  such  feeling  of  pretension  in- 
deed was  too  visibly  expressed  in  his  coun- 
tenance. Adalbert,  the  archbishop  of 
Mentz,  however,  who  was  himself  not  well 
inclined  towards  the  Hohenstaufens,  put  to 
all  three  the  question :  "  Whether  each 
was  willing  and  ready  to  yield  and  swear 
allegiance  to  him  that  should  be  elected  ?" 
The  two  former  immediately  answered  in 
the  affirmative ;  but  Frederic  hesitated 
and  left  the  assembly,  under  the  excuse 
that  he  must  take  counsel  of  his  friends. 
The  princes  were  all  indignant  at  this  con- 
duct, and  the  archbishop  persuaded  them 
at  length  to  make  choice  of  Lothaire  of 
Saxony,  although  against  his  own  will. 

But  hostilities  soon  broke  out  between 
the  two  powerful  Hohenstaufen  dukes, 
Frederic  of  Swabia  and  Conrad  of  Fran- 
conia, and  during  nearly  the  entire  reign 
of  the  new  king,  the  beautiful  lands  of 


Swabia,  Franconia,  and  Alsaco,  were  laid 
waste  and  destroyed,  until  at  last  both  the 
dukes  found  themselves  compelled  to  bow 
before  the  imperial  authority.  In  this  dis- 
pute the  emperor  Lothaire,  in  order  to 
strengthen  his  party,  had  recourse  to  means 
which  produced  agitation  and  dissension, 
and  continued  to  do  so  for  more  than  a 
hundred  years  afterwards.  He  gave  his 
only  daughter  Gertrude  in  marriage  to 
Henry  the  Proud,  the  powerful  duke  of 
Bavaria,  (of  the  Guelfs,)  and  gave  him, 
besides  Bavaria,  the  duchy  of  Saxony  like- 
wise. This  is  the  first  instance  of  two 
dukedoms  being  governed  by  one  person. 
Nay,  with  the  acquiescence  of  the  pope, 
and  under  the  condition  that  after  Henry's 
death  they  were  to  become  the  property  of 
the  Roman  church,  he  even  invested  him 
with  the  valuable  hereditary  possessions  of 
Matilda  in  Italy,  as  a  fief,  so  that  the  duke's 
authority  extended  from  the  Elbe  to  far 
beyond  the  Alps,  being  much  more  power- 
ful than  even  that  of  the  emperor  himself; 
for  besides  his  patrimonial  lands  in  Swabia 
and  Bavaria,  he  had  likewise  inherited 
from  his  mother  the  moiety  of  the  great 
ancestral  possessions  in  Saxony,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  all  this  his  consort  now  brought 
him  the  entire  lands  of  Supplinburg,  Nord- 
heim,  and  old  Brunswick.  Thus  the  foun- 
dation for  the  subsequent  jealousy  so  de- 
structive to  Germany  and  Italy,  between 
the  Guelfs  and  Hohenstaufens — the  latter, 
(styled  by  the  Italians  Ghibellini,)  accord- 
ing to  their  castle  Veibling,  on  the  Rems, 
being  called  Veiblingers — was  laid  at  this 
period,  and  the  faction-names  of  the  Guelfs 
and  Ghibelins  henceforward  continued  for 
centuries  afterwards  to  resound  from  Mount 
Etna  and  Vesuvius  to  the  coasts  of  the 
North  and  East  Sea.  Lothaire 's  reign 
became  so  shaken  and  troubled,  partly  by 
the  dispute  of  the  Hohenstaufens  and  partly 
by  the  Italian  campaigns,  that  but  very 
few,  if  any  of  the  great  hopes  he  had  at 
first  excited  by  his  chivalric,  wise,  and 
pious  character,  were  brought  into  effect. 
During  his  second  and  rather  successfu 
campaign  in  Italy,  in  the  year  1137,  Lo 
thaire  was  suddenly  seized  with  illness 
and  died  on  his  return,  in  the  village  ot 
Brcitenwang,  between  the  rivers  Inn  and 
Lech,  in  the  wildest  part  of  the  Tyrolese 
mountains.  His  body  was  conveyed  to, 
and  interred  in  the  monastery  of  Konig 
slutter,  in  Saxony,  founded  by  himself. 


158 


CONRAD  III.— THE  GUELFS  AND  GHIBEL1XS. 


However  much  the  two  princely  houses 
of  the  Guelfs  and  Ghibelins  may,  from 
this  time,  have  continued  to  attract  and 
command  attention,  there  was  still  a  third, 
which,  under  this  reign,  excited  not  less 
interest.  Lothaire  had  given  the  mar- 
graviate  of  North-Saxony,  which  then  com- 
prised  the  present  Altmark,  to  Albert  the 
Bear,  of  the  house  of  Anhalt,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  princes  of  his  time.  He 
conquered  from  the  Vandals  the  middle 
marches,  as  well  as  those  on  the  Uker  and 
Prignitz,  together  with  the  town  of  Bran- 
denburg ;  and  finally,  in  order  to  excite 
in  these  countries  the  desired  industry,  he 
procured  from  Flanders  a  great  number  of 
agricultural  laborers.  He  may  likewise 
be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Bran- 
denburg territory ;  and  it  was  also  under 
his  rule  that,  about  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  the  name  of  Berlin  ap- 
peared for  the  first  time,  which  place, 
therefore,  dates  its  origin  from  the  same 
period  that  Leopold  of  Austria  laid  the 
foundation  of  Vienna. 


CHAPTER   rx. 

ABIA.N    OR    HOHENSTAUFEN    HOUSE.  1138 

-1254. 

Conrad  III.,  1138-1152— The  Guelfs  and  Ghibelius— 
Weinsberg— The  Faithful  Wives— Conrad's  Crusade 
—Disastrous  Results— His  death,  1152— Frederick  I., 
or  Barbarossa,  1152-1190— His  noble  Character  and 
distinguished  qualities — Extends  his  dominions — The 
Cities  of  Lombard  y  and  Mil  an— Pavia— Pope  Adrian 
IV.— The  Emperor's  Homage— Otho  of  Wittelsbach 
— Dispute  between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor — Milan 
taken  and  razed— The  Confederation  of  the  Lom- 
bardian  Towns — The  Battle  of  Lignano — Frederick 
defeated — Pope  Alexander  and  Frederick — Venice — 
Henry  the  Lion  of  Brunswick— His  Rise  and  Fall- 
Reconciliation  and  Peace — Lombardy — Frederick's 
Crusade  and  Death  in  Palestine,  1190. 

THE  election  even  this  time  did  not  fall 
upon  him  who  considered  he  had  the  great- 
est right  to  the  crown,  namely,  the  son-in- 
law  of  Lothaire,  the  powerful  Henry  (the 
Proud)  of  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  although 
he  had  possession  of  the  jewels  of  the 
crown ;  for  the  princes,  repulsed  by^  his 
pride,  elected  on  the  22d  of  February, 
1133,  the  Hohenstaufen  duke,  Conrad  of 
Franconia,  whom  misfortune  had  made 
wise,  and  to  whom  his  elder  brother,  Fred- 
erick, wno  contested  with  Lothaire  for  the 
vna  willingly  gave  up  now  the  prece- 


dence.  Henry  the  Proud  would  not  benc 
before  the  new  emperor,  whereupon  he 
was  declared  an  outlaw,  his  two  duchies 
taken  from  him,  and  Bavaria  given  to  the 
margrave  Leopold  of  Austria,  the  half 
brother  of  the  emperor  Conrad  by  the  ma- 
ternal  side,  and  Saxony  to  Albert  the  Bear 
of  Brandenburg.  Henry  died  almost  im 
mediately  afterwards,  and  left  a  son  ten 
years  of  age,  who  became  afterwards  so 
celebrated  under  the  title  of  Henry  the 
Lion,  to  whom  Albert,  at  the  desire  of  the 
emperor,  formally  resigned  the  duchy  of 
Saxony,  which  he  had  not  been  able  to 
conquer,  (so  faithful  did  the  Saxons  re- 
main attached  to  the  Guelfic  house ;)  and 
in  return  he  was  allowed  to  possess  his 
hereditary  estates  in  that  country  as  a 
princely  margraviate,  independent  of  the 
duchy. 

In  Bavaria  also,  Count  Guelf,  of  Altorf, 
the  brother  of  Henry  the  Proud,  still  con- 
tended against  the  house  of  Austria,  ani 
not  unsuccessfully.  But  when,  in  the  yeaf 
1140,  he  ventured  to  march  against  the 
emperor,  near  Weinsberg,  he  was  van- 
quished in  the  battle.  It  was  in  this  action 
that  the  names  "  Guelfs  and  Ghibelins" 
were  first  heard  as  party  names,  for  the 
battle-cry  of  the  troops  on  one  side  was, 
"  Strike  for  the  Guelfs,"  and  of  those  on 
the  other,  "Strike  for  the  Ghibelins." 
After  the  battle,  the  long-besieged  city  of 
Weinsberg  was  obliged  to  yield.  The  em- 
peror, irritated  at  its  long  resistance,  had 
resolved  to  destroy  it  with  fire  and  sword. 
He,  however,  permitted  the  females  of  the 
city  previously  to  retire,  and  to  carry  with 
them  their  dearest  jewels.  And  behold, 
when  the  day  dawned,  and  the  gates  were 
opened,  the  women  advanced  in  long  rows. 
and  the  married  bore  each  upon  her  back 
her  husband,  and  the  others  each  their 
dearest  relative.  This  affecting  scene  so 
moved  the  emperor,  that  he  not  only  spared 
the  men,  but  also  the  whole  city.* 

The  emperor  Conrad  was  now  about  te 
proceed  to  Italy,  to  reconfirm  and  establish 
there  the  imperial  dignity,  when  intelli 
gence  arrived  in  Europe  that  the  unbeliev- 
ers threatened  the  Holy  Land,  and  had 
already  conquered  and  destroyed  the  forti- 
fied city  of  Edessa,  a  frontier  fortress; 
upon  which,  Pope  Eugene  III.  sent  letters 


*  This  circumstance  is  recorded  bv  a  contemporwj 
of  that  period  in  the  chronicle  of  St.  Pantaleonis 


CONRAD  IN  PALESTINE— HIS  DEATH— FREDERICK  I. 


15ft 


of  exhortation  to  all  the  European  kings 
and  princes,  that  they  might  assist  the 
Christians  in  the  east;  and  a  pious  and 
zealous  man,  the  holy  Abbot  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux,  in  France,  journeyed  through- 
out Europe,  preaching  so  powerfully,  that 
many  thousands  took  the  cross.  And 
when  he  addressed  Louis  VII.  of  France, 
the  multitude  of  those  who  took  the  cross 
was  so  great,  that  St.  Bernard  (he  being 
afterwards  canonized)  was  obliged  to  cut 
up  his  own  clothes  to  make  crosses  of  them, 
and  both  the  king  and  his  consort  Eleanor 
resolved  upon  the  expedition.  St.  Bernard 
now  turned  his  attention  to  Germany,  and 
tried  to  stimulate  the  emperor  Conrad, 
who  long  refused,  and  avoided  the  abbot, 
by  proceeding  from  Frankfort  to  Spires,  in 
order  that  he  might  take  into  consideration 
how  much  still  remained  to  be  put  in  order 
in  his  own  empire.  But  St.  Bernard  would 
not  quit  him  ;  he  followed  him  to  Spires, 
and  there  it  was  that  Conrad,  in  the  middle 
of  the  abbot's  address,  suddenly  arose,  and, 
with  tearful  eyes,  exclaimed,  "I  acknow- 
ledge, holy  father,  the  great  goodness  that 
God  has  shown  me,  and  will  no  longer  re- 
fuse, but  am  ready  to  serve  him ;  for  I 
feel  urged  to  this  expedition  by  Himself." 
St.  Bernard  immediately  decorated  him 
with  the  cross,  and  presented  him  with  the 
holy  banner  lying  upon  the  altar.  Frede- 
rick, Conrad's  nephew,  who  became  after- 
wards the  first  emperor  of  that  name,  and 
even  the  old  Duke  Guelf,  who  had  become 
reconciled  with  the  emperor,  both  took  the 
cross  likewise,  and  a  great  army  was  as- 
sembled, which  numbered  70,000  warriors 
alone.  But  in  all  human  enterprises,  a 
splendid  commencement  will  not  always 
secure  a  successful  issue,  and  so,  in  this 
great  expedition,  nothing  but  misfortune 
followed.  In  the  year  1147,  while  the 
army  was  encamped  near  Constantinople, 
on  the  banks  of  a  river,  in  order  to  refresh 
themselves  from  the  fatigues  of  the  march, 
and  to  celebrate  the  festival  of  the  birth  of 
St.  Mary,  the  waters  so  swelled  in  the 
night  by  a  sudden  rain,  that  the  whole  camp 
became  overflowed,  and  great  numbers  of 
men  and  horses  were  drowned.  And  again, 
when  the  army  was  transported  across  the 
straits  to  Asia,  treacherous  guides  led  it 
into  places  which  the  Turks  had  previous- 
ly devastated  ;  the  provisions  they  carried 
with  them  were  soon  consumed,  and  the 
cities  which  the  expedition  passed  closed 


their  gates  against  them.  Many  then  en. 
treated  those  upon  the  walls  for  bread,  and 
showed  their  gold,  which  the  people  first 
let  down  ropes  to  possess  themselves  of, 
giving  in  return  only  as  much  as  they 
pleased,  frequently  nothing  at  all,  or  only 
a  little  meal  mixed  with  lime.  Many  thou- 
sands, consequently,  died  of  hunger  and 
disease,  and  still  more  were  destroyed  by 
the  cimeters  of  the  Turkish  horsemen, 
who  allowed  the  Germans  no  repose,  either 
by  night  or  day,  never  forming  for  a  re- 
gular engagement  with  them,  which  the 
harassed  troops  so  heartily  desired.  Thus, 
after  a  thousand  clangers,  Conrad  arrived 
in  the  Holy  Land  with  only  the  tenth  part 
of  his  army.  He  entered  Jerusalem  and 
visited  the  holy  spot  of  the  cross,  where  he 
paid  his  worship  ;  but  these  were  the  whole 
fruits  of  this  crusade.  The  siege  of  Da- 
mascus was  unsuccessful,  and  the  French 
army  was  equally  unfortunate.  Conrad 
returned  after  an  absence  of  two  years,  and 
died  shortly  afterwards,  in  the  year  1152, 
at  Bamberg.  He  was  a  valiant,  high- 
minded,  and  noble-hearted  man,  and  was 
universally  esteemed.  He  recommended 
as  his  successor,  not  his  own  young  son, 
Frederick,  whose  age  would  not  as  yet  al- 
low him  to  rule  the  nation,  but  his  valiant 
nephew,  Frederick  Barbarossa,  duke  of 
Swabia,  who  had  made  the  crusade  with 
him,  and  who  was  unanimously  elected  at 
Frankfort. 

Frederick  I.  was  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful of  all  the  German  emperors;  high- 
minded,  valiant,  with  a  will  firm  as  iron, 
and  of  a  stern,  energetic  character.  His 
very  form  displayed  his  lofty  mind.  His 
figure  was  manly  and  powerful  ;  his  limbs 
well  formed  and  strong,  auburn  locks  cov- 
ered his  high  forehead,  and  beneath  them 
sparkled  his  sharp  and  piercing  eyes.  His 
chin,  according  to  the  ancient  custom,  was 
covered  with  his  beard,  which  being  of  a 
bright  yellow,  he  thence  derived  his  sur- 
name of  Barbarossa.  A  youthful  ruddiness 
of  complexion  and  natural  affability  gave 
to  his  countenance  that  cheerful  expression 
which  attracts  all  hearts ;  but  his  firm, 
proud  step,  and  the  whole  bearing  of  his 
presence,  displayed  the  prince  born  to  ~ule 
and  command. 

Already,  even  as  a  youth,  lie  had  per- 
formed deeds  which  announced  the  great 
man ;  besides  which,  he  belonged  to  the 
Ghibelins  on  the  paternal,  and  to  the 


160 


FREDERICK'S  NOBLE  QUALITIES— HENRY  THE  L4ON— ITALY. 


Guelfs  on  the  maternal  side.  It  was 
hoped  that  he  would  cause  the  rivalship  of 
both  houses  to  be  forgotten ;  and,  indeed, 
one  of  his  first  acts  in  Germany  was  in 
favor  of  the  Guelfic  house.  For,  in  the 
year  1154,  he  re-granted  the  duchy  of 
Bavaria  to  Henry  the  Lion,  the  son  of 
Henry  the  Proud,  so  that  the  duke  again 
possessed  Saxony  and  Bavaria  in  conjunc- 
tion, by  which  means  he  became  the  most 
powerful  prince  in  Germany.  The  Mar- 
grave Henry,  called  Jasomirgoth,  of  Aus- 
tria, who,  after  his  brother  Leopold's 
death,  had  become  duke  of  Bavaria,  re- 
fused, indeed,  to  give  up  the  country  ;  but 
in  1156,  Frederick  induced  him  to  re- 
nounce it,  and-  compensated  him  by  giving 
him  the  old  Bavarian  margraviate  of  Aus- 
tria, and  by  making  it  independent  of  Ba- 
varia, and  raising  it  to  a  duchy,  he  pre- 
sented him  with  great  rights  and  privileges. 
The  duchy  was  to  be  hereditary,  not  only 
in  the  male,  but  also  in  the  female  line, 
and  the  duke  was  to  rank  with  the  first 
imperial  nobles.*  He  was  only  required 
to  be  invested  in  his  own  land,  and  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  expeditions  against  the  Hun- 
garians, while,  without  his  sanction,  no 
foreign  laws  were  available  in  Austria, 
&c.  The  reconciliation  of  the  first  prince- 
ly houses  in  Germany  caused  universal 
satisfaction  ;  and  Frederick  depended  now 
more  firmly  than  ever  upon  the  assistance 
of  the  friend  of  his  youth,  Henry  the  Lion, 
for  the  execution  of  his  enterprises.  In 
the  other  affairs  of  the  empire  also,  the 
new  emperor  exerted  himself  with  vigor  j 
he  destroyed  the  castles  of  the  freebooter- 
knights,  whom  he  condemned  to  death ; 
and  proved  himself  to  be,  by  all  his  acts, 
a  protector  of  general  order,  and  of  the 
rights  of  the  German  people.  A  contem- 
porary historian  says,  therefore,  of  him : 
"  It  appeared  as  if  he  gave  to  heaven  and 
earth  a  new  and  more  peaceful  form." 

The  countries  bordering  upon  Germany 
also  presented  him  with  an  opportunity  to 
give  to  the  imperial  name  additional  lus- 
tre. In  his  first  diet,  at  Merseburg,  in 
1152,  he  decided  the  dispute  of  the  two 
Danish  princes,  Sven  and  Knud,  respect- 
ing the  kingdom  of  Denmark.  Knud  re- 


*  "  He  shall  rank  equal  with  the  ancient  Archiduci- 
6MJS,"  stands  recorded  in  the  original  statute.  Thence, 
from  this  expression,  originated  the  subsequent  title  of 
Archduke  of  Austria.  This  was  first  adopted  by  Fred- 
erick HI.  m  the  yec.r  1453. 


ceived  Zealand ;  but  Sven  the  crown, 
which  Frederick  himself  placed  upon  his 
head,  and  for  which  the  Danish  king  swore 
allegiance  to  him.  This  also  King  Boles- 
laus,  of  Poland,  was  obliged  to  renew,  and 
whom  the  emperor  forced  thereto  by  an 
effective  campaign  in  Silesia.  He  gave  to 
Duke  Wladislas,  of  Bohemia,  on  account 
of  his  faithful  adherence  in  this  Polish 
campaign,  the  title  of  king,  such  titles  the 
emperor  alone  being  able  to  impart.  King 
Geisa,  of  Hungary,  renewed  his  alle- 
giance, and  fulfilled  his  duties  as  vassal 
in  Frederick's  second  Italian  expedition. 
And  finally,  in  Burgundy,  which  had  be- 
come almost  estranged  from  the  Germanic 
empire,  Frederick  re-established  his  in- 
fluence by  his  own  marriage  with  Beatrice, 
the  heiress  of  High  Burgundy,  whereby 
his  house  acquired,  at  the  same  time,  this 
portion  of  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy.  All 
the  Burgundian  nobles  did  homage  to  the 
emperor,  and  thus  the  ancient  imperial 
dignity  acquired  additional  splendor  under 
the  powerful  monarch  who  now  ruled  in 
Germany. 

It  was  only  in  Italy,  the  ancient  seat  of 
the  dominion  of  the  world,  that  the  author- 
ity of  the  emperor  had  declined  ;  and 
Frederick  was  not  able  to  restore  it  entire- 
ly, even  by  the  most  glorious  battles. 
The  large  towns  in  this  country,  since  the 
weak  government  of  Henry  IV.,  had  be- 
come overbearing,  and  submitted  with 
great  repugnance  to  the  obedience  due  to- 
wards their  superior  feudal  sovereign  ; 
above  all  the  rest,  the  opulent  city  of  Mi- 
lan, the  capital  of  Lombardy,  was  the 
most  arrogant  and  independent.  Milan, 
since  the  commencement  of  the  12th  cen- 
tury, had,  by  the  vigor  and  energy  of  its 
inhabitants,  made  such  rapid  progress,  that 
one  might  almost  have  believed  that  an- 
cient Rome  had  transplanted  its  spirit  thi- 
ther. It  subjected,  by  degrees,  several  of 
the  neighboring  cities,  especially  Lodi  and 
Como  •  and,  at  the  same  time,  affected  to 
treat  the  commands  of  the  emperor  with 
such  contempt,  that  an  imperial  edict 
which  Frederick  issued  in  the  year  1153, 
had  even  its  seal  torn  off,  and  was  tramp- 
led under  foot.  Upon  this,  the  emperor,  in 
1154,  crossed  the  Alps,  and,  according  to 
the  ancient  custom  of  the  Longobardian 
kings,  held  his  first  great  diet  in  the  Ron- 
calian  plains,  on  the  banks  of  the  rivej 
Po  ;  and  now  that  complaints  from  many 


LOMBARDY-ADRIAN  IV.  AND  FREDERICK. 


101 


other  places  were  urged  against  the  op- 
pression of  this  proud  city,  which  even 
refused  to  meet  or  reply  to  them,  his  anger 
became  excited,  and  he  resolved  to  punish 
it  severely.  He  did  not  venture  this  time 
to  besiege  it,  as  he  was  not  prepared  for 
such  an  important  undertaking  ;  but  he 
destroyed  several  of  its  adjacent  castles 
and  forts,  and  conquered  its  allied  cities, 
Asti  and  Tortona. 

At  Pavia  he  caused  himself  to  be 
crowned  king  of  Lombardy,  and  then 
rapidly  advanced  towards  Rome.  Here 
dissension  existed  between  the  pope  and 
the  people,  who,  in  a  revolutionary  tumult, 
and  under  the  guidance  of  a  bold  monk, 
\rnold  of  Brescia,  wished  to  restore  the 
ancient  Roman  republic.  Neither  of  the 
parties  knew  in  whose  favor  the  emperor 
advanced.  Pope  Adrian  IV.  fled  to  a  well- 
fortified  castle  called  Castellana,  but  soon 
returned  to  the  German  camp,  the  emperor 
having  promised  him  safety.  Upon  his 
arrival,  Adrian  (who  had  originally  wan- 
dered from  England,  his  native  country, 
as  a  beggar  boy,  and  had  eventually  raised 
himself  to  the  papacy)  expected  that 
Frederick  would  hold  his  stirrup,  as  his 
predecessors  had  always  done ;  as,  how- 
ever, he  did  not  do  it,  the  cardinals  accom- 
panying the  pope  fled  hastily  back  to  Cas- 
tellana, for  they  regarded  this  omission  as 
a  bad  omen  of  the  imperial  sentiments. 
Adrian,  however,  descended  from  his  mule, 
and  placed  himself  upon  the  seat  prepared 
for  him  ;  and  now  Frederick  cast  himself 
before  him,  and  kissed  his  feet.  The  pope 
now  acquired  fresh  courage,  and  charged 
the  emperor  with  the  omission  of  the  ac- 
customed mark  of  deference ;  and  the 
latter,  who  sought  his  glory  in  greater 
things,  willingly  yielded  in  this  trifling 
affair,  upon  his  princes  assuring  him  that 
the  emperor  Lothaire  had  shown  a  similar 
sign  of  respect  to  Pope  Innocent  II.  The 
ceremony  of  dismounting  was  consequent- 
ly repeated  on  the  following  day,  when 
the  emperor  met  the  pope  and  held  his 
stirrup — thus  it  is  related  by  the  records 
of  Rome.  German  writers,  on  the  con- 
trary— namely.  Otho  of  Freissingen,  and 
Helmold,  inform  us  that  the  emperor, 
upon  the  first  descending  of  the  pope,  had 
held  the  stirrup,  but,  from  oversight,  had 
seized  the  left  instead  of  the  right,  and 
that  the  pope,  in  consequence,  had  refused 
him  the  kiss  of  peace.  Upon  the  excuse 
21 


of  the  emperor,  that  he  had  erred  through 
ignorance,  as  he  had  not  applied  much 
attention  to  stirrup-holding,  the  pope  re- 
plied :  "  If  the  emperor  neglects  trifles 
from  ignorance,  how  will  he  show  atten- 
tion in  important  affairs  ?"  The  emperor, 
however,  at  the  entreaty  of  the  princes, 
yielded,  and  they  both  embraced  each 
other  as  friends. 

After  this,  Frederick  went  to  Rome,  and 
was  crowned  emperor  in  St.  Peter's  church, 
on  the  18th  of  June,  1155.  Meantime,  a 
dispute  ensued  with  the  Romans,  who  would 
yield  neither  to  the  pope  nor  the  emperor  ; 
the  force  of  arms,  however,  soon  reduced 
them  to  tranquillity. 

In  spite  of  these  continual  contests,  how- 
ever, with  the  perfidious  and  treacherous 
Italians,  Frederick  returned  at  length  to 
Germany.  But  disputes  speedily  arose  be- 
tween him  and  the  pope  himself,  who,  con- 
fiding  in  the  assistance  of  the  Norman  king, 
William  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  wrote  to  the 
emperor  a  letter  full  of  reproaches,  and  his 
legate,  Cardinal  Roland  (afterwards  Pope 
Alexander  III.)  uttered  even  in  the  assem- 
bly of  the  German  princes,  the  arrogant 
words  :  "  From  whom,  then,  has  the  empe- 
ror the  empire,  if  not  from  the  pope  ?" 
The  irritated  count  palatine,  Otho  of  Wit- 
telsbach,  whose  office  it  was  to  bear  the  na- 
ked sword  before  the  emperor,  upon  hear- 
ing this  raised  the  weapon,  and  was  about 
to  sunder  the  legate's  head,  for  he  consid- 
ered the  honor  of  the  German  prince  deeply 
wounded  by  this  language.  Frederick, 
however,  withheld  him  from  this  desperate 
act  of  indignation  ;  but  he  commanded  the 
ambassador  to  return  early  on  the  following 
morning  to  Rome.  The  German  bishops, 
in  reply  to  the  reproaches  of  the  pope,  sta- 
ted, that  they  had  given  themselves  every 
possible  trouble  to  mediate,  but  that  the 
mperor  had  replied  to  them,  firmly  and 
gravely,  thus  :  "  There  are  two  regulations, 
according  to  which  our  empire  must  be 
ruled — the  laws  of  the  emperors,  and  the 
good  customs  of  our  forefathers  ;  these  limits 
we  will  not,  nor  can  we  transgress.  To 
our  father,  the  pope,  we  will  willingly  pay 
all  the  homage  we  owe  him ;  but  our  im- 
perial  crown  is  independent,  and  we  ascribe 
ts  possession  to  divine  goodness  only." 
They  then  earnestly  entreated  the  holy  fa. 
,her  no  longer  to  excite  the  anger  of  their 
ord  the  emperor. 
The  dispute  oetween  the  emperor  and 


1*52 


THE  MILANESE  SUBJECTED— THEY  REVOLT%AGAIN. 


the  pope,  after  a  short  reconciliation,  was, 
nevertheless,  resumed,  and  lasted  until  the 
death  of  Adrian,  in  1159.  Thenceforward, 
affairs  became  still  more  entangled,  for 
the  imperial  party  chose  Victor  III.,  and 
the  opposite  party  Alexander  III.,  the  same 
who,  as  cardinal  legate,  had  uttered  such 
bold  words  in  the  imperial  assembly.  Each 
pope  excommunicated  the  other,  and  sought 
to  strengthen  his  own  party  by  all  possible 
means. 

The  emperor  Frederick,  as  early  as  the 
year  1158,  had  already  prepared  another 
more  powerful  expedition  against  Italy ; 
the  Milanese  having  in  the  preceding  year 
reduced  to  ashes  the  city  of  Lodi,  which 
had  yielded  allegiance  to  the  emperor.  All 
the  princes  of  Germany,  as  well  as  the 
king  of  Hungary  and  the  newly-elected 
king  of  Bohemia,  performed  feudal  ser- 
vice ;  by  which  means  such  an  army  was 
collected  as  no  emperor  had  previously  led 
into  Italy:  consisting  of  100,000  infantry 
and  15,000  cavalry.  They  broke  up  their 
camp  near  Augsburg,  at  Whitsuntide,  and 
crossed  the  Alps.  Almost  all  the  cities  of 
Northern  Italy  were  humbled  at  the  view 
of  such  a  powerful  force,  and  allied  them- 
selves with  the  emperor ;  but  the  rebellious 
city  of  Milan  was  declared  outlawed,  and, 
after  a  short  siege,  was  obliged  to  submit  to 
the  irritated  ruler.  The  Milanese  appear- 
ed now  before  him,  in  humble  supplication, 
forming  a  procession  unusual  to  the  Ger- 
mans. First  came  both  ecclesiastics  and 
laymen  barefooted,  and  dressed  in  tattered 
garments,  the  former  holding  up  crosses  in 
the  air  ;  then  followed  the  consuls  and  pa- 
tricians with  swords  hanging  from  their 
necks,  and  the  rest  with  cords  round  their 
throats;  and  thus  humbly  they  fell  at  the 
feet  of  the  emperor.  As  he  therefore  only 
desired  their  submission,  he  pardoned  them, 
saying  :  "  You  must  now  acknowledge  that 
it  is  easier  to  conquer  by  obedience  than 
with  arms."  Upon  which  he  caused  them 
to  swear  allegiance,  and  to  promise  that 
they  would  not  interrupt  the  freedom  of  the 
smaller  cities ;  and  taking  with  him  three 
hundred  hostages,  he  placed  the  imperial 
eagle  upon  the  spire  of  the  cathedral. 

But  their  humility  was  only  feigned,  and 
the  effect  of  necessity  ;  lasting  only  so  long 
us  the  power  of  the  emperor  terrified  them. 
For  when,  according  to  the  imperial  pre- 
rogative, he  wished,  in  the  following  year, 
(o  appoint  the  civil  functionaries,  the  citi- 


zens attacked  Raynald,  his  chancellor,  the 
count  palatine,  Otho,  and  the  other  ambas- 
sadors, with  so  much  fury  that  they  could 
scarcely  save  their  lives.  Upon  being 
summoned,  and  an  explanation  demanded, 
they  pleaded  nothing  but  empty  excuses  ; 
and  at  the  second  and  third  summons  they 
did  not  appear  at  all.  Upon  which  the 
emperor  renewed  the  imperial  edict  of  out- 
lawry  against  Milan,  and  vowed,  in  his 
wrath,  never  to  replace  the  crown  upon  his 
head  until  he  had  destroyed  the  arrogant 
city. 

The  war  recommenced  with  all  the  bit- 
ter exasperation  of  that  period.  The  Milan- 
ese sought  even  their  salvation — sucto  at 
least  was  the  universal  charge- — in  the  as- 
sassination of  the  powerful  emperor  who 
thus  menaced  them.  It  is  quite  certain 
that  a  man  of  gigantic  strength  suddenly 
attacked  the  emperor  while  performing  his 
morning  devotions  in  *  beautiful  and  soli- 
tary spot  upon  the  Ada,  and  strove  to  throw 
him  into  the  river.  In  the  struggle  both 
fell  to  the  earth,  and,  upon  the  call  of  the 
emperor,  his  attendants  rushed  forward, 
and  the  assassin  was  himself  cast  into  the 
stream.  Shortly  after  this  an  old  mis- 
shapen, squinting  man  glided  into  the  camp 
with  poisoned  wares,  the  very  touch  of 
which  was  said  to  be  mortal.  The  em- 
peror being  fortunately  already  warned, 
caused  him  to  be  seized  and  executed. 
His  army,  meanwhile,  had  become  much 
strengthened,  and  with  it  he  first  besieged, 
in  1160,  the  city  of  Cremona,  which  was 
in  alliance  with  Milan,  and  had  obstinately 
refused  submission  ;  the  inhabitants  defend- 
ed themselves  for  seven  months  with  unex- 
ampled obstinacy,  when  they  were  at  length 
obliged  to  yield.  The  city  was  razed  to 
the  ground,  and  the  inhabitants  were  obliged 
to  wander  to  other  places. 

It  .was  only  after  a  three  years'  siege, 
and  after  much  blood  had  been  spilled  on 
both  sides,  that  Frederick  overcame  the 
strong  city  of  Milan.  His  patience  was 
exhausted  ;  the  pardon  he  had  once  grant- 
ed having  only  made  the  rash  citizens  more 
arrogant,  he  resolved  therefore,  by  a  severe 
punishment,  to  destroy  their  spirit  of  resist- 
ance. During  three  days,  the  1st,  3d,  and 
6th  of  March,  the  consuls  and  chief  men  ol 
the  city,  in  increasing  numbers,  advanced 
to  the  imperial  camp  before  Lodi,  and  on 
the  third  day,  the  whole  people  with  them  ; 
they  divided  themselves  into  a  hundreJ 


MILAN  RAZED— THE  LOMBARDIAN  CONFEDERATION. 


sections,  and  repeated  thrice  before  that 
city,  which  had  been  so  despised  and  ill- 
treated  by  them,  the  whole  spectacle  of 
their  humiliation  ;  with  crosses,  swords,  and 
ropes  hanging  about  the  neck,  and  bare- 
footed. More  than  a  hundred  banners  of 
the  city  were,  upon  the  third  day,  laid 
down  before  the  imperial  throne,  and,  last- 
ly, their  chief  banner,  the  CAROCIUIVI,*  was 
drawn  forward.  Its  lofty  frame  or  tree, 
with  its  iron  leaves,  was  bowed  down  before 
the  emperor  as  a  sign  of  the  deepest  humil- 
iation ;  the  princes  and  bishops,  seated  near 
him,  sprang  up,  in  dread  of  being  killed  by 
the  weighty  mass,  but  Frederick  remained 
unmoved,  and  tore  the  fringe  of  the  banner 
down.  The  whole  of  the  people  then  cast 
themselves  to  the  gro-und,  with  loud  wail- 
ings,  and  implored  mercy.  The  consuls 
and  grandees  of  the  city,  and  even  the  no- 
bles of  the  emperor's  suite,  all  supplicated 
his  pardon  for  the  capital,  but  the  emperor 
remained  inexorable,  and  desired  his  chan- 
cellor, Raynald,  to  read  the  law,  whereby 
the  city  surrendered  itself  at  discretion. 
He  then  said  :  "  According  to  that  law  you 
have  all  merited  death,  but  I  will  grant  you 
your  lives.  As  regards  the  fate  of  the  city 
itself,  I  will  so  order  it,  that  in  future  you 
shall  be  prevented  from  committing  similar 
crimes  therein."  Upon  which  he  retired 
to  Pavia,  to  decide  upon  the  fate  of  Milan 
in  a  large  assembly  of  German  and  Italian 
bishops,  lords,  and  deputies  from  the  vari- 
ous other  cities. 

The  sentence  was,  "  that  Milan  should 
be  levelled  with  the  ground,  and  the  inhab- 
itants remove,  within  eight  days,  to  four  of 
their  villages,  two  miles  from  each  other, 
where  they  should  live  under  the  surveil- 
lance of  the  imperial  functionaries."  The 
city  of  Milan  in  its  prosperity  and  arro- 
gance, had  so  deeply  injured  many  other 
cities — Cosmo,  Lodi,  Cremona,  Pavia,  Ver- 
relli,  Novarra,  and  others,  that  they  all 
begged,  as  an  especial  favor,  that  they 
might  themselves  pull  down  the  walls  of 
the  proud  capital ;  so  that,  by  the  impulse 
of  their  hatred  and  revenge,  they  accom- 


*  Upon  a  car  strengthened  with  iron,  a  massive  iron 
tree  with  iron  leaves  was  fixed  ;  a  large  cross  adorned 
the  ton  of  the  tree,  in  front  of  which  was  represented 
the  holy  Ambrosias,  Milan's  tutelary  saint.  The  color 
»f  the  car  was  red.  and  the  eight  oxen  which  drew  it 
Vere  also  covered  with  red  drapery.  Before  it  was 
drawn  away,  high  mass  was  celebrated  on  the  car ; 
the  whole  being  au  ii  utation  of  the  ark  of  the  Israei- 


plished  within  six  days  what  hired  work- 
men would  scarcely  have  executed  in  so 
many  months :  for,  although  the  houses 
and  churches  were  not  pulled  down,  as 
later  exaggerated  records  report,  yet,  the 
powerful  walls  and  forts  of  the  city  were 
destroyed,  the  ditches  filled  up,  and  this 
once  wealthy  and  splendid  city,  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  moaning  inhabitants,  be- 
came one  dreadful  scene  of  waste  and  des- 
olation.* The  emperor  then,  at  a  splendid 
banquet  at  Pavia,  in  the  Easter  festival,  re- 
placed his  crown  upon  his  head. 

But  Frederick  was  doomed  to  show  to 
the  world,  by  his  example,  that  a  change 
of  fortune  must  ever  produce  its  influence 
upon  the  most  powerful  monarchs,  and  that 
no  force  can  check  it  but  wisdom  and  mod- 
eration. The  punishment  of  the  city  of 
Milan  had  been  too  severe,  and  if  this  may 
even  be  excused  perhaps  by  the  rudeness 
and  strong  passions  of  that  period,  still 
Frederick  erred  in  not  having  treated  that 
and  the  other  cities  of  the  north  of  Italy 
with  mildness,  and  according  to  the  laws 
of  justice. 

His  deputies  severely  oppressed  the  coun- 
try, and  although,  perhaps,  without  his  con- 
currence, yet  he  did  not  sufficiently  attend 
to  the  complaints  which  were  made  to  him. 
At  the  same  time  he  continued  the  contes'. 
with  the  still  increasing  party  of  Pope  Al- 
exander, and  acted  wrong  in  not  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  death  of  his  own  pope,  Vic- 
tor III.,  to  reconcile  himself  with  the  for- 
mer, instead  of  confirming  the  election  of 
another  rival  pope,  Pascal  III.  Frederick 
did  not  consider  that  his  opponents,  by  their 
united  inspiration,  the  one  for  civil  free- 
dom, and  the  other  for  their  church-party, 
derived  unconquerable  power.  The  cities 
of  Lombardy  allied  themselves  still  more 
closely  together,  and  even  those  which  had 
previously  been  the  enemies  of  the  Mi- 
lanese became  disinclined  towards  the  em- 
peror; for,  now  that  their  former  oppres- 
sors were  cast  to  the  ground,  they  compas- 
sionated them.  But  the  most  dangerous 
enemy  of  the  emperor  was  the  bold  and  sa- 
gacious Pope  Alexander,  who  had  succeed- 
ed, after  a  two  years'  exile  in  France,  in 


*  During  this  devastation  of  Milan,  many  relics  were 
removed  from  the  deserted  churches.  Among  the  rest, 
the  archbishop  Raynald  conveyed  the  bones  of  the 
three  kings  with  great  solemnity  across  the  Alps  to  th« 
city  of  Cologne,  and  the  king  ot  Bohemia  carried  witJi 
him  the  candlesticks  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem. 


THE  IMPERIAL  ARMY— MILAN  RESTORBD 


gaining  over  the  Romans  to  his  side ;  and 
had  now  returned  to  his  metropolis.  Conse- 
quently, Frederick,  after  he  had  collected 
a  new  army,  and  nad  settled  tte  most  ur- 
gent affairs  in  Northern  Italy,  marched,  in 
1167,  to  Rome.  The  Romans  were  speed- 
ily  beaten  out  of  the  field,  and  the  city  it- 
self besieged.  It  was  especially  around 
the  churches  that  the  severest  conflict  took 
place,  for  they  were  defended  like  fortress- 
es ;  and  it  was  in  the  heat  of  combat  that 
the  Germans,  having  cast  torches  into  the 
church  of  St.  Mary,  situated  close  to  St. 
Peter's,  the  flames  reached  the  latter  edi- 
fice, which,  in  the  general  confusion,  was 
taken  possession  of  by  the  Swabian  duke, 
Frederick.  Pope  Alexander,  seeing  that 
the  Romans  commenced  murmuring  at  his 
obstinacy,  fled  secretly  from  the  city,  in  the 
dress  of  a  pilgrim.  He  was  seen  on  the 
third  day  near  a  fountain,  not  far  from  Cir- 
cello,  whence  he  escaped  to  Benevento. 

Frederick,  however,  together  with  his 
consort,  was  crowned  by  his  pope,  Pascal, 
on  the  first  of  August,  1 167,  in  the  metro- 
politan church  of  Christendom.  But,  im- 
mediately afterwards,  an  epidemic  disease 
broke  out  among  the  Germans,  of  so  ter- 
rific a  nature  that  a  great  portion  of  the 
army  and  a  multitude  of  the  nobles  and 
chief  men  were  carried  off.  It  was  on  a 
Wednesday,  in  August,  that  it  first  appear- 
ed ;  the  heat  had  long  been  excessive  and 
overpowering ;  on  the  morning  of  that  day 
the  sun  was  bright,  after  which  rain  sud- 
denly fell,  and  a  glowing  heat  succeeded ; 
whence  the  vapor  raised  caused  the  sick- 
ness. Men  died  so  suddenly,  that  often 
those  who  were  perfectly  well  in  the  morn- 
ing fell  dead  on  tlo  same  day  while  walk- 
ing in  the  street,  and  many,  while  even 
burying  the  dead,  fell  suddenly  with  them 
into  the  grave.  The  Archbishop  Raynald, 
of  Cologne,  the  emperor's  able  chancellor, 
four  bishops,  and  eight  dukes,  and  among 
these  the  emperor's  cousin,  Frederick  of 
Rothenberg,  and  Guelf,  the  younger ;  be- 
sides many  thousands  of  noble  counts  and 
lords  who  were  numbered  among  the  dead. 
The  people  everywhere  exclaimed,  "that 
this  was  a  judgment  of  God  for  burning 
St.  Peter's  Church !"  The  emperor  was 
obliged  to  retire  to  Pavia,  and,  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  he  was  forced,  with  only  a 
few  companions,  to  leave  Italy  like  a  fugi- 
tive, secretly  and  disguised. 

Ths  cities,  however,  now  raised  their 


heads.  They  had  already,  in  that  very 
year,  1167,  and  almost  under  the  very  eyes 
of  the  emperor,  while  he  lay  before  Rome, 
concluded  a  formal  alliance  with  each 
other ;  they  even  ventured  to  reconducl 
the  Milanese  back  to  their  ancient  city. 
The  ditches,  walls,  and  towers  were  speedi 
ly  restored,  and  every  one  labored  to  re- 
construct his  habitation.  For  the  capital 
had  been  so  large  and  strong  that,  in  its 
destruction,  portions  of  the  walls,  most  of 
the  houses,  and  almost  all  the  churches 
had  remained  standing.  Thus,  as  Athens 
once,  after  its  destruction  by  the  Persians, 
so,  also,  Milan  now  raised  itself  by  the  aid 
of  the  other  cities,  more  extensive  and 
powerful  than  before.  After  this  was 
done,  the  Lombard  confederation  built  a 
new  city,  as  an  impregnable  fortress  against 
the  emperor,  in  a  beautiful  and  fertile  spot 
surrounded  by  three  rivers  and  deep 
marshes,  and  called  it,  in  defiance  of  the 
emperor,  and  in  honor  of  their  pope,  Alex- 
andria. In  the  space  of  a  year  this  city 
became  inhabited,  and  garrisoned  by 
15,000  warriors.  The  most  powerful  cities 
participated  in  the  Lombard  confederation: 
Venice,  Milan,  Verona,  Vicenza,  Padua, 
Ferrara,  Brescia,  Cremona,  Placenza,  Par- 
ma, Modena,  Bologna,  &c. 

Frederick,  meanwhile,  was  not  inactive 
in  Germany  ;  he  remained  there  stationa- 
ry nearly  seven  years;  established  more 
firmly  the  imperial  dignity  with  all  the 
strength  of  his  high  mind ;  regulated  and 
adjusted  internal  disturbances,  and,  in  par- 
ticular,  the  great  dispute  in  the  north  of 
Germany  between  Henry  the  Lion  and  his 
adversaries — upon  which  subject  we  shall 
enlarge  as  we  proceed — and  at  the  same 
time  augmented  the  power  of  his  house  by 
various  just  and  legitimate  acquisitions  for 
his  five  sons,  still  very  young.  Henry,  the 
eldest,  although  only  15  years  of  age,  was 
elected  king  of  the  Romans  ;  Frederick 
received  the  duchy  of  Swabia  and  the  lands 
of  Guelf,  the  elder,  who  had'j^equeathed 
them,  after  the  death  of  his  only  son,  to 
the  emperor,  an  example  followed  by  many 
other  counts  and  nobles  in  Swabia.  Con- 
rad, the  third  son,  inherited  the  lands  of  the 
Duke  of  Rothenberg,  who  died  childless. 
To  the  fourth  son,  Otho,  Frederick  gave 
the  vice-regency  of  Burgundy  and  Aries; 
and  to  the  youngest,  Philip,  who  still  lay  in 
the  cradle,  he  presented  several  confisca- 
ted crown  possessions  and  clerical  feods, 


ALEXANDRIA— BESIEGED  BY  FREDERICK— THE  BATTLE  OF  LIGNANO.     165 


T.ius  the  race  of  the  Hohenstaufens  stood 
firmly  rooted  like  a  vigorous  and  richly- 
branched  tree  of  majestic  oak. 

But  now  Frederick  again  directed  his 
attention  to  that  still  revolutionary  coun- 
try, Italy.  The  German  princes  were 
now,  it  is  true,  less  easily  induced  to  pro- 
ceed to  that  intractable,  unhealthy  climate, 
but,  by  his  persuasive  eloquence  and  un- 
wearied activity,  he  at  length  succeeded 
in  again  collecting  an  army,  and  appeared, 
in  the  autumn  of  1174,  for  the  fifth  time, 
in  that  land.  He  besieged  the  new  city  of 
Alexandria,  which  had  been  built  and  for- 
tified in  order  to  check  his  course  ;  and  he 
was  forced  to  remain  seven  months  before 
it,  during  which  his  army  suffered  greatly 
in  the  winter  from  sickness  and  fatigue,  in 
their  camp,  pitched  upon  marshy  ground. 
Meanwhile  the  Lombard  cities  had  collect- 
ed an  army  to  relieve  the  besieged,  and 
which  advanced  at  Easter,  in  1175,  fully 
prepared  and  equipped.  The  emperor  re- 
solved upon  making  a  last  attack  against 
the  place,  and  caused  it  to  be  stormed  on 
the  Thursday  before  Easter.  The  Ger- 
mans, by  means  of  a  subterraneous  pas- 
sage, succeeded  in  advancing  into  the  very 
heart  of  the  city,  as  far  as  the  middle  of 
the  market-place.  Nevertheless  the  va- 
liant garrison  did  not  lose  courage,  and,  to 
their  great  good  fortune,  this  subterraneous 
passage  fell  in.  Those  of  their  enemy, 
who  had  thus  entered  the  city,  were  over- 
powered, and  the  rest  who  were  storming 
from  without  were  beaten  back.  The  em- 
peror was  therefore  obliged  to  raise  the 
siege,  and  to  seek  so  hastily  a  different  po- 
sition, that  he  was  forced  to  set  fire  to  his 
own  encampment. 

It  was  then  agreed,  that  a  meeting  of  the 
belligerent  parties  should  take  place  at 
Pavia,  in  order  to  conclude  a  treaty.  The 
cardinal  of  Ostia,  who  appeared  in  the 
name  of  the  pope,  would  not  greet  the  em- 
peror on  account  of  the  excommunication, 
but  he  evinced  to  him  his  regret,  while  he 
expressed  his  admiration  of  Frederick's 
great  qualities.  Both  sides  were,  however, 
but  little  inclined  to  yield  in  any  portion 
of  their  demands. 

What  tended  much  to  increase  the  cour- 
age of  the  Lombards  was,  that  precisely 
at  this  moment,  Henry  the  Lion  refused 
the  emperor  that  assistance  upon  which 
Frederick  had  so  much  relied.  The  trea- 
ties were,  consequently,  broken  off,  and  the 


Lombards,  taking  advantage  of  this  favor- 
able moment,  advanced,  under  the  protec- 
tion  of  the  grand  and  sacred  banner  of  St. 
Ambrose,  against  the  emperor,  and  fought 
the  decisive  battle  of  Lignano,  on  the  29th 
of  May,  1176.  Their  force  was  far  su- 
perior in  numbers,  and  occupied  a  favor- 
able position  ;  while  on  one  side  they  were 
flanked  by  a  ditch  which  made  all  flight 
impossible.  When  they  saw  that  the  em- 
peror had  accepted  their  challenge,  and 
now  advanced  against  them,  they  imme- 
diately formed  their  line  of  battle.  The 
Carocium  of  the  Milanese  was  placed  in 
their  centre,  surrounded  by  300  youths 
who  had  sworn  to  defend  it  in  life  unto 
death,  besides  a  body  of  900  picked  cav- 
alry, styled  the  phalanx  of  death,  who  had, 
singly  and  collectively,  likewise  taken  the 
oath  of  immolation.  The  battle  commenced, 
and  one  of  the  Lombard  wings  beginning 
very  soon  to  waver,  the  order  of  the  Milan- 
ese ranks  became  confused.  The  emperor 
pressed  directly  upon  the  centre,  to  gain  the 
Carocium,  and,  as  now  its  band  of  defend- 
ers likewise  faltered,  the  courage  of  the 
Germans  increased,  and  at  length  they  con- 
quered the  sacred  banner,  and  tore  down  all 
its  decorations.  But  at.  this  moment  the 
death-squadron  recovered  themselves,  and 
again  returned  to  the  charge.  Mortally 
wounded,  the  emperor's  standard-bearer 
now  sank  at  his  side,  and  the  imperial  ban- 
ner with  him ;  but  the  brave  Frederick, 
equipped  in  his  splendid  suit  of  armor,  still 
fought  on  at  the  head  of  his  warriors.  Sud- 
denly, however,  he  was  seen  to  fall  from  his 
charger,  and  vanish  from  the  view  of  the 
army.  Terror  and  confusion  now  seized 
upon  all,  and  Frederick's  troops  suffered  an 
entire  overthrow;  he  himself  escaped  with 
a  few  faithful  friends  in  the  wild  tumult, 
and  under  the  protection  of  the  night.  Al- 
most all  the  citizens  of  Como,  his  allies, 
embittered  by  hatred  and  revenge  against 
the  Milanese  on  account  of  their  ancient 
wars,  fell  a  sacrifice  and  were  left  dead 
upon  the  field.  For  two  whole  days  the 
emperor  was  mourned  as  slain,  and  even 
his  consort  put  on  a  widow's  robes  ;  when, 
to  the  unexpected  joy  of  all,  he  again  ap- 
peared in  Pavia. 

After  this  the  emperor  wished  and  pro- 
posed a  peace  ;  when  the  pope,  Alexander, 
said  in  reply :  "  That  nothing  was  more 
desirable  to  him  than  to  obtain  peace  frorr 
the  greatest  hero  of  Christendom ;  he  en- 


160 


POPE  ALEXANDER  AND  FREDERICK. 


treated  only,  that  the  Lombards  might  par- 
licipate  in  it,  and  ne  himself  would  proceed 
lo  that  country."  The  two  great  opponents 
had  now  learned  mutually  to  esteem  each 
other,  and  Frederick  having  expressed  a 
wish  for  an  interview  with  the  pope,  the 
latter  proceeded  at  once  to  Venice.  His 
'ourney  thither  resembled  a  triumphal  pro- 
cession, for  he  was  treated  as  the  saviour 
of  liberty,  and  as  the  father  of  the  Italian 
free  states.  Frederick  al?o  came  there  in 
July,  1177,  and,  according  to  an  ancient 
historian,  "  It  pleased  God  so  to  guide  his 
heart  that  he  suddenly  subjected  the  lion- 
like  pride  of  his  mind,  and  he  became  mild 
and  gentle  as  a  lamb,  so  that  he  cast  him- 
self at  the  feet  of  the  pope,  who  awaited 
him  at  the  entrance  of  the  church  of  St. 
Mark,  and  kissed  them  ;  and  the  pope,  with 
tears,  raised  him  from  the  ground,  and  gave 
him  the  kiss  of  peace,  at  which  the  Ger- 
mans exclaimed  :  '  Lord  God,  we  praise 
ihee !'  The  emperor  then  took  the  pope 
by  the  hand  and  led  him  into  the  church, 
where  he  bestowed  upon  him  his  benedic- 
tion. On  the  following  day,  however,  at 
the  express  desire  of  the  emperor,  the  pope 
jelebrated  high  mass,  and  Frederick,  after 
he  had  himself,  like  an  inferior  of  the 
church,  humbly  cleared  the  way  for  the 
pope  through  the  crowd,  took  his  place 
amid  the  train  of  the  German  archbishops 
and  bishops,  and  devoutly  assisted  in  the 
\ioly  ceremony." 

Thus,  in  those  days,  did  mild,  religious 
ieelings  moderate  the  severe  and  stern  dis- 
position of  the  emperor,  without  at  all  af- 
fecting the  majesty  of  his  presence,  for  his 
humility  was  voluntary,  and  thence  ac- 
quired for  him  general  esteem ;  while  at 
the  same  time  his  conduct  was  sincere,  and 
consequently  his  reconciliation  with  the 
pope  was  complete  and  lasting.  But  with 
the  Lombards,  as  all  the  articles  of  the 
treaty  could  not  be  immediately  settled,  a 
truce  of  six  years  was  concluded.  All 
rights  and  customs  were  to  be  investigated  ; 
the  demands  of  both  sides  equally  weighed  ; 
and  the  relations  of  the  Italian  cities  with 
the  emperor  and  empire  arranged  afresh : 
all  which  demanded  time. 

In  1178  the  emperor  proceeded  to  Aries, 
where  he  was  crowned  king  of  Burgundy, 
and  thence  returned  to  Germany,  where 
another  important  affair  awaited  his  pres- 
ence. While  on  the  one  hand  the  house 
of  Bohenstaufen  possessed  at  this  period. 


in  the  person  of  its  emperor,  a  powerful  anr 
high-minded  chief,  the  house  of  Guelf  en 
joyed,  on  the  other,  an  equal  advantage  ii 
Henry  the  Lion,  duke  of  Bavaria  and  Sax- 
ony. For,  while  Frederick,  in  the  south, 
conducted  his  great  wars  against  the  Italian 
cities,  Henry  increased  his  power  in  the 
north  by  a  successful  war  against  the  Van- 
dals. Henry  resembled  the  friend  of  his 
youth,  Frederick,  in  valor,  firmness,  and 
chivalric  sentiments.  His  outward  ap- 
pearance was  also  distinguished,  and  his 
powerful  figure,  strengthened  by  every 
corporeal  exercise,  displayed  the  bold  cour- 
age of  his  mind.  Yet,  while  Frederick,  in 
his  hair  and  complexion,  bore  the  true  im- 
press of  genuine  German  origin,  Henry,  on 
his  part,  presented  in  his  whole  appearance 
the  evidence  of  his  connection  with  the 
southern  race  of  the  Guelfs ;  his  com- 
plexion being  darker, 'his  hair  and  beard 
black,  and  his  eyes  the  same  color.  His 
name  soon  became  terrible  in  the  northern 
districts.  He  conquered  a  great  portion  of 
Holstein  and  Mecklenburg,  as  far  as  Pom- 
erania,  and  populated  the  country,  as  Al- 
bert the  Bear  had  done  previously  in  the 
marches,  with  peasants  from  Brabant,  Flan- 
ders, and  Germany.  He  founded  bishop- 
rics and  schools;  distributed  throughout 
these  countries  criminal  courts  and  judges  ; 
transformed  forests  and  marshes  into  fruit- 
ful fields ;  and,  while  he  increased  his  own 
power,  he  became  the  promoter  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  north  of  Germany.  Liibeck, 
founded  in  1140,  and  made  the  see  of  a 
bishop,  soon  developed  itself  and  flourished 
nobly ;  and  Hamburg,  previously  destroyed 
by  the  Vandals,  was  again  restored.  Thus 
his  extensive  possessions  extended  from  the 
shores  of  the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea,  as 
far  as  the  Danube  in  the  southern  moun- 
tains, and  were  more  considerable  than  the 
absolute  dominions  of  the  emperor:  while, 
finally,  he  founded,  in  1157,  Munich,  in 
Bavaria. 

The  object  of  Henry  was  to  unite  his 
two  duchies  under  one  entire  political  gov- 
ernment, and  thus  to  restrict  throughout  his 
territories,  as  much  as  possible,  the  rights 
of  the  nobles,  both  temporal  and  spiritual. 
At  the  same  time,  in  so  doing  he  laid  him- 
self open  to  the  reproach  of  injustice  ;  as, 
for  instance,  in  the  case  of  Count  Adol- 
phus  III.,  of  Holsteiu.  This  nobleman  had 
labored  greatly  to  advance  the  prosperity 
of  his  country,  and  having,  among  the  rest. 


HENRY  THE  LION  OF  BRUNSWICK— HIS  RISE  AND  FALL. 


1G7 


established  some  valuable  salt  works 
Oldesloc,  Henry  now  destroyed  them  by 
causing  fresh  water  from  the  neighboring 
springs  to  flow  into  them,  because  his  own 
salt  works  at  Liineburg  were,  as  he 
thought,  injured  by  the  existence  of  those 
of  Count  Adolphus. 

The  jealousy  of  the  neighboring  German 
princes  having  now  become  excited  against 
him,  he,  as  a  warning  to  them,  caused  a 
large  lion,  cast  in  bronze,  to  be  placed  be- 
fore his  castle  in  Brunswick.  They  un- 
derstood what  by  this  sign  he  meant  to  indi- 
cate, but  although  they  trembled  individu- 
ally, they  nevertheless  tried  once  more  to 
put  a  stop  to  his  rapid  progress  by  a  great 
alliance,  in  which  were  included  :  the 
archbishops  of  Cologne,  Bremen,  and  Mag- 
deburg ;  the  bishops  of  Hildesheim  and 
Liibeck,  the  landgrave  of  Thuringia,  and 
the  margrave  of  Brandenburg,  with  several 
counts  and  knights.  But  Henry,  sudden 
as  the  royal  animal  whose  title  he  had 
chosen,  broke  loose,  reconquered  Bremen, 
devastated  Thuringia  and  the  archbishopric 
of  Magdeburg  with  fire  and  sword,  drove 
away  Conrad,  bishop  of  Liibeck,  and  thus 
overcame  and  crushed  his  enemies  com- 
pletely. Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Germany  when  the  emperor  Frederick  re- 
turned from  Italy,  in  1168  ;  his  presence, 
however,  restored  tranquillity  once  more, 
and  both  parties  were  obliged  to  surrender 
to  each  other  their  conquests. 

The  noble  Guelf,  to  whom  repose  was 
hateful,  made  now,  in  1172,  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  Holy  Land,  but,  upon  his  return, 
disputes  were  renewed,  and  he  this  time 
drew  upon  himself,  in  the  person  of  the 
emperor,  a  far  more  powerful  opponent. 
The  latter,  who  had  been  hitherto  his  con- 
stant friend,  and,  in  a  series  of  years,  had 
shown  him  nothing  but  kindness,  considered 
he  might  with  justice  calculate  especially 
upon  him  when,  after  raising  the  siege  of 
Alexandria,  in  the  year  1175,  he  collected 
all  his  forces  together,  in  order  to  come  to 
a  decisive  and  final  engagement  with  the 
Lombards.  But  it  was  just  in  that  critical 
moment  that  Henry,  to  whom  these  distant 
expeditions  were  highly  objectionable,  and 
who  preferred  remaining  at  home  with  his 
army,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  his 
own  power,  refused  his  assistance.  He 
pleaded  his  age,  although  he  was  only 
forty-six  years  old,  and  thus  younger  than 
the  emperor  himself;  pretending  that  too 


at  many 


necessary  affairs  required  his  pres- 
ence in  his  own  country.  Frederick  hoped; 
however,  in  an  interview  with  him,  to  per- 
suade him  to  change  his  mind,  and  invited 
him  to  the  frontiers  of  Italy  ;  the  duke 
came,  and  the  two  rulers  met  at  Chiavenna, 
on  the  Lake  of  Como.  The  emperor  re- 
minded his  friend  of  their  alliance,  their 
close  relationship,  of  his  honor,  and  feudal 
duty  as  a  prince  ;  but  Henry  remained  in- 
flexible.  The  emperor  then  arose  in  grca 
agitation,  embraced  the  duke's  knees,  anri 
entreated  him  still  more  earnestly — so  im- 
portant was  his  assistance  to  him  at  this 
moment.  Henry  was  moved,  and  endeav- 
ored to  raise  the  emperor,  but  did  not 
waver  in  his  determination.  The  empress 
then  joined  them,  and  said  to  her  husband  • 
"  Pray  rise,  my  dear  friend,  God  will  help 
you  if,  on  some  future  day,  you  do  but 
punish  this  arrogance  !"  The  emperor 
arose,  but  the  duke  retired ;  and  it  was  to 
his  absence  that  Frederick  might  chiefly 
impute  his  subsequent  bad  success  at  Lig- 
nano.  He  could  not  forget  this  event,  and 
upon  his  return  to  Germany,  after  the  peace 
of  Venice,  in  1178,  and  fresh  complaints 
resounded  from  all  sides  against  the  duke, 
he  cited  him  to  appear  at  a  diet  at  Worms. 
Henry  did  not  however  attend.  He  was 
summoned  a  second  time  to  Magdeburg ; 
even  there  he  did  not  appear;  and,  as  he 
equally  neglected  a  third  and  a  fourth 
summons,  at  Geslar  and  Wurzburg,  the  em- 
peror sat  in  judgment  upon  him,  in  the  year 
1180,  and  the  princes  confirmed  his  de- 
posal  from  all  his  dignities  and  fiefs,  as  his 
punishment.  Frederick  then  declared  him 
outlawed,  and  divided  his  fiefs  among  other 
princes.  The  duchy  of  Saxony,  to  which 
he  left  but  the  shadow  of  preceding  great- 
ness— for  he  had  himself  already  felt  the 
danger  resulting  from  too  extensive  duchies 
— he  awarded  to  the  second  son  of  Albert 
the  Bear,  Bernard  of  Anhalt.  The  duchy 
in  the  western  districts,  as  far  as  the  dio- 
ceses of  Cologne  and  Paderborn,  compri- 
sing Limburg,  Arnsberg,  Westphalia,  PadtT- 
born,  and  a  portion  of  Ravensberg,  he 
gave  to  the  archbishop  of  Cologne,  who. 
however,  only  succeeded  in  holding  posses- 
sion of  a  portion  of  these  countries.  The 
bishops  of  Magdeburg,  Hildesheim,  Pader- 
born, Bremen,  Verden,  and  Minden,  took 
advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  make  them 
selves  not  only  independent  of  the  duchy, 
but  also  to  increase  their  possessions.  The 


168 


HENRY"  EXILED  TO  ENGLAND— LOMBARSY. 


duchy  of  Bavaria,  which  was  somewhat  de- 
creased, was  given  to  the  valiant  count  pala- 
tine, Otho  of  Wittelsbach,  the  faithful  com- 
panion of  the  emperor.  The  cities  of  Lii- 
beck  and  Ratisbon  became  free  imperial 
cities,  and  in  Pomerania,  which  was  now 
united  with  the  empire,  Frederick  created 
the  brothers,  Casimir  and  Bogislaus,  dukes. 

After  the  emperor  had  passed  judgment 
upon  Henry,  his  enemies  forthwith  took  up 
arms,  to  possess  themselves  of  their  portion 
of  the  booty ;  but  the  old  Lion  still  de- 
fended himself  valiantly.  They  could  ac- 
complish nothing  against  him,  and  were  re- 
peatedly beaten,  until  Frederick  himself 
advanced  with  an  army.  Their  reverence 
for  the  imperial  name,  and  their  natural 
repugnance  to  be  allied  with  an  outlaw, 
disarmed  the  duke's  friends:  he  was  obliged 
to  quit  his  patrimonial  estates,  and  was 
forced  to  see  Brunswick,  his  capital,  in- 
vested, one  of  his  chief  castles,  Bardewick, 
taken  ;  and  finally,  when  the  powerful 
city  of  Liibeck  yielded  to  the  emperor,  he 
found  himself  left  completely  without  any 
protection,  even  behind  the  Elbe.  Driven, 
at  last,  to  extremities,  he  cast  himself  at 
the  feet  of  the  emperor,  at  the  diet  of 
Enurt,  held  in  the  year  1181.  The  hu- 
miliation of  his  old  friend  and  companion 
in  arms,  whose  proud  soul  was  now  bro- 
ken, diew  even  tears  of  sympathy  from  the 
might}'  Frederick,  and  he  pardoned  him. 
He  counselled  him,  however,  in  order  that, 
with  time,  the  hatred  of  his  enemies  might 
become  moderated,  to  absent  himself  for 
three  years  from  Germany,  and  to  remain, 
during  that  interval,  with  his  father-in-law, 
Henry  II.,  king  of  England  ;  meanwhile 
his  hereditary  lands,  Brunswick  and  Liine- 
burg,  remained  in  his  possession.  Thus  it 
was  that,  as  it  were  by  a  singular  reverse 
of  fate,  the  duke  dwelt  as  an  exile  for  some 
time  in  the  country  where  his  descendants 
were  subsequently  to  ascend  a  brilliant 
throne ;  for  it  was  there  that  his  consort, 
Matilda,  gave  birth  to  the  same  William 
who  was  afterwards  the  chief  branch  of 
the  house  of  Hanover,  which  has  placed 
the  British  kings  upon  the  throne. 

This  great  example  of  imperial  superi- 
ority in  Germany  may  possibly  have  work- 
ed upon  the  minds  of  the  Italians ;  and  as, 
in  the  following  year,  1183,  the  truce  of 
six  years  with  the  Lombards  ceased,  and 
.he  emperor,  besides,  showed  himself  a 
merciful  ruler,  they  evinced  a  mDre  satis- 


fied disposition,  and  the  peace  of  Kosniti 
was  accordingly  signed  with  them,  which 
henceforward  stood  as  fundamental  law 
between  the  emperor  and  Upper  Italy.  The 
emperor  himself  obtained  great  privileges  : 
he  had  the  right  to  appoint  his  own  counts, 
as  the  burgomasters  chosen  by  the  citizens, 
and  to  renew  their  dignity  every  five  years  ; 
he  exercised  the  supreme  judicial  power, 
while  he  derived,  besides,  several  imposts, 
particularly  the  subsidies  for  his  army  in 
the  Italian  campaigns  ;  and  all  the  citizens, 
from  the  age  of  15  to  70,  swore  allegiance 
to  him.  Under  these  conditions  the  citi- 
zens, on  their  part,  received  the  right  of 
municipal  freedom  within  their  walls ; 
were  permitted  to  live  according  to  their 
own  manners  and  customs,  and  were  even 
privileged  to  make  such  new  regulations 
as  they  deemed  just ;  and  the  confederation 
of  their  cities,  already  existing,  was  now 
confirmed. 

Thus  Frederick  was  enabled,  now  and 
for  the  last  time,  (in  1184,)  to  proceed  to 
Italy  in  a  state  of  peace,  and,  as  he  ad- 
vanced, he  was  rendered  more  and  more 
happy  in  witnessing  the  tranquillity  and 
contentment  that  reigned  throughout  the 
land,  while  all  around  him  was  in  a  fever 
of  joy  and  delight.  The  Lombards  receiv- 
ed him  as  if  no  enmity  had  ever  existed 
between  them.  He  caused  the  iron  crown 
of  the  Lombards  to  be  placed  on  the  head 
of  his  son  Henry,  and  gave  him  away  in 
marriage,  with  great  pomp  and  festivity,  at 
Milan,  in  1186,  (which  city  had  especially 
begged  from  the  emperor  that  honor,)  to 
Constanza,  the  last  heiress  of  Naples  and 
Sicily  of  the  royal  Norman  race,  and 
which  allegiance  gave  the  house  of  Hohen- 
staufen  new  and  high  expectations ;  for, 
being  already  in  possession  of  Northern 
Italy,  if  it  acquired  in  addition,  Lower 
Italy,  the  whole  peninsula  would  necessa- 
rily soon  become  subject  to  its  dominion, 
and  its  subjection  would  accordingly  lead 
to  that  of  the  whole  of  Germany.  Such 
were  the  projects  formed  by  the  old  yet 
youthfully-sanguine  emperor,  who  was  far 
from  anticipating  that  by  this  last,  and  ap- 
parently splendid  achievement  of  his  glori- 
ous career,  the  seeds  were  sown  for  the  fall 
and  ruin  of  his  house. 

It  appeared  now  as  if  fate,  after  having 
subjected  the  emperor  to  all  its  storms,  had 
determined  to  prepare  for  him,  in  his  ven- 
erable age,  the  glory  of  a  noble  death  in  e 


FREDERICK'S  GRAND  CRUSADE- HIS  SUCCESSES— HIS  DEATH. 


169 


sacred  cause  ;  for,  at  this  moment,  intelli- 
gence arrived  suddenly  in  Europe  that 
Jerusalem,  after  the  unfortunate  battle  of 
Hittin,  or  Tiberiad,  in  1187,  was  again 
torn  from  the  Christians  by  Saladin,  the 
sultan  of  Egypt.  Pope  Urban  III.  died  of 
grief  at  this  news,  and  his  successors, 
Gregory  VIII.  and  Clement  III.,  addressed 
urgent  letters  to  the  European  princes, 
summoning  them  to  rise  and  march  forth- 
with to  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  City  ; 
consequently,  all  the  knights-templars  and 
the  knights  of  St.  John,  dispersed  through- 
out Europe,  were  the  first  to  embark  ;  the 
Italians  assembled  together  under  the  arch- 
bisnops  of  Ravenna  and  Pisa  ;  the  Nor- 
mans furnished  all  their  forces  ;  a  fleet  of 
fifty  vessels  from  Denmark  and  Friesland, 
and  thirty-seven  from  Flanders,  set  sail, 
headed  by  their  great  leaders :  Richard 
Coeur-de-Lion,  king  of  England,  Philip  Au- 
gustus, of  France,  and  the  emperor  Frede- 
rick Barbarossa,  together  with  all  the 
neighboring  kings  and  princes,  came  like- 
wise forward  with  their  whole  power  for 
(lie  sacred  cause.  Our  venerable  hero, 
Frederick  Barbarossa,  advanced,  in  the 
May  of  the  year  1169,  at  the  head  of 
150,000  well-armed  combatants.  The 
Greeks,  who  seemed  disposed  to  practise 
similar  treachery  towards  him  as  they  had 
against  Conrad  ill.,  he  punished  severely, 
and  dismantled  their  cities.  The  Sultan 
Kilidish  Arslan,  of  Cogni,  or  Iconium,  in 
Asia  Minor,  who  had  offered  him  his  friend, 
ship,  and  afterwards  betrayed  him,  he  at- 
tacked and  put  to  flight,  taking  possession 
of  his  metropolis.  Thus,  in  all  these  bat- 
tles, Frederick,  even  as  an  old  man,  dis- 
tinguished himself  beyond  all  the  rest  by 
his  heroic  vigor  and  magnanimity,  and  he 
succeeded  in  leading  his  army  through 
every  danger  as  far  as  the  frontiers  of 
Syria,  but  here  ended  the  term  of  his  noble 
course.  When,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1190, 
the  army  resumed  its  march  from  Sileucia, 
and  traversed  the  river  Cydnus,  or  Seleph, 
the  bold  and  venturesome  old  warrior,  to 
whom  the  passage  over  the  bridge  was  much 
too  slow,  dashed  at  once  with  his  war-horse 
into  the  river,  in  order  thus  to  overtake 
more  speedily  his  son  Frederick,  who  led 
the  van.  But  the  rapid  course  of  the 
stream  overpowered  and  bore  him  away, 
and  when,  at  length,  assistance  could  be 
rendered  him,  the  veteran  was  found  al- 


ready dead.  The  grief  and  lamentations 
of  his  son,  of  the  princes,  and  of  the  whole 
army  were  indescribable.  Fate  neverthe- 
less had  by  this  means  saved  him  from  ex- 
periencing,  subsequently,  bitter  pain  and 
mortification,  and  his  noble  soul  was  not 
doomed  to  suffer  by  the  unfortunate  ter- 
mination of  so  great  an  enterprise.  For 
the  German  army,  after  his  death,  was 
almost  entirely  destroyed  by  sickness 
before  the  city  of  Antioch ;  and  the 
emperor's  second  son  Frederick,  duke  of 
Swabia,  died  at  the  siege  of  Acre,  or  Ptole- 
mais,  and  Jerusalem  was  never  recon- 
quered.* 

The  grief  which  the  emperor  Freder- 
ick's death  excited  throughout  the  west  of 
Europe,  is  testified  by  a  French  writer  of 
that  period,  who,  according  to  his  peculiar 
style,  thus  speaks  of  it :  "  News  so  deadly 
piercing,  even  to  the  very  marrow  and  bone, 
has  wounded  rne  so  mortally,  that  all  hope 
and  desire  of  life  have  passed  from  me. 
For  I  have  heard  that  that  immoveable  pil- 
lar of  the  empire,  Germany's  tower  of 
strength  and  its  very  foundation,  and  that 
morning  star  which  surpassed  all  other  stars 
in  splendor,  Frederick  the  mighty,  has  end- 
ed his  life  in  the  east.  Thus  no  longer  ex- 
ists that  strong  lion,  whose  majestic  counte- 
nance and  powerful  arm  frightened  savage 
animals  from  devastation,  subjected  rebels, 
and  made  robbers  live  in  peace  and  order." 
And  the  degree  to  which  the  imperial  digni- 
ty in  general  was  raised  by  him,  is  express- 
ed in  the  words  of  his  chancellor,  Raynald, 
at  a  diet  at  Besan?on,  where  he  said,  "  Ger- 
many possesses  an  emperor,  but  the  rest  of 
Europe — only  petty  kings." 


*  This  siege  ib  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  san- 
guinary oil  record.  Both  the  kings  of  England  and 
France  were  present,  and  took  their  share  in  the  dan- 
gers. The  city  was  eventually  taken,  after  a  long  and 
vigorous  resistance;  but  the  sword  and  disease  had 
combined  to  reduce  the  army  of  the  Crusaders  to  such 
a  degree,  that  it  was  in  vain  to  contemplate  any  fresh 
enterprise.  Several  archbishops  and  patriarchs,  twelve 
btahope,  forty  dukes  and  counts,  five  hundred  of  the 
principal  nobility,  together  with  a  great  number  oi 
knights,  and  an  innumerable  host  ot  inferior  officers 
and  soldiers,  became  a  sacrifice.  Philip  Augustus  re- 
turned speedily  to  France  ;  but  Richard  of  England  re- 
mained, and  continuing  on  the  war  with  the  greatest 
activity,  acquired  the  reputation  of  being  the  most  val- 
iant knight  of  his  time  ;  while  Saladin  likewise  proved 
himself  a  brave  and  shrewd  adversary.  Richard,  how- 
ever, was  recalled  to  Europe,  through  the  dangenj 
which  threatened  his  own  kingdom.  He  concluded  a 
peace  with  the  sultan,  and  gave  up  to  him  Jerusalem 
and  thus  nothing  more  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Christians  than  a  narrow  strip  of  land  along  the  coatit 
from  Jaffa  to  Acre. 


170  HENRY  VI.— RICHARD  CCEUR-DE-L1ON— NAPLES  ^ND  SICILY 


CHAPTER  X. 

FROM  1190  TO  THE  INTERREGNUM,  1273. 

Henry  VI.,  1190-1197— His  Mercenary  and  Cruel  Char- 
acter— Richard  I.  of  England — Is  seized  and  impris- 
oned jy  Henry — Naples  and  Sicily — The  Grandees — 
Their  Barbarous  Treatment  by  the  Emperor— His 
Death,  1197 — The  Rival  Sovereigns — Philip  of  Swa- 
bia,  1197-1208,  andOthoIV.,  1197-1-215— Their  Death 
—Frederick  II.,  1215-1230— His  Noble  Qualities- 
Love  for  the  Arts  and  Sciences — His  Sarcastic  Poet- 
ry— Preference  for  Italy — Disputes  with  the  Popes — 
Is  Excommunicated— His  Crusade  to  the  Holy  Land 
— Crowned  King  of  Jerusalem — Marries  a  Princess  of 
England — Italy — Pope  Gregory  IX. — Frederick  De- 
nounced and  Deposed— Dissensions  in  Germany— 
The  Rival  Kings— Death  of  Frederick  II.,  1250— His 
Extraordinary  Genius  and  Talents — His  Zeal  for  Sci- 
ence and  Education— A  Glance  at  the  East  and 


1273— Progress  of  the  Germanic  Constitution. 

FREDERICK'S  eldest  son  Henry,  who,  dur- 
ing his  father's  life,  was  named  his  succes- 
sor, and  in  whose  absence  he  had  been  in- 
vested with  the  government  of  the  empire, 
was  not  dissimilar  to  his  father  in  the  pow- 
er of  his  mind,  in  chivalric  bearing,  and  in 
grand  ideas  and  plans,  but  his  disposition 
was  extremely  partial  and  severe,  often 
cruel,  and  in  order  to  execute  great  ambi- 
tious projects  he  betrayed  feelings  of  a  very 
mercenary  nature.  This  was  displayed  in 
an  occurrence  which  has  not  done  him 
much  honor.  King  Richard  Cceur-de-Lion, 
of  England,  when  in  Palestine,  had,  at  the 
siege  of  Akkon,  or  Acre,  (of  which  we  have 
already  spoken,)  a  dispute  with  Duke  Leo- 
pold of  Austria  ;  inasmuch  as  the  Germans, 
after  the  city  was  taken,  being  encamped 
in  one  of  its  quarters,  Duke  Leopold  caused 
the  German  banner  to  be  raised  according- 
ly upon  a  tower,  similar  to  the  kings  of 
England  and  France.  But  the  proud  Rich- 
ard of  England  caused  it  to  be  torn  down, 
and  it  was  trampled  in  the  mud  by  the 
English.  This  was  an  affront  to  the  whole 
German  army,  and  certainly  deserved  im- 
mediate and  severe  punishment.  But  the 
revenge  which  the  duke  and  the  emperor 
Henry  took  afterwards  upon  the  king  was 
of  the  most  treacherous  and  ignoble  charac- 
ter. Richard,  namely,  upon  his  return 
from  Palestine  in  1192,  was  cast  by  a  storm 
upon  the  Italian  coast,  near  Aquileja,  and 
wished  to  continue  his  route  through  Ger- 
many ;  but,  although  he  had  disguised  him- 
self as  a  pilgrim,  he  was  recognised  in  Vien- 
na by  his  expensive  style  of  living,  and  by 
Ihe  imprudence  of  his  servant.  He  was 
seized  and  delivered  up  to  Duke  Leopold, 


who  had  previously  returned,  and  by  wnorr. 
he  was  surrendered  to  the  emperor'Henry. 
The  noble  chivalric  king  of  England,  ai'.d 
brother-in-law  of  Henry  the  Lion,  was  now 
detained  at  Trifels,  in  close  confinement, 
above  a  year,  until  he  was  formally  brought 
before  the  assembly  of  German  princes  at 
Hagenau,  as  a  criminal,  and  had  defended 
himself;  nor  was  he  liberated  and  allowed 
to  return  to  his  kingdom  until  the  English 
had  paid  a  ransom  of  a  million  of  dollars — 
for  that  period  an  immense  sum.  In  thus 
proceeding  against  Richard,  Henry  had, 
it  is  true,  acted  in  conformity  with  the  an- 
cient right  of  the  imperial  dignity,  accord- 
ing to  which  the  emperor  was  authorized  to 
cite  before  him  all  the  kings  of  Christen- 
dom, and  sit  in  judgment  over  them.  But 
the  manner  in  which  he  acted  in  this  case 
was  degrading,  and  unworthy  of  any  ruling 
power. 

The  emperor  concluded  with  Henry  the 
Lion,  who  after  his  return  from  England 
had  produced  fresh  wars,  a  permanent 
treaty  of  peace,  and  by  the  marriage  which 
took  place  between  the  duke's  son,  Henry 
the  Slender,  and  Agnes,  princess  palatine, 
and  niece  of  Frederick  I.,  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  these  two  distinguished  houses  was 
confirmed. 

The  principal  aim  now  of  the  emperor 
Henry,  beyond  every  thing  else,  was  to 
secure  to  his  house  Naples  and  Sicily,  the 
inheritance  of  his  consort  Constanza  ;  but 
the  avarice  and  cruelty  with  which  he 
acted  in  his  endeavors  to  gain  his  object, 
soon  indisposed  and  rendered  the  feelings 
of  his  new  subjects  more  and  more  adverse 
towards  him,  and  increased  their  hatred 
against  the  Germans.  For  he  not  only 
conveyed  away  the  gold  and  silver,  togeth- 
er with  all  the  costly  ornaments  of  the  an- 
cient Norman  kings,  to  such  an  extent  that 
one  hundred  and  sixty  animals  were  load- 
ed therewith,  and  proceeded  with  them  tc 
the  castle  of  Trifels  on  the  Rhine,  but  he 
caused  the  eyes  of  the  grandees  who  had 
rebelled  to  be  put  out,  and  as  an  insult  tc 
their  misfortunes,  and  in  mockery  of  their 
efforts  to  get  possession  of  the  throne  and 
wear  the  crown,  he  placed  them  upon  seats 
of  red-hot  iron,  and  fastened  upon  their 
heads  crowns  formed  equally  of  burning 
iron.  The  rest  of  their  accomplices  were, 
it  is  true,  so  much  terrified  thereby,  thai 
they  vowed  allegiance  ;  but  this  submis- 
sion did  not  come  from  their  hearts,  and 


DEATH  OF  HENRY  VI.— THE  RIVAL  EMPERORS— THE]  R  DEATHS.         171 


Henry's  successors  paid  severely  for  his 
cruelties. 

He  meditated  the  most  important  plans, 
which,  had  they  been  accomplished,  would 
have  given  to  the  whole  empire  a  complete- 
ly different  form.  Among  the  rest,  he  of- 
lered  to  the  German  princes  to  render  their 
lief*  hereditary,  promised  to  renounce  all 
imperial  claims  to  the  property  left  hy 
bishops  and  the  rest  of  the  clergy ;  in  re- 
turn for  which,  however,  he  desired  the 
imperial  throne  to  he  made  likewise  hered- 
itary in  his  family.  He  even  promised  to 
unite  Naples  and  Sicily  wholly  with  the 
empire.  Many  princes  voluntarily  agreed 
to  these  propositions,  which  appeared  ad- 
vantageous to  them ;  some  of  the  greater 
ones,  however,  refused,  and  as  the  pope 
likewise  withheld  his  consent,  Henry  was 
ohliged  to  defer  the  execution  of  his  great 
projects  to  a  more  convenient  time.  Af- 
fairs now  called  him  again  to  Sicily,  and 
there  he  died  suddenly  in  1197,  in  the  33d 
year  of  his  age,  and  at  the  moment  when 
he  contemplated  the  conquest  of  the  Greek 
empire,  by  which  to  prepare  and  secure  a 
successful  issue  to  the  crusades.* 

His  son  Frederick  was  but  just  eight 
years  old,  and  the  two  parties  in  Germany, 
the  Hohenstaufens  and  the  Guelfs,  became 
again  so  strongly  divided,  that  the  one  side 
chose  as  emperor  Philip,  Henry's  brother, 
and  the  other  Otho,  the  second  son  of  Henry 
the  Lion,  a  prince  distinguished  for  his 
strength  and  valor,  and  thus  Germany  had 
again  two  sovereigns  at  once. 

Through  this  unfortunate  division  of 
parties  the  empire  became  for  the  space  of 
more  than  ten  years  the  scene  of  devasta- 
tion, robbery,  and  murder,  and  both  prin- 
ces, who  were  equally  endowed  with  good 
qualities,  could  do  nothing  for  the  country; 
on  the  contrary,  in  the  endeavors  made  by 
each  to  gain  over  the  pope  to  himself,  they 
yielded  to  the  subtle  Innocent  III.,  under 
whom  the  papacy  attained  its  highest  grade 
of  power,  many  of  their  privileges.  Otho 
IV.  even  acknowledged  the  pope's  claim  of 
authority  to  bestow  the  empire  as  he  might 
appoint,  and  called  himself  in  his  letters  to 
the  pope  a  Roman  king  by  the  grace  of 
God  and  the  pope.  For  which  concession, 
and  because  he  was  a  Guelf,  Innocent  pro- 


Henry's  tomb,  at  Palermo,  was  opened  after  near- 

30  years,  und  the  body  found  well  preserved.    In 

features  of  the  face,  the  expression  of  imperious 

and  despotic  crueity  was  still  to  be  recognised. 


tected  him  with  all  his  power,  and  when 
Philip  in  1208  was  assassinated  at  Bam. 
berg  by  Otho  of  Wittelsbach,  (a  nephew 
of  him  to  whom  Frederick  I.  had  given  the 
duchy  of  Bavaria,)  in  revenge  because  he 
would  not  give  him  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage  as  he  had  promised,  Otho  IV.  was 
universally  acknowledged  as  emperor,  and 
solemnly  crowned  at  Rome.  His  friend- 
ship with  the  pope,  however,  did  not  last 
long,  for  Otho  saw  that  he  had  gone  too 
far  in  his  submission,  and  ought  not  to  sac- 
rifice for  his  private  interest  all  the  privi- 
leges of  the  empire.  The  pontiff,  there- 
fore, opposed  to  him  as  king,  the  youthful 
Frederick,  the  son  of  Henry  VI.,  who  had 
meanwhile  grown  up  in  Sicily,  and  whose 
guardian  he  became  after  the  death  of  his 
mother  Constanza.  Frederick  soon  gain- 
ed adherents,  and  was  crowned  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  in  1215,  and  Otho  lived  hence- 
forward deserted  and  inactive  on  his  patri- 
monial lands  until  he  died  in  1218. 

The  emperor  Frederick  II.,  the  grand- 
son of  Frederick  I.,  by  his  heroism,  firm- 
ness of  will,  and  boldness  of  spirit,  and 
combining  with  this  majesty  of  character 
both  mildness  and  grace,  was  worthy  of  his 
noble  family,  so  that  the  impression  of  his 
personal  greatness  remained  long  after  his 
demise.  In  addition  to  which,  he  was  a 
friend  of  art  and  science,  and  was  himself 
a  poet :  sentiment,  animation,  and  euphony 
breathing  in  all  his  works.  His  bold  and 
searching  glance  dwelt  especially  upon 
the  follies  of  his  age,  and  he  frequently 
lashed  them  with  bitter  ridicule,  while,  on 
the  contrary,  he  saw  in  every  one,  whence 
or  of  whatsoever  faith  he  might  be,  mere- 
ly the  man,  and  honored  him  as  such  if  he 
found  him  so  worthy. 

And  yet  this  emperor  executed  but  little 
that  was  great ;  his  best  powers  were  con- 
sumed in  the  renewed  contest  between  the 
imperial  and  papal  authority,  which  never 
had  more  ruinous  consequences  than  under 
his  reign,  and  Germany  in  particular  found 
but  little  reason  to  rejoice  in  its  sovereign, 
for  his  views,  even  beyond  all  the  other 
Hohenstaufens,  were  directed  to  Italy.  By 
birth  and  education  more  an  Italian  than  a 
German,  he  was  particularly  attached  to 
his  beautiful  inheritance  of  the  Two  Sici- 
lies, and  in  Germany,  thus  neglected,  the 
irresponsible  dominion  of  the  vassals  took 
still  deeper  root,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  France  the  royal  power,  by  withdraw. 


172       DISPUTE  WITH  THE  POPES— PALESTINE— FREDERICK'S  MARRIAGE. 


ing  considerable  fiefs,  commenced  pre- 
paring its  victory  over  the  feudal  system. 

There  were  also  three  grand  causes 
wnich  served  to  excite  the  popes  against 
Frederick.  In  the  first  place,  they  could 
not  endure  that,  besides  Northern  Italy,  he 
should  possess  Sicily  and  Naples,  and  was 
thus  enabled  to  press  upon  their  state  from 
two  sides  ;  secondly,  they  were  indignant 
because  he  would  not  yield  to  them,  un- 
conditionally, the  great  privileges  which 
the  weak  Otho  IV.  had  ceded  to  them  ;  but, 
thirdly,  what  most  excited  their  anger  was, 
that,  in  the  heat  of  their  dispute,  he  fre- 
quently turned  the  sharpness  of  his  sar- 
casm against  them,  and  endeavored  to  make 
them  both  ridiculous  and  contemptible 

The  commencement  of  the  schism,  how- 
ever, arose  from  a  particular  circumstance. 
Frederick,  at  his  coronation,  in  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle,  had  spontaneously  engaged  to  under- 
take a  crusade  for  the  deliverance  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  this  promise  he  renewed  when 
he  was  crowned  emperor  at  Rome,  in  1220. 
But  he  now  found  in  his  Italian  inheritance, 
as  well  -as  in  the  opposition  shown  by  the 
Lombard  cities,  which,  after  the  death  of 
Frederick  I.,  had  again  become  arrogant, 
so  much  to  do,  that  he  was  continually 
obliged  to  require  from  the  pope  renewed 
delays.  The  peaceful  and  just  Honorius 
III.  granted  them  to  him  ;  and  there  existed 
between  him  and  the  emperor  a  friendly 
feeling,  and  even  a  mutual  feeling  of  re- 
spect. But  with  the  passionate  Gregory 
IX.,  the  old  dispute  between  the  spiritual 
and  temporal  power  soon  again  broke  forth, 
and  Gregory  strongly  urged  the  crusade. 
In  the  year  1227,  Frederick  actually  sailed 
with  a  fleet,  but  returned  after  a  few  days, 
under  the  pretext  of  illness,  and  the  .whole 
expedition  ending  in  nothing,  Gregory  be- 
came irritated,  and  without  listening  to  or 
admitting  even  the  emperor's  excuses,  ex- 
communicated him,  for  he  maintained  his 
sickness  was  a  fiction.  To  contradict  these 
charges  by  facts,  the  emperor  actually 
went  the  ensuing  year  to  Palestine.  But 
upon  this  the  pope  censured  him,  even 
more  strongly  than  before,  declaring  any 
one,  under  excommunication,  to  be  an  unfit 
instrument  for  the  service  of  God.  And 
in  order  that  Frederick  might  accomplish 
nothing  great  in  the  Holy  Land,  he  sent 
thither  commands,  that  neither  the  clergy 
there,  nor  ihe  orders  of  knighthood,  should 
have  community  with  him  ;  nay,  he  himself 


even  caused  his  troops  to  make  an  incw 
sion  into  Frederick's  Italian  lands,  anj 
conquered  a  portion  of  Apulia. 

But  Frederick,  in  the  mean  time,  speed- 
ily brought  the  war  in  Palestine  to  a  sue- 
cessful  termination.  The  sultan  of  Egypt, 
at  Kameel,  partly  through  the  great  fame 
which  the  imperial  sovereignty  enjoyed  in 
the  east,  and  partly  from  personal  esteem 
for  Frederick,  (but  weakened  principally 
by  family  dissensions,)  concluded  with  him 
a  truce  for  ten  years,  and  gave  up  Jerusa- 
lem, Bethlehem,  and  Nazareth.  The  em- 
peror then  entered  the  holy  city,  and  visited 
the  grave,  but  the  patriarchs  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  priests,  obedient  to  the  commands 
of  the  pope,  would  celebrate  no  religious 
service  in  his  presence.  Notwithstanding 
which,  he  performed  his  devotions,  and  in 
the  presence  of  his  nobles,  crowned  him. 
self  with  the  crown  of  the  kings  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  a  right  he  had  acquired  by  his 
marriage  with  lolontha,  the  daughter  of 
King  John  of  Jerusalem  ;*  after  which  he 
returned  quickly  to  Italy.  His  presence 
speedily  repaired  all  that  was  lost,  and  the 
pope  saw  himself  obliged,  in  1230,  to  con-- 
elude  a  peace  and  remove  the  ban. 

A  tranquil  moment  seemed  now  to  pre- 
sent itself  in  Frederick's  life,  but  fate 
attacked  him  from  another  side.  His  own 
son  Henry,  whom  he  had  left  in  Germany, 
as  imperial  viceroy,  rebelled  against  him, 
excited,  probably,  by  ambition  and  evil 
counsellors.  After  fifteen  years  absence. 
Frederick  returned  to  Germany,  and  with 
a  bleeding  heart  he  was  obliged  to  over, 
power  his  own  son  by  force,  take  him 
prisoner,  and  place  him  in  confinement  in 
Apulia,  where,  seven  years  afterwards,  he 
died. 

Upon  this  occasion  Frederick  also  held, 
in  1235,  a  grand  diet  at  Mentz,  where 
64  princes,  and  about  12,000  nobles  and 
knights  were  present.  Here  written  laws 
were  made  relative  to  the  peace  of  the 
country,  and  other  regulations  adopted, 
which  showed  the  empire  the  prudence  of 
its  emperor.  Before  the  diet  assembled, 
he  celebrated,  at  Worms,  his  espousal' with 
his  second  consort,  the  English  princess. 
Isabella.  The  imperial  bride  was  received 
upon  the  frontiers  by  a  splendid  suite  of 
nobles  and  knights  ;  in  ail  the  cities  through 


*  The  kings  of  Naples  and  Sicily  inherited  the  titlt 
of  king  of  Jerusalem  from  Frederick 


LOMBARD Y— FREDERICK  EXCOMMUNICATED. 


173 


which  she  passed,  the  clergy  met  her,  ac- 
companied by  choirs  of  sacred  music,  and 
the  cheerful  peals  of  the  church-bells  ;  and 
in  Cologne,  the  streets  of  which  were  su- 
perbly decorated,  she  was  received  by  ten 
thousaui  citizens  on  horseback,  in  rich 
clothing  and  arms.  Carriages  with  organs, 
in  the  form  of  ships,  their  wheels  and  hor- 
ses concealed  by  purple  coverings,  caused 
an  harmonious  music  to  resound,  and 
throughout  the  whole  night  choirs  of  maid- 
ens serenaded  beneath  the  windows  of 
the  emperor's  bride.  At  the  marriage  in 
Worms,  four  kings,  eleven  dukes,  and 
thirty  counts  and  margraves,  were  present. 
Frederick  made  the  most  costly  presents  to 
the  English  ambassador  ;  and  among  the 
rest,  he  sent  rich  gifts  of  curiosities  from 
the  east  to  the  king  of  England,  as  well 
as  three  leopards,  the  leopards  being  in- 
cluded in  the  English  coat  of  arms. 

From  these  peaceful  occupations,  Fred- 
erick was  obliged  to  turn,  in  the  following 
year,  to  more  serious  affairs  in  Italy,  where 
the  Lombard  cities  more  especially  claimed 
his  presence,  they  having  renewed  their 
ancient  alliance  among  themselves  and 
refusing  to  yield  to  him  the  obedience  he 
required  as  emperor.  With  the  assistance 
of  his  valiant  leader,  the  knight  Ezzelin  de 
Romano,  he  conquered  several  of  the  allied 
cities,  and  so  beat  the  Milanese  in  1237,  at 
Cortenuova,  that  they  would  willingly  have 
humbled  themselves,  if  he  had  granted  only 
moderate  conditions.  But,  unwarned  by 
the  example  of  his  grandfather,  he  required 
them  to  submit  at  discretion  :  while  the 
citizens,  remembering  earlier  times,  pre- 
ferred dying  under  their  shields,  rather, 
they  said,  than  by  the  rope,  famine,  or  fire, 
and  from  this  period  commenced  in  reality 
the  misfortunes  of  Frederick's  life.  Ac- 
cording to  the  statement  made  by  one  of  our 
writers,  "  he  lost  the  favor  of  many  men 
by  his  implacable  severity."  His  old  ene- 
my also,  Gregory  IX.,  rose  up  again  against 
him,  joined  henceforth  the  confederation  of 
the  cities,  and  excommunicated  him  a  sec- 
ond time.  Indeed,  the  enmity  of  both  par- 
ties went  so  far,  and  degenerated  so  much 
into  personal  animosity,  that  the  pope  com- 
paring the  emperor,  in  a  letter  to  the  other 
princes,  "  to  that  Apocalyptic  monster 
rising  from  the  sea,  which  was  full  of 
blaspnemous  names,  and  in  color  checkered 
like  a  leopard,"  Frederick  immediately  re- 
plied with  another  passage  from  Scripture : 


"  Another  red  horse  arose  from  the  sea. 
and  he  who  sat  thereon  took  peace  from  the 
earth,  so  that  the  living  should  kill  each 
other." 

But  in  that  age  there  existed  one  great 
authority  which  operated  powerfully  on 
the  side  of  the  pope,  and  fought  against 
Frederick — this  was  the  power  of  public 
opinion.  The  pope  now  cast  upon  the  em. 
peror  the  heavy  charge  that  he  was  a  de- 
spiser  of  religion  and  of  the  holy  church, 
and  was  inclined  to  the  infidelity  of  the 
Saracens,  (the  fact  that  Frederick  had  em- 
ployed, in  the  war  with  the  Lombardians, 
10,000  Saracens,  appeared  to  justify  this 
charge,)  and  although  the  emperor  several 
times,  both  verbally  and  in  writing,  sol. 
emnly  declared  that  he  was  a  true  Chris- 
tian, and  as  such  wished  to  live  and  die : 
nay,  although  he  was  formally  examined 
in  religion  by  several  bishops,  and  caused 
a  testimony  of  his  orthodoxy  to  be  pub- 
lished, this  accusation  of  the  pope  still 
found  belief  among  most  men.  In  addi- 
tion to  which,  Frederick's  rash  and  capri- 
cious wit  had  too  often  thoughtlessly  at- 
tacked sacred  subjects;  while  his  life  also 
was  not  pure  and  blameless,  but  stained 
with  the  excesses  of  sensuality.  Accord- 
ingly he  sank  more  and  more  in  general 
estimation,  and  it  was  this  that  embittered 
the  latter  period  of  his  life,  and  at  length 
entirely  consumed  him  with  vexation. 

Gregory  IX.,  who  died  in  1241,  nearly 
one  hundred  years  old,  was  succeeded  by 
Innocent  IV.,  who  was  a  still  more  violent 
enemy  of  the  emperor  than  even  Gregory 
had  been.  As  Frederick  still  continued 
to  be  powerful  in  Italy,  and  threatened  him 
even  in  Rome  itself,  the  pope  retired  to 
Genoa,  and  from  thence  to  Lyons,  in 
France.  There  he  renewed,  in  1245,  in 
a  large  council,  the  ban  against  the  empe- 
ror, although  the  latter  offered  himself  in 
peace  and  friendship,  and  was  willing  to 
remove  all  points  of  complaint,  while,  in 
addition  to  all  this,  his  ambassador,  Thad- 
deus  of  Suessa,  pleaded  most  powerfully 
for  his  lord.  Indeed,  the  pope  went  so  fai 
as  solemnly  to  pronounce  the  deposal  of 
the  emperor  from  all  his  states  and  digni- 
ties. When  the  bull  of  excommunication 
was  circulated  in  Germany,  many  of  the 
spiritual  princes  took  advantage  of  the  ex- 
citement produced  thereby,  and  elecfd,  in 
1246,  at  Wlirzburg,  the  landgrave,  Henry 
Raspe,  of  Thuringia,  as  rival  emperoi 


174 


DEATH  OF  FREDERICK  IL— HIS  GENIUS  AND  TALENTS. 


The  latter,  however,  could  gain  no  abso- 
lute authority,  and  died  the  following  year. 
As  Frederick,  however,  still  remained  in 
Italy,  entangled  in  constant  wars,  the  ec- 
clesiastical princes  elected  another  sover- 
eign, Count  William  of  Holland,  a  youth 
twenty  years  of  age,  who,  in  order  that  he 
might  become  the  head  of  the  order  of 
knighthood,  was  forthwith  solemnly  pro- 
moted from  his  inferior  rank  of  squire  to 
that  of  a  knight.  The  greatest  confusion 
now  existed  in  Germany,  as  well  as  in 
Italy.  "  After  the  emperor  Frederick  was 
excommunicated,"  says  an  ancient  histo- 
rian, "the  robbers  congratulated  them- 
selves, and  rejoiced  at  the  opportunities  for 
pillage  now  presented  to  them.  The 
ploughshares  were  transformed  into  swords, 
and  the  scythes  into  lances.  Every  one 
supplied  himself  with  steel  and  flint,  in 
order  to  be  able  to  produce  fire  and  spread 
incendiarism  instantly." 

In  Italy,  the  war  continued  uninter- 
ruptedly and  without  any  decisive  result, 
especially  with  the  Lombardian  cities. 
The  imperial  arms  were  often  successful, 
but  the  spirit  of  the  emperor  was  bowed 
down,  and  at  last  his  good  fortune  occa- 
sionally deserted  him.  In  the  year  1249, 
his  own  son,  Enzius,  whom  he  had  made 
king  of  Sicily,  and  of  all  his  sons  the  most 
chivalric  and  handsome,  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Bolognese  in  an  unsuccessful  com- 
bat near  Fossalta.  The  irritated  citizens 
refused  all  offers  of  ransom  for  the  empe- 
ror's son,  and  condemned  him  to  perpetual 
imprisonment,  in  which  he  continued  for 
two-and-twenty  years,  and  survived  all  the 
sons  and  grandsons  of  Frederick,  who  per- 
ished every  one  by  poison,  the  sword,  and 
the  axe  of  the  executioner. 

Exclusive  of  the  bitter  grief  caused  by 
his  son's  misfortune,  the  emperor,  in  his 
last  years,  was  afflicted  with  additional 
pain  and  mortification  at  finding  his  long- 
tried  friend  and  chancellor,  Petrus  de  Vin- 
cis,  to  whom  he  had  confided  the  most  im- 
portant affairs  of  his  empire,  charged  with 
the  crime  of  attempting  to  take  the  life  of 
'iis  master  by  poison.  Matthieu  of  Paris, 
at  least,  relates  as  certain,  that  the  physi- 
cian de  Vincis  handed  to  the  emperor  a 
poisonous  beverage  as  a  medicine,  but 
which  the  latter,  having  had  LIs  suspicions 
exceed,  did  not  drink.  The  chancellor 
was  thrown  into  prison,  and  deprived  of 
his  eyesight,  where  he  committed  suicide 


by  dashing  his  head  against  the  wall. 
Whether  de  Vincis  was  guilty,  or  whether 
appearances  were  alone  against  him  which 
he  could  not  remove,  is  not  to  be  decided, 
owing  to  the  insufficiency  of  the  informa- 
tion handed  down  to  us.  The  emperor, 
however,  did  not  long  survive  this  painful 
event ;  he  died  in  1250,  in  the  arms  of  his 
son  Manfred,  at  the  castle  of  Fiorentino  or 
Firenzuolo,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his 
age. 

If,  after  contemplating  the  stormy  phases 
which  convulsed  this  emperor's  life,  we 
turn  our  observation  to  his  noble  qualities, 
his  acute  and  sensitive  feeling  for  all  that 
was  beautiful  and  grand,  and,  above  all, 
to  what  he  did  for  science  and  enlighten- 
ment generally  in  Naples,  his  hereditary 
land,  we  feel  penetrated  with  profound  re- 
gret when  we  find  that  all  this,  like  a 
transitory  apparition,  passed  away  without 
any  lasting  trace  ;  but  more  especially  are 
we  pained  to  witness  how  he  neglected  to 
reign  with  affection  and  devotion  over  his 
German  subjects.  Since  Charlemagne  and 
Alfred  of  England,  no  potentate  had  exist- 
ed who  loved  and  promoted  civilization,  in 
its  broadest  sense,  so  much  as  Frederick  II. 
At  his  court,  the  same  as  at  that  of  Charle- 
magne, were  assembled  the  noblest  and 
most  intellectual  minds  of  that  age ;  through 
them  he  caused  a  multitude  of  Greek 
works,  and  in  particular  those  of  Aristotle, 
to  be  ii-anslated  from  the  Arabic  into  Latin. 
He  collected,  for  that  period,  a  very  con- 
siderable library,  partly  by  researches 
made  in  his  own  states,  partly  during  his 
stay  in  Syria,  and  through  his  alliance 
with  the  Arab  princes.  Besides,  he  did 
not  retain  these  treasures  jealously  and 
covetously  for  himself,  but  imparted  them 
to  others ;  as,  for  instance,  he  presented 
the  works  of  Aristotle  to  the  university  of 
Bologna,  although  that  city  was  inimically 
disposed  towards  him,  to  which  he  added 
the  following  address :  "  Science  must  go 
hand  in  hand  with  government,  legislation, 
and  the  pursuits  of  war,  because  these, 
otherwise  subjected  to  the  allurements  of 
the  world  and  to  ignorance,  either  sink  into 
indolence,  or  else,  if  unchecked,  stray  be 
yond  all  sanctioned  limits.  Wherefore, 
from  youth  upward,  we  have  sought  and 
loved  science,  whereby  the  soul  of  man 
becomes  enlightened  and  strengthened,  and 
without  which  his  life  is  deprived  of  all 
regulation  and  innate  freedom.  Now  thai 


HIS  ZEAL  FOR  SCIENCE  AND  EDUCATION. 


.he  noble  possession  of  science  is  not  di- 
minished by  being  imparted,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  grows  thereby  still  more  fruitful, 
we  accordingly  will  not  conceal  the  pro- 
duce of  much  exertion,  but  will  only  con; 
sider  our  own  possessions  as  truly  delight- 
ful when  we  shall  have  imparted  so  great 
a  benefit  to  others.  But  none  have  a 
greater  right  to  them  than  those  great  men 
who,  from  the  original  ancient  and  rich 
sources,  have  derived  new  streams,  ar^d 
thereby  supply  the  thirsty  with  a  sweet 
and  healthy  refreshment.  Wherefore,  re- 
ceive these  works  as  a  present  from  your 
friend,  the  emperor,"  &c. 

A  splendid  monument  of  his  noble  mind 
and  genius  is  presented  in  his  code  of  laws 
for  his  hereditary  kingdom  of  Naples  and 
Sicily,  and  which  he  caused  to  be  com- 
posed chiefly  by  Peter  de  Vincis.  Accord- 
ing to  the  plan  of  a  truly  great  legislator, 
ne  was  not  influenced  by  the  idea  of  crea- 
ting something  entirely  new,  but  he  built 
upon  the  basis  of  what  already  existed, 
adapted  whatsoever  to  him  appeared  good 
and  necessary  for  his  main  object,  and  so 
formed  a  work  which  gave  him  as  ruler  the 
necessary  power  to  establish  a  firm  foun- 
dation for  the  welfare  of  his  people.  Un- 
fortunately, the  convulsions  of  his  later 
reign  and  the  following  periods,  never  al- 
lowed this  grand  work  to  develop  its  results 
entirely. 

Frederick  himself  possessed  a  knowledge 
unusual,  and  acquired  by  few  men  of  his 
time.  He  understood  Greek,  Latin,  Italian, 
French,  German,  and  Arabic.  Among 
the  sciences,  he  loved  chiefly  natural  his- 
tory, and  proved  himself  a  master  in  that 
science  by  a  work  he  composed  upon  the 
art  of  hawking  ;  for  it  not  only  displays  the 
most  perfect  and  thorough  investigation  in 
the  mode  of  life,  nourishment,  diseases,  and 
the  whole  nature  of  those  birds,  but  dwells 
also  upon  their  construction  generally,  both 
internally  and  externally.  This  desire 
after  a  fundamental  knowledge  in  natural 
science  had  the  happiest  influence,  especial- 
ly upon  the  medical  sciences.  Physicians 
were  obliged  to  study  anatomy  before  every 
thing  else  ;  they  were  referred  to  the  en- 
thusiastic application  of  Hippocrates  and 
Galen,  and  not  allowed  to  practise  their 
profession  until  they  had  received  from  the 
board  of  faculty  at  Salerno  or  Naples,  a 
satisfactory  and  honorable  certificate;  be- 
•ides  which,  they  were  obliged  to  pass  an 


examination  before  the  imperial  chamber, 
formed  of  a  committee  of  competent  mem- 
bers in  the  science. 

The  emperor  founded  the  University  of 
Naples  in  1224,  and  he  considerably  im- 
proved and  enlarged  the  medical  school  at 
Salerno.  At  both  places  also,  through  his 
zeal,  were  formed  the  first  collections  of 
art,  which,  unfortunately,  in  the  tumults 
of  the  following  ages,  were  eventually  de- 
stroyed.* 

Of  Frederick  II.  it  is  related,  as  was 
already  stated  of  Charlemagne,  that  the 
eastern  princes  emulated  each  other  in 
sending  him  artistical  works  as  signs  of 
friendship.  Among  the  rest,  the  sultan  of 
Egypt  presented  him  with  an  extraordinary 
tent.  The  sun  and  moon  revolved,  moved 
by  invisible  agents,  arid  showed  the  hours 
of  the  day  and  night  in  just  and  exact  re- 
lation. 

At  the  court  of  the  emperor,  there  were 
often  contests  in  science  and  art,  and  vic- 
torious wreaths  bestowed,  in  which  scenes 
Frederick  shone  as  a  poet,  and  invented 
and  practised  many  difficult  measures  of 
verse.  His  chief  judge,  Peter  de  Vincis. 
the  composer  of  the  code  of  laws,  wrote 
also  the  first  sonnet  extant  in  Italian. 
Minds,  in  fact,  developed  themselves,  and 
were  in  full  action  in  the  vicinity  and  pres- 
ence of  the  great  emperor,  and  there  they 
commanded  full  scope  for  all  their  powers. 

His  own  personal  merit  was  so  distin- 
guished and  universally  recognised,  that  he 
was  enabled  to  collect  around  him  the 
most  celebrated  men  of  the  age  without 
feeling  any  jealousy  towards  them — always 
a  proof  of  true  greatness.  His  most  violent 
enemies  even  could  not  withhold  from  him 
their  admiration  of  his  great  qualities.  His 
exterior  was  also  both  commanding  and 
prepossessing.  Like  his  grandfather  he 
was  fair,  but  not  so  tall,  although  well  and 
strongly  formed,  and  very  skilful  in  all 
warlike  and  corporeal  exercises.  His  fore- 
head, nose,  and  mouth  bore  the  impressiori 
of  that  delicate  and  yet  firm  character 
which  we  admire  in  the  works  of  the 

*  On  the  bridge  across  the  Vulturnus,  in  Capua,  was) 
erected  a  statue  of  the  emperor  Frederick  II.,  with 
several  others,  and  it  continued  there  in  a  Very  gi/od 
state  of  preservation  until  the  most  recent  wars  of  mod- 
ern times,  when  it  became  a  prey  to  the  devastation 
committed.  The  head  of  the  emperor  on  this  statue, 
however,  has  been  copied  and  engraved  upon  a  ring 
and  it  is  after  that,  that  the  excellent  portrait  of  Fred 
ericlc  has  been  drawn  in  the  History  ol  the  J  ioheustau- 
fens,  by  M.  F.  de  liaumer. 


17G 


EAST  AND  NORTHEASTERN  GERMANY— THE  JIONGOLS. 


Greeks,  and  name  after  them  ;  and  his 
eye  generally  expressed  the  most  serene 
cheerfulness,  but  on  important  and  serious 
occasions  it  indicated  gravity  and  severity. 
Thus,  in  general,  the  happy  conjunction 
of  mildness  with  seriousness  was,  through- 
out his  life,  the  distinguishing  feature  of 
this  emperor.  His  death  produced  great 
confusion  in  Italy,  and  still  greater  dissen- 
sion in  Germany.  In  the  latter  country 
two  emperors  again  stood  opposed  to  each 
other,  throne  against  throne :  the  Hohen- 
staufen  party  acknowledging  and  uphold- 
ing Conrad,  Frederick's  son,  in  opposition 
to  William  of  Holland,  the  former  having 
already,  during  his  father's  life,  been  elect- 
ed king  of  the  Romans. 

But  before  we  relate  the  history  of  these 
two  rival  emperors,  it  will  be  useful  and  in- 
teresting to  cast  our  glance  at  the  countries 
in  the  east  and  northeastern  parts  of  Ger- 
many. * 
-  Europe  was  about  this  time  threatened 
by  a  terrible  enemy  from  the  east,  equally 
as  dreadful  as  the  Hunns  were  in  earlier 
times.  This  enemy  consisted  of  the  Mon- 
golians, who  ever  since  the  year  1206, 
under  Dschinges-Khan,  had  continued  to 
ravage  Asia,  and  led  by  him  had  advanced 
as  far  as  Moravia  and  Silesia.  In  the  year 
1241  they  gained  a  great  battle  near  Lieg- 
nitz  over  the  Silesians,  under  the  command 
of  Henry  II.  of  Liegnitz,  who  himself  fell 
chivalrously  fighting  at  the  head  of  his 
troops  ;  but  by  the  valor  with  which  he  dis- 
puted the  victory  with  the  enemy,  he  de- 
stroyed the  desire  they  had  previously  in- 
dulged in  of  penetrating  farther  westward, 
as  they  now  turned  towards  Hungary. 
Thus,  by  his  own  death,  Henry  the  Pious 
saved  Europe  ;  and  indeed,  upon  the  same 
spot  (Wahlstadt)  where,  on  the  26th  of  Au- 
gust, 1813,  the  action  called  the  battle  of 
Katzbach  was  so  victoriously  fought. 

In  this  emergency  Frederick  well  felt 
what  his  duty  was  as  first  Christian  prince, 
and  very  urgently  pressed  the  other  kings 
for  their  immediate  assistance  against  the 
common  enemy  ;  but  at  this  moment  the 
general  disorder  was  too  great,  and  his  ap- 
peal for  aid  remained  without  any  effect. 
As  regards  Silesia  and  Hungary  the  incur- 
sionof  the  Mongolians  produced  this  result, 
that  many  German  peasants  migrated  to 
the  deserted  and  depopulated  districts,  and 
henceforward  Lower  Silesia  became,  in- 
deed, more  a  German  than  Slavonic  coun- 


try. Other  neighboring  countries  also 
were  about  this  period  occupied  and  popu- 
lated by  the  Germans,  consisting  of  the 
coasts  of  the  Baltic,  Prussia,  Livonia,  Esth- 
land,  and  Courland.  As  early  as  at  the 
end  of  the  twelfth  century,  Meinhardt,  a 
canon  of  the  monastery  of  Legeberg,  built 
a  church  at  Exkiille,  (in  the  vicinity  of  the 
present  Riga,)  where,  shortly  afterwards. 
Pope  Clement  III.  founded  a  bishopric,  and 
from  this  central  point  the  diffusion  of  Chris- 
tianity extended  in  that  district.  But  tem- 
poral force  soon  mixed  itself  in  these  spirit- 
ual and  peaceful  exertions  ;  the  resistance 
of  the  heathen  Livonians  induced  Pope  Ce- 
lestin  III.  to  cause  a  crusade  to  be  preached 
against  them,  and  speedily  a  multitude  of 
men  from  the  north  of  Germany  stormed 
towards  these  parts.  A  spiritual  order  of 
knighthood  was  formed  under  the  name  of 
the  knights  of  the  sword,  and  with  the 
Christian  doctrines  the  dominion  of  this  or- 
der  was  by  degrees  extended  over  Livonia, 
Esthland,  and  Courland.  The  natives  who 
remained  after  the  sanguinary  battles  of 
this  exterminating  war  were  reduced  to  op- 
pressive slavery,  which  was  for  the  first 
time  moderated  in  our  own  age  by  the  em- 
peror Alexander. 

In  Prussia  also  the  sword  established  at 
the  same  time  with  Christianity  the  Ger- 
man dominion  and  superiority.  About  the 
year  1208  a  monk  of  the  monastery  of  Kol- 
witz,  in  Pomerania,  of  the  name  of  Chris- 
tian, crossed  the  Vistula,  and  preached 
Christianity  to  the  heathen  Prussians.  But 
when  the  pope  made  him  a  bishop,  and 
wished  to  establish  a  formal  hierarchai  go- 
vernment, they  rose  in  contest  against  him, 
in  which  the  knights  of  the  sword,  together 
with  Duke  Henry  the  Bearded  of  Breslau, 
and  many  warriors  of  the  neighboring  lands, 
immediately  marched  forth  and  gave  war- 
like aid  to  the  new  bishop.  But  little  was 
accomplished  until  the  latter,  upon  the  ad- 
vice of  Duke  Henry,  summoned  to  his  as- 
sistance the  knights  of  the  Teutonic  Order, 
which  had  originated  in  an  institution  of 
North  Germany.  Accordingly,  in  the  year 
1229.  their  first  grand  master,  Herman 
Salza,  with  not  more  than  twenty-eight 
knights  and  one  hundred  squires  and  atten- 
dants, advanced  to  Prussia  ;  he  proceeded 
in  his  work  cautiously  by  establishing  for- 
tified places,  among  which  Thorn,  on  the 
Vistula,  serving,  as  it  were,  for  the  entrance 
gate  of  the  country,  was  the  first  j  and 


MIGRATIONS— CONRAD  IV.  AND  WL.LIAM  OF  HOLLAND. 


171 


Culm,  Marienwerder,  Elbing,  Braunsbcrg, 
and  others  speedily  followed.  The  do- 
minion  of  the  Teutonic  Order  was  spread 
even  in  Livonia,  as  the  Knights  of  the  Sword, 
after  a  severe  defeat  by  the  Livonians,  in 
1273,  were  received  in  it;  and  in  1255, 
upon  the  advice  of  Ottocar  of  Bohemia,  who 
had  made  a  crusade  against  the  Prussians, 
in  which  Rudolphus  of  Hapsburg  joined, 
the  present  metropolis  of  the  country  was 
founded,  and  in  honor  of  him  was  called 
Konigsberg.  The  cities  around,  by  their 
favorable  situation  for  commerce,  soon 
flourished  again,  and  the  peasants  found 
themselves  in  a  happier  situation  than  their 
Livonian  neighbors,  for  their  services  and 
imposts  were  rendered  more  moderate,  and 
absolute  slavery  was  only  experienced  by 
a  few  individuals  as  a  punishment  for  their 
defection. 

When  we  add  to  this  the  various  emigra- 
tions which  had  commenced  already  much 
earlier,  populating  the  Vandal  countries  as 
well  as  Brandenburg,  Mecklenburg,  and 
Pomerania,  and  take  into  consideration  the 
many  flourishing  cities  which  were  built 
there  by  German  citizens,  we  may  be  in- 
clined to  style  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  as  the  epoch  of  the  migration  of 
Germans  towards  the  northeast,  the  same 
as  that  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  after 
Christ  is  called  the  period  of  migration  to- 
wards  the  west  and  south.  Indeed,  if  we 
reckon  the  hundreds  of  thousands  which 
"Germany  at  the  same  period  sent  with  the 
crusades  to  the  east,  together  with  those 
sent  with  the  Hohenstaufen  emperors  to 
Italy,  we  must  really  feel  astonished  at  the 
population  which  that  vast  country  pro- 
duced, and  assuredly  cannot  join  with  many 
other  historians  in  calling  a  period  present- 
ing like  this  so  much  vigor  and  activity 
of  life,  an  epoch  of  absolute  misery,  slavi- 
tude,  and  desolation. 

Had  the  emperor  Frederick  rightly  known 
the  strength  of  Germany,  and  had  he  un- 
derstood how  to  avail  himself  of  the  means 
to  render  it  still  more  powerful  by  union, 
the  whole  of  the  east  and  north  of  Europe 
might  then  have  become  annexed  to  that 
country.  But  his  eyes  were  turned  exclu- 
sively upon  Italy,  and  there  he  fruitlessly 
sacrificed  all  his  strength. 

Conrad,  meanwhile,  was  likewise  more 

occupied  with  his  patrimonial  inheritance 

:han  with  Germany.     He  went  as  early  as 

1251  to  Italy,  and  left  his  consort  in  the 

23 


former  country,  who  gave  birth  the  follow. 
ing  year  to  the  unfortunate  Conradin.  Con. 
rad,  under  the  excomrnunrcation  of  the  pope, 
like  his  father,  conquered  Naples,  it  is  true, 
but  made  the  inhabitants  his  most  implaca- 
ble enemies,  by  placing  a  bridle  upon  the 
horse,  which  stood  as  an  emblem  of  the  city 
upon  the  market-place.  He  died  sliortl) 
after,  in  1254,  and  said  a  few  moments  be- 
fore his  death  :  "  Unhappy  being  that  I  am, 
why  did  my  parents  bring  me  into  this 
world  only  to  expose  me  to  so  much  mis- 
fortune !  The  church,  which  should  have 
shown  both  me  and  my  father  a  maternal 
heart,  has  become  much  rather  our  step- 
mother;  and  this  empire  which  flourished 
before  the  birth  of  Christ  is  now  fading 
away  and  approaching  its  destruction !" 
And  in  this  he  prophesied  too  truly  with 
respect  to  his  own  race,  for  he  was  the  last 
king  of  the  Hohenstaufens.  Frederick  II. 
had,  it  is  true,  left  behind  him  a  second  son 
(Henry)  by  his  marriage  with  Isabella,  and 
a  third  (Manfred)  by  Blanca,  his  Italian 
consort,  and  two  grandsons,  the  sons  of  his 
unfortunate  eldest  son  Henry ;  but  they  all 
died  in  the  flower  of  their  age,  and  about 
the  same  time  :  so  that  at  the  death  of  Con- 
rad IV.,  there  only  remained  of  the  whole 
family  of  the  Hohenstaufens,  his  son,  the 
unfortunate  Conradin,  and  his  brother  Man- 
fred. We  shall  very  shortly  learn  the  fate 
of  these  two  princes. 

King  William  also  lived  but  a  few  years 
after  Conrad,  and  in  so  little  esteem,  that  a 
common  citizen  of  Utrecht  cast  a  stone  at 
him,  and  a  nobleman  plundered  his  consort 
upon  the  highway.  When  in  the  winter 
of  the  year  1256  he  advanced  against  the 
Friesi,  and  crossed  the  ice  near  Medenblick, 
it  broke  under  him,  and  he  remained,  with 
his  heavy  war-horse  sticking  in  the  morass, 
where  the  Friesi  killed  him,  although  he 
offered  a  large  sum  for  his  life. 

After  his  death  the  confused  state  of  af- 
fairs in  Germany  became  greater  than  ever. 

Upon  the  demise  of  Conrad  IV.  and 
William  of  Holland,  no  German*  prince 
would  accept  the  imperial  crown,  except, 
perhaps,  Ottocar,  king  of  Bohemia,  but  who. 
however,  was  not  liked.  Most  of  them  pre- 
ferred rather  to  occupy  themselves  in  ruling 
over  and  extending  their  own  hereditary 
lands,  than  to  take  upon  themselves  the 
heavy  charge  of  restoring  order  and  peace 
in  those  countries  of  Germany  now  become 
almost  again  savage,  and  thus  renounce 


178 


CONRADIN  OF  SWABIA— CHARLES  OF  ANJOU. 


their  own  selfish  interests,  in  order  to  con- 
secrate all  their  powers  to  the  common 
good.  The  spiritual  electors  now  con- 
ceived the  unworthy  and  degrading  idea 
of  electing  a  foreigner  for  emperor.  Still 
they  were  by  no  means  unanimous  in  their 
choice  ;  the  one  party  elected  an  English- 
man, Richard,  earl  of  Cornwall,  the  brother 
of  King  Henry  III. ;  the  other  chose  a  Span- 
iard, Alphonso,  king  of  Castile,  who,  on 
account  of  his  knowledge  in  astronomy, 
was  called  the  Sage,  but  who  nevertheless 
was  not  wise  enough  to  know  how  to  rule 
even  his  own  country.  Both  had  offered 
the  imperial  princes  considerable  sums  of 
money,  and  Richard,  as  some  relate,  came 
with  thirty-two  carriages  to  Germany,  each 
drawn  by  eight  horses,  together  with  an 
immense  tun  filled  with  sterlings,  an  Eng- 
lish coin  of  that  period.  He  possessed  ex- 
tensive tin  mines  in  Cornwall,  then  almost 
the  only  mines  in  the  world,  whence  he 
acquired  immense  riches.  With  such  arms 
as  these,  he  speedily  conquered  many 
hearts,  and  was  solemnly  crowned  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  in  1257,  after  which  he  re- 
turned to  England  again,  accompanied  by 
several  Germans  of  high  rank.  In  Eng- 
land, however,  the  home  of  national  pride, 
lie  was  not  treated  otherwise  than  any  other 
English  prince  or  nobleman  ;  and  this  so 
much  vexed  the  Germans  who  were  with 
him,  that  they  returned  to  their  country 
discontented.  After  that,  Richard  visited 
Germany  at  three  different  times,  but  on 
each  occasion  only  for  a  short  space.  Al- 
phonso, however,  never  came  to  that  coun- 
try at  all.  During  this  period,  therefore, 
disorder  and  violence  necessarily  increased 
from  day  to  day,  so  that  the  petty  princes, 
counts,  knights,  and  the  cities  themselves, 
lived  in  constant  anarchy  and  warfare  with 
each  other,  to  an  extent,  that  those  who  de- 
sired justice  and  tranquillity,  wished  most 
heartily  for  an  emperor  who  might  become 
their  protection  and  shield. 

Conradin  of  Swabia,  the  son  of  the  em- 
ro:Tor  Conrad  IV.,  the  last  descendant  of  the 
Hohenstaufen  race,  fell  at  this  moment  a 
victim  to  the  most  cruel  fate.  He  was 
styled  Conradin  by  the  Italians,  because  he 
ended  his  career  at  so  early  an  age.  After 
his  father's  death,  he  had  been  brought  up 
in  Bavaria,  and  afterwards  in  Swabia, 
u  here  he  still  retained  some  small  inherit- 
ance ;  while  his  uncle  Manfred,  as  regent, 
and  subsequently  as  king,  administered  his 


hereditary  estates  in  Naples  and  Sicily, 
The  popes,  however,  who  still  remained  tho 
irreconcilable  enemies  of  the  Hohenstau 
fen  house,  sought  to  despoil  him  of  thesr; 
possessions;  and  as  they  could  not  eftec, 
this  by  their  own  power,  it  was  determined 
by  Clement  IV.  to  bring  another  king  in 
opposition  to  the  hated  Manfred.  He  ap- 
plied, therefore,  to  Charles,  duke  of  Anjou, 
who  marched  forth  in  1266 ;  he  was  ac- 
companied by  a  numerous  suite  of  Frencl 
knights,  who  were  ever  happy  to  avail 
themselves  of  any  expedition  which  prom- 
ised them  rich  booty.  King  Manfred,  who 
had  unfortunately  lost,  in  a  storm,  the  whole 
of  his  fleet,  with  which  he  had  set  sail  in 
order  to  prevent  the  French  from  landing, 
was  defeated  in  an  action  at  Benevento,  on 
the  26th  of  February,  1266,  principally 
through  treachery,  and  preferred  sacrifi- 
cing himself  by  an  heroic  death,  rather  than 
to  endure  an  ignominious  life  in  prison  ;  be 
therefore  rushed  into  the  midst  of  the  ene- 
my's ranks,  and  sank  mortally  wounded. 
His  children,  however,  were  seized  by  the 
conqueror,  and  remained  in  captivity  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  their  lives. 

When  the  youthful  Conradin  now  be- 
came older,  and  bethought  him  of  the 
lands  which  belonged  to  him,  whereof  one 
city  alone  was  richer  than  his  German 
possessions  altogether,  the  bold  disposition 
of  his  ancestors  awoke  within  him,  and  he 
resolved  to  drive  the  robbers  from  his  in- 
heritance. In  1268,  therefore,  he  went 
forth,  accompanied  by  the  faithful  friend 
of  his  youth,  Prince  Frederick  of  Baden, 
and  many  faithful  knights  who  followed 
him  from  Germany. 

In  Italy  the  numerous  adherents  of  the 
Ghibelin  party  immediately  flocked  to 
him  ;  the  Romans,  in  defiance  of  their 
pope,  Clement,  who  had  called  for  the  aid 
of  the  French,  led  him  in  triumph  into  their 
city,  and  he  soon. stood  opposed  to  the  ene- 
my with  a  strong  army  near  Tagliacozzo 
in  Lower  Italy.  In  battle,  also,  fortune  at 
first  favored  him ;  the  enemy  was  put  to 
flight,  but,  unfortunately,  in  the  pursuit 
his  own  army  got  into  disorder,  and  in 
their  eagerness  for  booty  fell  too  soon 
upon  the  enemy's  camp,  for  at  that  mo- 
ment the  French  reserve  returned  and 
rushed  upon  the  plunderers.  The  latter 
were  wholly  defeated,  and  Conradin,  with 
his  friend  Frederick,  after  they  had  long 
fought  most  bravely,  were  forced  to  fly 


END  OF  THE  IIOHENSTAUFENS— THF,  GERMANIC  CONSTITUTION         171 


towards  the  sea.  They  had  already  got 
on  hoard  a  ship  at  Astura,  and  were  just 
setting  sail  for  Pisa,  when  they  were  over- 
taken, made  prisoners,  and  led  before 
Charles  of  Anjou.  And  such  was  the  in- 
solence, perfidy,  and  cruelty  of  the  tyrant, 
that  he  treated  Conradin  as  a  rebel  against 
himself  the  legitimate  and  true  king,  and 
caused  both  the  princes,  at  the  age  of  six- 
tp.en,  to  be  beheaded  publicly  in  the  mar- 
k  t-place  of  Naples  on  the  28th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1268.* 

With  the  unfortunate  Conradin  ended 
the  powerful  house  of  the  Hohenstaufens, 
and  that  was  produced  by  means  of  the 
same  possessions  by  which  Frederick  I. 
thought  to  elevate  it  to  the  highest  degree 
of  splendor  and  glory.  But  the  Svvabian 
patrimony  now  fell  into  so  many  divisions, 
that  eventually  no  territory  throughout 
Germany  was  divided  into  so  many  owner- 
ships as  Swabia.  As  the  duchy  was  never 
restored,  the  whole  of  its  states  hencefor- 
ward formed  a  part  of  the  immediate  pos- 
sessions of  the  empire.  Not  only  the 
bishops,  counts,  and  superior  free  lords, 
but  also  the  inferior  ranks  of  the  nobility, 
the  cities,  monasteries,  and  even  the  peas- 
antry, which  had  been  previously  the  vas- 
sals and  subjects  of  the  duke,  became  now 
emancipated  ;  but  they  had  not  these  rights 
and  privileges  individually,  like  the  larger 
imperial  lordships,  but  only  as  an  entire 
combined  body  of  the  Svvabian  states, 
which  they  enjoyed  as  members  thereof. 
The  emperor  derived  from  them  important 
revenues,  and  the  administration  of  these 
imperial  possessions  was  transferred  to 
seneschals  ;  so  that  instead  of  the  ancient 
Swabian  dukes  there  were  only  now  the 
imperial  bailiwicks — Helvetia  or  Switzer- 
land, Alsace,  and  Swabia,  which  were  di- 
vided into  cantons.  These  arrangements 
were  adopted  under  the  reign  of  the  suc- 
ceeding emperor,  Rudolphus. 

The  fate  of  the  duchy  of  Swabia  leads 
us  naturally  to  consider  the  circumstances 
which  produced,  especially  in  the  interior 
of  Germany,  the  dismemberment  and  abo- 
lition of  the  ancient  national  duchies. 
The  basis  for  this  important  event  wa?  \iid, 

*  The  unfortunate  Conradin,  before  his  execution, 
tansferred  all  his  rights  to  Manfred's  daughter  Con- 
stanza  ;  and  this  princess  became  afterwards  the  aven- 
ger of  the  Hohenstaufens.  For,  as  the  wife  of  Peter 
of  Aragon,  she  favored  the  hprrible  conspiracy  known 
under  the  name  of  the  Sicilian  Vespers,  in  the  year 
282,  by  which  Charles  of  Anjou  lost  his  usurped  tang- 


as  we  have  already  seen,  at  the  time  of 
the  deposition  of  Henry  the  Lion,  in  the 
year  1180.  Although  the  plan  and  the 
limits  of  this  general  history  of  the  empire 
will  not  permit  us  to  trace  more  in  detail 
all  those  princely  houses  which  have  arisen 
from  the  ruins  of  these  ancient  duchies, 
we  may  give  at  least  a  general  outline  of 
the  changes  as  the}  occurred  : 

1.  The  duchy  of  Saxony  had  already 
become  separated  from  the  important  mar- 
graviate  of  Brandenburg,  which  was  trans- 
ferred to  Henry  the  Bear,  who  received 
therewith  all  the  prerogatives  of  a  duke  in 
time  of  war,  together  with  the  rights  of 
an  elector,  in  his  quality  of  arch-chamber- 
lain. His  son  Bernard  reunited  subse- 
quently, it  is  true,  the  duchy  with  the 
margraviate,  and  was  created  a  duke  ;  but 
his  territory  was  of  very  little  importance, 
and  was,  besides,  divided  into  two  portions 
between  the  two  families  of  Lauenburg 
and  Wittenberg,  both  of  which  disputed 
with  each  other  for  a  long  time  for  the 
possession  of  the  office  of  grand  marshal, 
and  which  question  was  not  settled  until 
the  reign  of  Charles  IV.,  who  decided  in 
favor  of  the  Wittenberg  house. 

The  ducal  authority  of  the  archbishop 
of  Cologne  in  the  western  part  of  Saxony 
likewise  could  not  recover  its  former  ele- 
vation. The  nobles  in  his  jurisdiction 
made  themselves  gradually  independent, 
after  the  example  presented  to  them,  espe- 
cially by  the  spiritual  princes  of  the  an- 
cient duchy.  Besides  which,  the  arch- 
bishop of  Bremen  came  into  possession  of 
the  lordship  of  Stade,  in  the  territory  of 
Detmarsh ;  the  peasants  took  upon  them 
selves  the  principal  authority  in  that  coun- 
try ;  the  count  of  Oldenburg  refused  to 
remain  united  with  the  duchy,  and  the 
important  city  of  Liibeck  was  raised  to  the 
dignity  of  an  imperial  free  city  by  Fred- 
erick II.  ;  while  at  the  celebrated  diet  of 
Mentz,  in  1235,  the  emperor  having  con- 
ferred upon  the  Guelfic  house  new  power 
and  authority,  by  restoring  to  the  infant 
duke,  Otho,  the  duchies  of  Brunswick  and 
Liineburg,  that  powerful  family  likewise 
refused  to  recognise  longer  any  rights 
claimed  by  the  house  of  Saxe-Anhalt. 
Thuringia  had  already  long  since  sepa- 
rated itself  from  the  duchy,  and  had  pos- 
sessed its  own  particular  counts  from  the 
time  that  the  house  of  Saxony  became 
imperial :  we  speak  here  of  the  north  and 


180 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  GERMANIC  CONSTITUTION, 


southern  parts  of  Thuringia,  which  be- 
came united  under  the  valiant  margrave, 
Eccard  of  Meissen.  Under  the  Hohen- 
staufens,  the  margraviate  was  .replaced  by 
a  landgraviate.  The  landgraves  resided 
at  Eisenach  and  in  the  castle  of  Wart- 
ourg.  Their  possessions  extended,  by 
means  of  certain  allodial  acquisitions,  over 
Hesse  and  :ne  towns  of  Munden,  Cassel, 
Marburg,  &c.,  as  far  even  as  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine  ;  such  was  the  power  com- 
manded by  Louis  IV.,  landgrave  of  Thu- 
ringia, the  husband  of  Elizabeth  the  Holy, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  With  Henry  Raspe,  who  died 
childless,  in  1247,  the  masculine  branch 
of  the  house  of  Thuringia  became  extinct. 
The  female  line  contested  together  for  the 
inheritance,  and  two  of  the  descendants 
Carried  on  a  war  against  each  other  during 
n  period  of  seven  years.  At  length,  in 
1264,  the  .fief  of  Thuringia  was  conferred 
upon  Otho  the  Illustrious,  of  Meissen  ;  but 
the  allodial  possessions,  and  especially  the 
Hessian  territory,  fell  to  Henry,  the  son  of 
Sophia,  of  Brabant.  The  aforesaid  Henry 
of  Meissen  was  the  founder  of  the  present 
Saxon  house,  and  Henry  of  Hesse  that  of 
!he  house  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse. 

In  the  north  of  Germany  the  counts  of 
llolstein  possessed  claims  to  immediate 
imperial  lordships :  Mecklenburg,  which 
belonged  to  the  counts  of  Schwerin  on  the 
one  part,  and  to  the  Obotrite  princes  on  the 
other,  had  become  an  immediate  fief  of  the 
empire,  the  same  as  the  duchy  of  Po- 
merania. 

2.  The  duchy  of  Bavaria,  when  it  pass- 
ed from  the  house  of  the  Guelfs  to  that  of 
Wittelsbach,  possessed  nothing  more  than 
the  mere  name  of  the  ancient  duchy. 
Carinthia,  Austria,  and  Styria,  had  already 
since  the  year  1156,  under  the  Saxon  em- 
perors, been  separated  from  Bavaria. 

Otho  of  Wittelsbach  governed  his  duchy 
with  much  greater  vigor  certainly  than 
Bernard  of  Saxony  ;  but  the  bishops,  never- 
theless, withdrew  from  his  sovereignty ; 
Ratisbon  became  an  imperial  city  ;  and  in 
the  south  of  Bavaria  the  count  of  Andechs, 
in  his  quality  of  heir  to  the  house  of  the 
counts  of  Dachau,  came  in  possession  of 
the  title  of  duke  of  Merau,  (which  this 
house  had  assumed  from  a  tract  of  land 
on  the  coasts  of  Dalmatia,)  which  title  he 
extended  to  the  whole  of  his  possessions  in 
Franconia,  and  made  it  the  basis  for  claim- 


ing his  independence.  In  1248,  however 
the  house  of  Andechs  became  extinct, 
whence  the  greater  portion  of  its  posses, 
sions  passed  over  to  a  house  of  Swabia,  (the 
Hohenzoller  branch,)  the  burgraves  of 
Nuremberg,  and  laid  the  foundation  for  .he 
duchies  of  Anspach  and  Baireuth. 

Meantime  the  house  of  Wittelsbach, 
besides  the  acquisition  of  the  duchy  oi 
Bavaria,  came  into  possession  of  anothei 
territory  extremely  important — the  county, 
palatine  of  the  Rhine,  which  it  received  in 
1227,  by  the  marriage  of  Otho  the  Illustri- 
ous with  the  hereditary  countess  palatine 
of  the  house  of  Guelf.  But  the  power  of 
this  house  became  considerably  diminished 
by  its  dismemberment,  after  the  death  of 
Louis  the  Severe,  in  1292,  whose  eldest 
son,  Rudolphus,  received  the  palatinate, 
and  his  second  son,  Louis,  succeeded  to  the 
duchy.  The  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine 
possessed  the  title  of  arch-carver  or  stew- 
ard, and  consequently  he  commanded  the 
first  voice  in  the  electoral  college  of  the 
temporal  princes.  Bavaria  contested  with 
Bohemia  for  the  office  of  arch  cup-bearer, 
which  Henry  the  Lion,  or  his  father,  who 
possessed  two  duchies,  had  been  forced  to 
abandon,  and  which  it  subsequently  lost  for- 
ever. 

Those  arch  or  grand  offices  fell  gradually 
into  the  hands  of  those  who  possessed  the 
right  of  election,  after  the  original  institu- 
tion, which  called  together  the  principal 
heads  of  the  people  throughout  the  em- 
pire to  take  part  in  the  meetings,  had  be- 
come altered.  At  the  election  of  Otho  I., 
there  were  present  five  of  the  principal 
nations :  the  Lorrainers,  the  Franks,  the 
Svvabians,  the  Bavarians,  and  the  Saxons. 
When  Otho  of  Saxony  was  elected,  the 
dukes  of  the  other  four  nations  divided 
among  themselves  the  offices  of  arch-cham- 
berlain, arch-carver  or  steward,  arch-cup- 
bearer, and  arch-marshal.  At  the  subse- 
quent election  of  Otho  III.,  however,  the 
distribution  of  the  offices  had  already  be- 
come changed. 

At  the  election  of  Conrad  II.  there  ap- 
peared seven  nations,  because  Lorraine 
was  then  divided  in  two  portions,  and 
Carinthia  had  likewise  recently  joined  the 
rest.  But  at  the  election  of  Lothaire,  the 
Saxons,  the  Lorrainers,  and  Carinthians, 
no  longer  attended,  as  the  former  had  de- 
tached themselves  from  the  empire,  and 
the  latter  remained  but  a  short  time  allied 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  GERMANIC  CONSTITUTION. 


IS] 


with  the  other  chief  nations.  In  earlier 
times  the  dukes  did  not  possess  this  ex- 
clusive and  positive  right  of  election.  All 
the  princes,  even  the  populace  itself,  took 
part  in  the  choice  of  the  sovereign  :  but 
subsequently,  in  proportion  as  the  election 
assumed  a  more  determined  form,  the 
elective  right  became  more  and  more  con- 
nected with  the  arch-offices,  and  was  even 
transferred  altogether  with  those  dignities 
to  other  princes. 

Thus  Conrad  III.  indemnified  the  mar- 
grave, Albert  the  Bear,  for  the  loss  of  the 
duchy  of  Saxony,  by  giving  up  in  his  favor 
the  office  of  arch-chamberlain,  which  he 
held  as  a  Hohenstaufen ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  Hohenstaufens  received  the 
dignity  of  arch-carver  or  steward,  when 
the  remains  of  the  duchy  of  Franconia 
passed  over  to  their  house.  This  office 
was  then  attached  to  the  palatinate  of  the 
Rhine  ;  and  as,  in  ancient  times,  the  duke 
of  Franconia  held  the  first  rank  among  the 
temporal  princes,  so  now,  among  the  latter, 
the  count  palatine  commanded  the  first 
voice. 

We  have  already  found  that  the  office  of 
grand  cup-bearer  was  transferred  from  the 
Guelfs  to  the  house  of  Bohemia;  but  with 
respect  to  that  of  grand  marshal,  it  always 
remained  with  the  Saxons.  The  right  of 
Bohemia  to  a  voice  in  the  elections  was  a 
subject  of  long  contest,  inasmuch  as  the 
Germans  would  not  admit  the  right  of 
election  to  a  Slavonic  prince  ;  and  it  was 
on  this  account  that,  at  the  period  in  ques- 
tion, the  college  of  princes  only  possessed 
six  votes :  three  ecclesiastical,  consisting 
of  those  of  the  archbishops  of  Mentz, 
Treves,  and  Cologne,  who,  protected  by 
the  influence  of  the  pope,  were  thus  en- 
abled to  raise  themselves  to  the  highest 
rank  in  the  empire;  and  three  temporal 
votes,  those  of  the  dukes  of  Saxony,  Bran- 
denburg, and  of  the  Palatinate. 

3.  In  Swabia,  we  have  seen  that,  at  the 
fall  of  the  Hohenstaufens,  all  their  lights 
disappeared ;  their  rich  possessions  had, 
in  the;  latter  period,  been  wasted  or  given 
away  ;  and  Conradin,  at  the  time  of  his 
expedition  to  Italy,  made  over  his  remain- 
ing possessions  to  the  house  of  Bavaria. 
Wo  therefore  naturally  inquire  who  then, 
from  that  time,  really  ranked  as  the  most 
important  and  influential  family  in  Swa- 
bia ?  In  answer  to  this,  we  find  that  the 
counts  of  WUrtemberg  stood  at  the  head  of 


all  the  rest  of  the  nobility,  and  who  had 
already  chosen  Stuttgard  as  their  place  of 
residence.  After  them,  the  rich  counts  ol 
Baden,  scions  of  the  Hohenstaufen  race 
acquired  from  the  house  of  Zuhringen  the 
territory  of  Breisgau,  which  was  the  com- 
mencement of  the  reign  of  the  house  of 
Baden.  Another  portion  of  the  Zuhringen 
inheritance,  in  Switzerland,  fell  to  the 
counts  of  Kyburg,  and  after  them  to  the 
counts  of  Hapsburg,  who  owed  to  this  cir* 
cumstance  their  subsequent  importance 
Of  the  counts  of  Hohenzollern,  the  bur. 
graves  of  Nuremberg,  we  have  spokei 
previously. 

4.  In  Franconia,  the  duchy  had  already 
become  extinct  when  the  succession  of  the 
Salic  house  terminated.     It  had  been  di- 
vided equally  between  the  ecclesiastical 
and  temporal  nobles ;  for  the  Hohenstau- 
fens, who  were  called  dukes  of  Franconia, 
possessed  nothing  of  the  authority  of  the 
ancient  dukes  ;  enjoying  merely,  as  they 
were  the  most  powerful  lords  of  Franco- 
nia, and  proprietors  of  the  county-palatinate, 
a  small  portion  of  the  ducal  influence,  and 
which  was  recognised  by  a  few  of  those 
counts  and  knights  who  were  dependent  on 
them  as  feudatories.     At  the  end  of  this 
period,  besides  the  powerful  counts  pala- 
tine of  the  Rhine,  we  find  in  the  ancien'. 
land  of  Franconia  the  landgraves  of  Hesse, 
who  possessed  a  portion  thereof,  the  counts 
of  Nassau,  the  bishop  of  Wiirzburg,  &c. 

The  general  title  of  count  palatine 
gradually  vanished  in  Germany,  leaving 
it  only  in  the  hands  of  the  count  palatine 
of  the  Rhine,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  title  of  burgrave  now  came  into  use, 
and  took  rank  immediately  #fter  that  of 
the  king. 

5.  Finally,  with  respect  to  Lorraine,  it 
became  divided  into  two  portions :  Upper 
Lorraine  falling  to  the  counts  of  Alsace, 
and  Lower  Lorraine  to  the  counts  of  Lo- 
vain.     They,  howerer,  did  not  possess  the 
whole  of  Lorraine,  and  for  this  reason  they 
were  likewise   styled  counts  of  Brabant. 
Several  other  counts — of   Holland,   Zea- 
land, Friesland,  Juliers,  Cleves,  Guelder, 
Luxemburg,    &c.,    ranked    themselves  a.i 
immediate  imperial  feudatories. 

All  the  princes  began  now  to  considei 
themselves  as  feudatories,  not  only  of  th-.- 
country  of  which  they  merely  had  the  a.l- 
ministration,  but  likewise  of  their  herodi. 
tary  lands,  which  they  governed  in  th- if 


182 


THE  GERMANIC  CONSTITUTION— THE  MIDDLE* AGES 


own  namo.  Vassalage  now  received  an- 
other meaning  ;  it  was  no  longer  for  their 
possessions,  but  their  dignities,  that  the 
princes  now  held  themselves  bound  to  pay 
homage  by  the  investiture  ;  and  as  they 
had  already  raised  themselves  to  the 
height  of  territorial  power  and  sovereignty 
throughout  their  country — although  they 
did  not  take  to  themselves  the  title — all 
the  sovereign  princes  in  the  land  became 
feudatories. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  give  a  sketch 
of  the  entire  states  existing  in  the  empire, 
although  we  cannot  pretend  to  present  an 
exact  detail  thereof,  on  account  of  the  con- 
fusion so  prevalent  in  some  of  the  depen- 
dencies. 

Germany  included,  at  this  period,  six 
archbishoprics ;  that  of  Mentz,  (the  most 
considerable  and  extensive,)  having  under 
its  jurisdiction  fourteen  bishoprics,  viz. 
Worms,  Spires,  Strasburg,  Constance,  Cour, 
Augsburg,  Eichstadt,  Wiirtzburg,  Olmiitz, 
Prague,  Halberstadt,  Hildesheim,  Pader- 
born,  and  Verden  ;  that  of  Cologne  with 
five  bishoprics — Liege,  Utrecht,  Miinster, 
Osnaburg,  and  Minden  ;  that  of  Treves 
with  three  bishoprics — Mentz,  Toul,  and 
Verdun  ;  that  of  Magdeburg  with  five  bish- 
oprics— Brandenburg,  Havelberg,  Naum- 
burg,  Merseburg,  and  Meissen  ;  that  of 
Bremen  with  three  bishoprics — Oldenburg, 
(afterwards  Lubeck,)  Mecklenburg,  (after- 
wards Schwerin,)  and  Ratzburg ;  and, 
finally,  ihat  of  Salzburg  with  fivo  bishop- 
rics— Ratisbon,  Passau,  Freisingen,  Brixen, 
and  Gurk.  Besides  which  are  to  be  add- 
ed :  Bamberg,  which  stood  immediately 
under  the  pope,  and  Cambrai  under  the 
archbishop  oPRheims.  Altogether,  there- 
fore, they  amounted  to  six  archbishoprics 
and  thirty-seven  bishoprics.  There  existed, 
besides,  seventy  prelates,  abbots,  and  ab- 
besses, and  three  religious  orders,  thus 
forming,  in  the  whole,  more  than  a  hun- 
dred ecclesiastical  states. 

The  temporal  estates  were,  viz. :  four 
electors,  (if  we  include  Bohemia,)  consist- 
ing of  one  king,  one  duke,  one  count  pala- 
tine, and  one  margrave  ;  six  grand  dukes — 
Bavaria,  Austria,  Carinthia,  Brunswick, 
Lorraine,  and  Brabant-Limburg ;  about 
thirty  counts  with  the  title  of  prince, 
among  whom  some  had  also  the  title  of 
duke,  others  of  margrave,  landgrave,  and 
burgrave  ;  about  sixty  imperial  cities,  of 
whom  some,  however,  did  not  enjoy  en- 


tirely the  privileges  of  the  imperial  muni 
eipalities.  Thus,  altogether,  these  form, 
ed  about  a  hundred  temporal  states ; 
and,  finally,  both  classes  embraced  more 
than  two  hundred  members  of  the  empire, 
spiritual  and  temporal. 

Meantime,  the  dominion  of  the  empire 
had,  in  certain  respects,  diminished  in  ex- 
tent  of  government  towards  the  end  of  the 
interregnum,  inasmuch  as  it  no  longer  held 
under  its  sway  either  Denmark,  Hungary, 
or  Poland ;  while  Burgundy  and  Lom- 
bardy  had  both  withdrawn  themselves  from 
the  imperial  rule,  Prussia  alone  having 
joined  in  alliance. 

We  will  now  avail  ourselves  of  this 
short  interval,  and  cursorily  review  the 
chief  features  presented  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  which  immediately  succeed  this  pe- 
riod of  the  interregnum ;  for  every  thing 
that  has  been  said,  whether  favorable  oj 
unfavorable,  upon  the  character  of  this  bar 
barous  and  yet  glorious  epoch,  is  especially 
appropriate  at  the  present  moment. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE    MIDDLE  AGES. 

Chivalry— The  Cities— The  Peasantry— The  Arts  and 
Sciences — TheClergy  and  Ecclesiastical  Institutions— 
The  Monasteries  and  Convents— The  Faust-Recht— 
The  Administration  of  Justice— The  Vehm-Gericht 
or  Secret  Tribunal. 

THE  period  of  the  Middle  Ages  has  also 
been  called  the  period  of  Chivalry,  and  it 
was  knighthood  indeed  which  chiefly  gave 
to  it  its  great  and  peculiar  lustre.  By  the 
diffusion  of  the  feudal  system  over  the 
whole  of  Germany,  as  has  already  been 
shown,  the  nobility  became  the  influential 
portion  of  the  empire,  to  the  extent  that, 
beyond  the  cities,  few  common  freemen 
were  to  be  found.  War  was  conducted 
principally  by  the  nobles  and  their  vassals. 
The  former  fought  only  on  horseback,  were 
equipped  in  heavy  iron  armor,  and  were 
so  inured  to  the  exercise  of  arms  from 
youth  upward,  that  they  could  not  only 
bear  them  with  ease,  but  were  enabled  to 
use  them  freely  and  powerfully.  A  man 
thus  encased  in  armor  and  arms,  on  horse- 
back, was  infinitely  superior  to  the  com. 
mon  warriors,  who  served  on  foot,  and  who 
were  badly  armed ;  and  thence  an  army 


CHIVALRY. 


18S 


tvas  speedily  counted  solely  by  the  multi- 
tude of  its  knights.  In  order  to  maintain 
these  privileges,  the  education  of  the  no- 
bility was  necessarily  entirely  warlike. 
An  ancient  writer  says — *•'  The  boys  born 
in  Germany,  in  their  quality  as  pages, 
prefer  learning  to  ride  rather  than  to  read  ; 
their  horses  may  run  and  gallop  as  they 
please,  still  they  remain  immoveabl}''  fixed 
in  the  saddle.  They  carry  after  their  lords 
their  long  lances;  and  inured  to  cold  and 
heat,  they  are  not  to  be  fatigued  by  any 
toilsome  exercise.  The  bearing  of  arms 
is  as  easy  to  the  Germans  as  carrying  their 
own  limbs,  and  it  is  surprising,  and  almost 
incredible,  how  skilful  they  are  in  govern- 
ing their  horses,  using  their  bows  and  ar- 
rows, and  wielding  the  lance,  shield,  and 
sword." 

By  their  exclusive  attention  to  the  im- 
provement of  their  corporeal  strength,  while 
the  intellectual  occupations  which  in  later 
centuries  began  to  be  treated  as  the  chief 
portion  of  education  were  then  entirely 
unknown,  this  generation  must  have  sunk 
into  a  state  of  complete  barbarism,  had  not 
the  happy  nature  and  noble  capacities  of 
the  German  races,  and  the  development 
of  the  grand  institutions  of  chivalry,  pro- 
duced a  preponderating  power  by  their 
beneficial  effects.  But  in  order  to  compre- 
hend the  details,  it  is  necessary  we  should 
know  more  exactly  the  institutions  of  the 
middle  ages. 

These  various  grades  of  condition  and 
rank  were  particularly  distinguished  by 
the  changes  introduced  in  military  service 
from  the  time  of  Henry  I. ;  for  from  that 
period  the  cavalry  department  especially 
underwent  such  reforms  that,  in  the  course 
of  a  short  time,  it  came  exclusively  into 
the  hands  of  the  nobility  and  their  own  vas- 
sals, to  the  extent  that  the  honor  of  this 
warlike  arm  of  the  service  belonged  to 
them  alone.  It  was  made  to  form  two  di- 
visions or  classes,  the  Semper -freien,  or 
available  freemen,  (always  free,)  and  the 
Millel-freien,  or  mediate  freemen.  The 
former,  who,  in  ancient  times,  consisted 
merely  of  the  nobility,  and  were  called 
ingnmi  in  the  codes  of  law,  were  the  im- 
mediate nobility,  which,  after  the  dismem- 
berment of  the  early  duchies,  retained  their 
independence  of  every  prince,  and  were 
only  subjected  to  the  empire.  Of  this  class, 
'.he  high  clergy  formed  part,  with  this  ex- 
ception, however,  that  the  nobility  acquired 


by  birth  what  the  former  received  by  theii 
office. 

The  second  class  was  composed  of  me. 
diatc  freemen ;  firstly,  of  those  freemen 
who  were  originally  bound  by  their  pos- 
sessions  to  do  service  as  cavaliers,  but  who 
could  not  disengage  themselves  from  the 
authority  of  the  princes,  and  were  forced 
to  follow  them  to  the  wars ;  and  secondly, 
of  those  who  were  employed  by  the  higher 
nobility  of  the  empire,  and  who  served  as 
cavaliers  under  their  orders  with  the  title 
of  milites  minorcs.  These  mediate  freemen 
very  soon  advance1  their  claims  to  titles  of 
nobility,  especially  after  Conrad  II.  had 
been  the  means  of  raising  them  to  higher 
importance  and  consideration  by  making 
the  lowest  fiefs  hereditary.  Thus  was 
created  by  degrees  a  higher  and  lower 
class  of  nobility. 

But  for  both  these  grades  it  was  strictly 
necessary  that  the  descent  of  families 
should  be  from  parents  of  equal  rank  ;  and 
in  case  of  unequal  unions,  the  children 
were  forced  to  remain  in  the  inferior  con- 
dition of  the  one  or  the  other  parent. 

The  king,  however,  always  retained  the 
right  of  power  to  elevate  any  subject  from 
this  lower  grade  to  the  rank  of  a  nobleman. 

Thence  the  nobility  formed  two  distinct 
classes  from  the  moment  that  the  art  of 
war  became  wholly  based  upon  its  cavalry 
service;  and  it  was  in  this  sense  that  the 
knighthood  already  existed  under  the  Sax- 
on and  Salian  emperors.  But  it  was  not 
until  the  twelfth  century  that  it  formed  it- 
self int'o  one  especial  institution,  which 
served  as  a  connecting  link  between  the 
higher  and  lesser  nobility,  inasmuch  as  it 
thus  brought  into  union  by  military  and 
religious  vows,  and  under  especial  disci- 
pline, militaris  ordo,  both  the  Semper-freie 
and  Mittel-freie.  The  Crusades  had  the 
most  important  influence  and  shed  the 
greatest  lustre  upon  chivalry,  for  it  was  in 
the  sacred  service  of  God  and  the  Saviour 
that  the  swords  of  the  knights  obtained  for 
them  the  greatest  glory  on  earth.  The  goal 
which  was  to  be  attained  lay  far  distant 
from  home,  and  in  other  climes  ;  the  ima- 
gination became  more  enthusiastically  ex- 
cited, and  the  descriptions  given  by  such 
as  had  returned  from  those  eastern  coun- 
tries were  perfectly  adapted  to  heighten 
and  render  still  more  vivid  the  glowing 
colors  of  the  picture  their  heated  fancy  had 
already  formed.  Thence  this  period  wai 


184 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


inspired  by  such  daring  and  fanatic  enthu- 
siasm, that  no  enterprise  was  deemed  too 
difficult  to  undertake,  and  such  heroic 
deeds  were  actually  achieved,  that  in  mod- 
ern times  they  have  been  regarded  almost 
in  the  light  of  fabulous  creations  of  the 
mind.  Three  religious  orders  of  knight- 
hood, which  owed  their  origin  exclusively 
to  the  Crusades,  served  especially  to  at- 
tach the  warriors  to  the  cause  of  Christian- 
ity by  a  sacred  and  solemn  vow.  The  first 
of  these  was  the  order  of  the  Templar- 
Knights,  which  originally  only  consisted 
of  a  small  body  of  French  cavaliers,  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  the  pilgrims  on 
their  journey  to  the  Holy  Land  ;  they  took 
the  three  religious  vows — obedience,  pov- 
erty, and  chastity  ;  adding  a  fourth,  which 
was  altogether  military,  viz.  to  protect 
travellers,  stratos  publicas  custodire.  Bald- 
win II.,  king  of  Jerusalem,  granted  them 
as  quarters  a  portion  of  his  palace,  next  to 
the  lemple  of  Solomon  ;  and  it  is  from  this 
circumstance  that  they  adopted  the  title  of 
Templars.  Two  years  afterwards  origi- 
nated the  order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Hos- 
pital, who  devoted  themselves  to  the  charge 
of  the  sick  pilgrims,  subsequently  adopting 
the  name  of  St.  John,  from  their  tutelary 
saint,  John  the  Baptist ;  their  vows  were 
exclusively  religious.  To  these  followed 
shortly  after  the  order  of  the  Teutonic 
Knights. 

These  examples  operated  with  a  very 
great  effect  upon  the  continent ;  and  as  the 
entire  spirit  of  the  times  produced  a  closer 
union  between  individuals  of  equal  habits 
and  condition,  the  result  was  'that  chivalry 
in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  be- 
came more  and  more  extended,  and  formed 
one  grand  body  of  alliance,  to  which  ac- 
cess could  only  be  obtained  after  passing 
through  certain  ordeals  in  which  the  reli- 
gious vows  of  chastity  and  poverty  were, 
however,  exempted,  but  religious  consecra- 
tion was  retained. 

Thus  the  entire  education  of  the  nobility 
connected  itself  with  the  sole  object  of  at- 
taining knighthood  by  passing  through  all 
its  various  gradations.  As  soon  as  the  boy 
had  escaped  from  his  maternal  guide,  he 
was  transferred  to  the  charge  of  some  es- 
teemed knight  and  friend,  whom  he  served 
as  page ;  and,  subsequently,  after  he  had 
become  versed  in  arms,  and  received  his 
sword,  he  attended  him  as  his  esquire, 
(famulus,  armiger,)  regarding  him  as  the 


model  of  his  future  life.  He  accornpanieG 
his  lord  at  all  hours,  and  in  every  occupa- 
tion. In  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  the 
festival,  the  tournament  and  military  jousts, 
as  well  as  in  the  dangers  of  the  battle. 
His  first  duty  was  the  most  faithful  attach- 
ment to  and  vigilant  care  of  his  lord  ;  and 
if,  in  the  heat  of  the  battle,  he  had  defended 
him  with  sword  and  shield,  and  had  saved 
his  life,  he  thence  acquired  the  highest  de- 
gree of  fame  that  could  be  earned  by  a 
young  nobleman.  Thus  fidelity  was  the 
first  virtue  which,  by  hourly  and  daily  ex- 
ercise, became  so  deeply  impressed  upon 
the  memory  of  the  youth,  that  it  grew  up 
in  indissoluble  connection  with  his  mind. 
After  several  years  of  honorable  service  as 
a  squire,  the  youth  (generally  in  his  twenty- 
first  year)  was  made  a  knight,  and  received 
into  military  companionship  under  the  con- 
secration of  religion.  Solemn  occasions, 
grand  festivals,  coronation  days,  and  such 
scenes,  were  diligently  sought  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  frequently  many  were  dubbed 
knights  at  the  same  time.  Fasting  and 
prayer  preceded,  and  after  the  youth  had 
partaken  of  the  sacrament  he  received  from 
the  hands  of  a  knight,  or  noble  lady,  the 
spuis,  breast-plate,  and  gauntlets.  He  then 
knelt  down,  and  one  of  the  knights  (often, 
however,  the  reigning  king  or  prince)  gave 
him,  with  a  naked  sword,  three  gentle 
blows  across  the  shoulder,  upon  which  he 
vowed  with  a  solemn  oath,  to  faithfully  fulfil 
all  the  duties  of  an  honorable  knight,  to 
speak  the  truth,  to  defend  the  laws,  and  to 
draw  his  sword  for  the  defence  of  religion, 
of  widows  and  orphans,  and  of  persecuted 
innocence,  but,  above  all,  against  every  un- 
believer ;  finally,  he  received  the  helmet, 
shield,  lance,  and  sword.  Thus,  in  the 
most  inspired  hour  of  the  youth's  early  ca- 
reer, the  practice  of  manly  virtues:  truth, 
justice,  and  religion,  were  again,  by  solemn 
oath,  elevated  to  become  the  inviolable  law 
of  his  whole  life.  Honor  stood  before  the 
eyes  of  the  youthful  knight  like  a  brillian 
star — an  emblem  to  which  he  was  to  remain 
faithful  to  his  last  breath — as  the  noble  ob- 
ject of,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  reward 
for  the  due  observance  of  the  oath  he  took. 
So  highly  was  this  solemn  consecration  of 
the  noble  warrior  esteemed,  that  Count 
William  of  Holland,  as  we  have  already 
seen  in  his  history,  was  necessarily  made  • 
knight  before  his  coronation. 

The  prerogative  of  the  knight  was  to  be 


CHIVALRY— THE  CITIES. 


185 


jong  henceforward  to  a  select  body  of  his 
equals,  which  none  could  join  but  by  the 
especial  reception  lie  himself  had  experi- 
enced, and  to  be  enabled  to  confer  knight- 
hood himself;  as  also  to  take  his  share  in 
the  tournaments,  which  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury were  introduced  from  France  into 
Germany.  These  had  the  most  important 
influence  on  the  education  of  the  nobility; 
for  as  none  could  take  part  in  them  whose 
honor  had  suffered  the  least  stain,  and  the 
whole  imagination  of  the  boy  and  youth 
was  from  earliest  infancy  devoted  to  the 
glory  and  high  reputation  these  contests 
conferred,  chivalry  thenceforth  became  the 
school  of  honor  and  morality,  as  well  as 
of  every  other  heroic  virtue.  Thence  this 
period  presents  us  with  the  most  complete 
and  undeniable  evidence  of  the  principle — 
that  in  order  to  disseminate  a  love  for  virtue 
in  a  generation,  it  is  not  enough  to  try  to 
promote  it  by  instruction,  but  it  is  likewise 
necessary  to  encourage  and  give  an  im- 
pulse to  the  practice  thereof  by  the  irresist- 
ible force  of  example. 

Such  is  the  light  in  which  the  design  and 
object  of  chivalry  must  present  itself  before 
us  in  the  most  flourishing  period  of  its  ex- 
istence ;  for  although  a  system  may  not  be 
carried  out  so  completely  as  to  render  it 
possible  to  say,  that  it  is  in  every  respect 
perfect,  and,  consequently,  although  in  the 
most  happy  times  of  chivalry,  much  bar- 
oarism  and  uncouth  violence  too  often  ap- 
peared, still  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  laid 
the  foundation  for  that  elevation  of  thought 
which  eventually,  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 
exercised  its  influence  upon  the  community 
at  large. 

The  noble  institution  of  chivalry  was, 
in  fact,  of  the  highest  importance  in  its  re- 
sults to  the  whole  of  the  Christian  nations, 
inasmuch  as  even  when  the  imperial  dig- 
nity lost  its  powerful  influence,  and  the 
authority  of  the  church  began  to  totter  on 
its  base,  the  principles  of  honor  and  recti- 
tude, together  with  the  irresistible  force 
commanded  by  the  manly,  chivalric  word, 
in  all  cases  of  need  and  succor,  operated 
so  beneficially  upon  all  classes,  that  this 
grand  and  illustrious  foundation  of  knight- 
hood served  as  a  tower  of  strength,  impreg- 
nable against  all  subsequent  attacks  at- 
tempted by  uncivilized  and  barbarous  assail- 
tnts. 

While  the  aristocracy  of  the  German 
nation  thus  vigorously  cultivated  itself,  and 


wore  the  sword  equally  for  the  honor  o* 
their  faith  and  defence  of  their  country, 
the  citizens  in  the  towns  labored  with  in- 
dustry and  activity  for  their  commercial 
prosperity.  The  German  cities  during  this 
period  daily  increased  in  population  and 
riches,  and  the  source  of  all  was  com 
merce,  for  which  also  the  crusades  opera- 
ted very  advantageously.  The  spirit  for 
great  undertakings  and  speculations  was 
aroused,  the  costly  wares  of  southern  coun- 
tries were  brought  more  frequently  and  in 
greater  abundance  to  Europe.  The  Italian 
maritime  cities,  particularly  Venice,  Ge- 
noa, and  Pisa,  introduced  the  merchandise 
of  the  east,  and  then  it  was  conveyed  the 
same  as  the  produce  of  Italy  itself  along 
the  ancient  commercial  roads,  through  the 
passes  of  the  Alps  to  Germany,  there  ex- 
tending its  transit  upon  the  high  roads  and 
rivers,  and  what  was  not  consumed  in  the 
country  itself  was  carried  still  farther  to- 
wards the  territories  bordering  upon  the 
North  Sea  and  the  Baltic.  All  that  was 
brought  to  the  northern  countries  from 
across  the  ocean  was  forwarded  through 
Germany,  and  by  means  of  this  extensive 
commercial  agency,  to  which  was  added 
the  produce  of  native  German  industry,  the 
ancient  cities  of  the  empire  progressed  and 
flourished  in  all  their  wealth  and  prosperi- 
ty. Augsburg,  Strasburg,  Ratisbon,  Nu- 
remberg, Bamberg,  Worms,  Spires,  and 
Mentz,  in  the  south  of  Germany ;  in  the 
north,  Cologne,  Erfurt,  Brunswick,  Liine- 
burg,  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and  Liibeck,  and 
many  others  proudly  raised  and  extended 
their  walls  and  towers,  and  an  increasing 
and  active,  but  equally  industrious  popula- 
tion, animated  their  streets.  Their  riches 
soon  gave  them  the  means  to  purchase  their 
freedom  and  independence  from  the  princes 
who  held  them  in  dominion,  for  as  in  those 
ancient  times,  when  but  few  or  no  regular 
imposts  were  levied,  the  privileges  of  those 
princes  and  lords  were  not  so  productive  as 
now,  no  large  sum  was  required  to  obtain 
this  emancipation.  The  cities  then  acknow- 
ledged the  empneror  alone  as  their  superior 
feudal  lord,  arm  thence  were  called  free 
imperial  cities. 

This  progress,  however,  was  only  made 
by  degrees,  and  was  not  everywhere  at- 
tended with  the  same  favorable  results. 
The  first  step  was  made  in  the  tenth  centu- 
ry, when  Henry  I.  encouraged  the  founda. 
tion  and  extension  of  cities,  and  improved 


186 


THE  MIDI  LE  AGES. 


their  internal  condition  in  eastern  Germa- 
ny, and  when  afterwards  the  episcopal 
cities  in  the  south  and  western  parts  of  the 
country,  according  to  the  ancient  Roman 
cities,  were  raised  to  a  state  of  immunity, 
and  the  authority  of  the  count  was  substi- 
tuted by  that  of  the  episcopal  intendant,  or 
advocatus  cascc.  After  their  example,  a 
number  of  other  cities  received  also  impe- 
rial governors,  and  were  thus  freed  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  count. 

Subsequently  the  cities  advanced  still 
farther,  and  sought  to  elevate  themselves 
from  their  state  of  immunity,  in  order  to 
become  their  own  governors ;  for  the  in- 
tendants,  replacing  the  counts  in  their  qual- 
ity as  judges,  selected  their  assessors  from 
the  municipal  council,  who,  previous  to  the 
twelfth  century,  were  called  cives,  in  its 
more  distinguished  acceptation,  and  later, 
in  imitation  of  the  Lombardian  cities,  they 
were  styled  consults,  or  counsellors  ;  and 
their  president,  proconsul,  or  magister  con- 
solum,  burgomaster.  Those  families  among 
whom  the  counsellors  were  usually  chosen, 
formed  a  civic  or  urban  nobility,  and  were 
called  patrician  families.  As  this  council 
was  intrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  commercial  property  and  the  magiste- 
rial authority  of  the  city,  it  is  easy  to  con- 
ceive what  increasing  influence  it  must 
have  had  at  its  command,  and  how  it  must 
have  extended  its  power  in  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs  beyond,  as  well  as  within  the 
city,  and  the  burgomaster,  consequently,  in 
the  course  of  time,  left  little  or  nothing  for 
the  intendant  to  perform.  In  fact,  this  lat- 
ter functionary  in  the  end  had  reason  to 
congratulate  himself  if  he  was  only  allow- 
ed to  retain  the  administration  of  justice  ; 
and,  even  then,  means  were  not  wanting  on 
the  part  of  the  council  to  arrogate  this  de- 
partment to  themselves  when  they  found  it 
favorable  for  their  object  to  do  so. 

But  the  authority  did  not  rest  exclusive- 
ly in  the  hands  of  the  council  ;  the  various 
guilds  and  trade  associations  had  also  their 
share  in  the  government.  Their  influence 
derived  strength  from  the  increasing  activi- 
ty among  the  industrial  and  working  class- 
es, and  consequent  prosperity  in  trade  ;  and 
thence  their  claims  to  a  portion  of  power 
they  enjoyed  were  based  upon  the  interest 
they  took  and  shared  individually  and 
among  themselves  in  the  municipal  institu- 
tions. The  extent  to  which  they  gradually 
succeeded  in  establishing  their  united  do- 


minion is  made  evident  by  their  generally 
:riumphant  contests  with  the  patrician  fam 
lies  in  many  of  the  cities. 

If  commerce  and  gain  had  alone  been  th« 
objects  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities,  they 
would  soon  have  become  subject  to  all  those 
vils  which  necessarily  arise  when  the 
mind  of  man  becomes  wholly  occupied  and 
absorbed  in  his  mercenary  pursuits  ;  the 
citizens  would  have  been  rendered  tirn- 
id  and  cowardly,  and  would  have  sacri- 
ficed both  their,  liberty  and  pride  in  their 
fforts  after  worldly  possessions.  But  in 
those  times,  when  the  Faustrecht  or  club- 
law  existed  in  all  its  violence,  they  found 
opposed  to  them  the  entire  nobility  of  the 
empire — princes,  counts,  and  knights,  as 
well  as  bishops  and  abbots,  who,  jealous  of 
the  riches  of  the  cities,  closely  observed 
their  deeds  and  acts,  and  waited  only  for 
an  opportunity  to  overturn  and  destroy  their 
freedom. 

If  the  cities,  therefore,  desired  to  submit 
no  longer  to  these  powerful  enemies,  they 
found  they  must  necessarily  bear  arms 
themselves,  and  preserve  inviolate  in  their 
breasts  that  manly  courage  which  is  the 
shield  of  freedom.  In  an  ancient  chroni- 
cle we  find  the  following  account  of  the 
Nuremberg  patricians  :  "  The  furniture  ot 
their  houses  consists  chiefly  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver, but  amidst  all  that  meets  the  eye  no- 
thing is  more  conspicuous  than  their  swords, 
armor,  battle-axes,  and  horses,  which  they 
particularly  display  as  the  chief  signs  of 
their  nobility,. and  the  ancient  rank  of  their 
families.  But  the  simple  citizen  also  keeps 
his  arms  ready  and  in  good  order  in  his 
house,  so  that  on  the  first  movement  he  may 
appear  fully  equipped  immediately  at  the 
appointed  place  of  assembly."  The  whole 
of  the  internal  regulations  of  the  city  had 
war  in  view  ;  the  citizens  were  divided  in- 
to companies  according  to  their  trade  and 
dwelling-place  ;  and  when  the  city  was  in 
danger,  each  of  the  different  bodies  assem- 
bled in  its  appointed  quarter,  and  under  its 
particular  banner,  and  thus  all  marched 
forth  together,  and  fought  united  in  battle. 
This  was  a  beautiful  union,  firmly  bound 
by  warlike  and  peaceful  occupations,  ana 
the  rivalry  and  emulation  evinced  by  all  in 
valor  have  frequently  obtained  the  victory 
for  cities  in  time  of  danger.  The  citizens 
collectively  did  not  lose  their  time  in  a  love 
for  petty  things  and  trifles,  nor  in  the  effem- 
inacy of  a  sedentary  life  in  ths  zlose  room* 


THE  CITIES 


of  their  houses,  but  they  were  b'Jth  in  body 
and  soul  good  men  and  true,  as  well  as 
independent.  And,  notwithstanding  their 
riches,  notwithstanding  their  extraordinary 
expenditure  upon  great  festivals,  which 
honor  demanded  in  those  more  ancient  and 
better  times,  their  daily  ordinary  life  was 
very  simple  and  temperate,  and  not  sophis- 
ticated by  artificial  wants.  Thence  their 
bodies  remained  strong,  and  their  prosperi- 
ty lasting ;  for  the  source  and  guarantee 
of  prosperity  do  not  so  much  consist  in  rich 
acquisitions  as  in  that  moderation  which 
knows  how  to  preserve  them.  "  That  the 
Germans  are  rich,"  says  Machiavelli,  in  his 
treatise,  Ritratti  della  Alamagna,  "  arises 
from  their  living  as  if  they  were  poor.  It 
suffices  for  them  to  have  a  superfluity  in 
bread  and  meat,  and  a  room,  whither  they 
may  retreat  from  .the  cold.  Thus  little  or 
no  money  quits  their  country ;  on  the  con- 
trary, far  more  comes  into  the  land  in  pay- 
ment for  the  wares  they  manufacture  them- 
selves. The  power  of  Germany  is  based 
upon  its  cities ;  they  are  the  nerves  of  the 
provinces,  for  in  them  there  exist  both 
wealth  and  good  order." 

At  this  glorious  period  of  the  municipal 
institutions,  many  German  cities  united  to- 
gether for  the  protection  of  their  freedom, 
their  independence,  and  their  commerce 
generally.  Thus,  in  the  year  1254,  seven- 
ty  cities  in  the  south  of  Germany  formed 
the- Rhenish  league,  for  offence  and  de- 
fence, and  powerfully  opposed  themselves 
to  the  encroachments  and  pretensions  of 
the  nobility.  Afterwards  arose  the  Swa- 
bian  cities'-union,  which  was  also  very  nu- 
merous and  strong. 

But  the  most  powerful  confederation 
among  all  was  that  of  the  Hanse  towns. 
Already  early  in  the  middle  ages,  the  tra- 
ding cities  of  Germany  had  formed  alli- 
ances m  the  large  commercial  towns  of 
other  countries,  and  there  established  ware- 
houses and  factories.  These  factories  bore 
the  name  of  Hanse,  probably  from  the 
word  Hansa,  which  signifies  trade  imposts, 
(confounded  subsequently  with  the  Italian 
word  Ansaria,)  and  as  several  such  houses 
were  united  in  foreign  cities,  there  conse- 
quently arose  a  general  Hanse,  which  was 
termed  German  Hanse.  Very  early  we 
find  in  London,  German  Hanses  from 
Cologne,  Hamburg,  Liibeck,  Bremen,  and 
other  cities,  and,  perhaps,  their  union  was 
a  chief  cause  for  the  establishment  of  the 


whole  alliance,  fn  the  history  of  its  for 
mation  also  it  is  important  to  notice  the 
league  which  in  1241  the  cities  of  Liibeck 
and  Hamburg  concluded  together,  and 
which  is  commonly  but  incorrectly  consid- 
ered as  the  first  commencement  of  the 
whole  confederation.  It  was  agreed  that 
both  cities  should  prepare  ships  and  supply 
troops  to  protect  from  all  robbery  the  high- 
way between  the  Trave  and  the  Elbe,  and 
the  rivers  themselves,  down  which  both 
sent  their  merchandise  to  the  sea.  Several 
northern  cities  soon  joined  this  alliance ; 
about  the  year  1300  it  numbered  already 
sixty  cities  from  the  Lower  Rhine  as  far  as 
Prussia  and  Livonia ;  later  it  included  as 
many  as  a  hundred,  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  fourteenth  century  we  find  the  name 
Hansa  universally  distributed.  In  Ger 
many  there  belonged  to  it,  besides  Liibeck 
and  Hamburg — Bremen,  Stade,  Kiel,  Wis- 
mar,  Rostock,  Stralsund,  Greifswalde, 
Stettin,  Colberg,  Stargard,  Salzwedel,  Mag- 
deburg, Brunswick,  Hildesheim,  Hanover, 
Liineburg,  Osnaburg,  Miinster,  Coesfeld, 
Dortmund,  Soest,  Wesel,  Duisburg,  Co- 
logne, and  many  others  besides;  and  out 
of  Germany — Thorn,  Dantzig,  Konigsberg, 
Riga,  Reval,  Narva,  Whisby,  Stockholm, 
&c.  They  wholly  monopolized  the  trade 
in  the  Baltic,  and  chiefly  that  in  the  North 
Sea,  and  had  four  grand  depots  :  at  Novo- 
gorod  in  Russia,  Bergen  in  Norway,  Bru- 
ges in  Flanders,  and  in  London. 

The  establishment  of  these  emporia  call- 
ed forth  the  greatest  possible  development 
in  trade,  and  produced  the  most  glorious 
results  in  commercial  intercourse.  From 
the  northern  regions  they  shipped  timbei 
for  building  vessels,  flax,  hemp,  tar,  furs, 
and  smoked  and  dried  fish,  the  consump- 
tion of  which  was  extremely  great  on  ac- 
count of  the  rigorous  observance  of  the 
periods  for  fasting  practised  by  the  Cath- 
olics ;  and  they  maintained  the  herring 
fishery  exclusively  in  their  own  hands. 
From  England  they  procured  raw  wool 
and  cloths,  which  they  had  dyed  and  pre- 
pared in  Germany.  Bruges  at  this  epoch 
was  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  com- 
mercial cities,  and  formed  a  depot  for  the 
merchandise  of  Asia,  Italy,  and  Western 
Europe,  which  the  Hanseatic  towns  con- 
veyed thence  to  the  north  of  Europe  : 
spices  of  every  sort,  silks,  gold  and  silver 
wares,  fruit,  &c.  This  traffic  exercised, 
likewise,  the  most  happy  influence  upon 


188 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


the  sale  of  the  produce  of  Germany  :  linen, 
cloth,  metal  wares,  corn,  flour,  beer,  Rhe- 
nish wine,  and  woad,  (so  much  sought  for 
before  the  introduction  of  indigo,  and  much 
planted  in  Germany,)  and  many  other 
articles  which,  by  means  of  the  Hanse, 
found  a  market  in  foreign  countries.  It  is, 
therefore,  not  surprising  that  when  uniting 
its  strength  the  confederation  was  richer 
and  more  powerful  than  the  northern  king- 
doms. It  was  enabled  to  collect  together 
whole  fleets  and  armies  whenever  it  chose, 
even  if  only  a  portion  of  the  cities  united, 
and  its  friendship  was  universally  sought. 
It  forced  King  Philip  IV.  of  France  to  for- 
bid the  English  all  traffic  on  his  coast,  and 
obliged  England  to  purchase  peace  for 
iO,OOOZ.  sterling.  It  conquered,  in  1369, 
even  Copenhagen  and  Helsengoer,  com- 
manding the  mouth  of  the  Sound,  and  of- 
fered the  kingdom  of  Denmark  for  sale  ;  to 
such  an  extent  did  it  hold  the  northern 
kingdoms  generally  in  its  dependence,  and 
the  city  of  Liibeck  might  well  be  proud  of 
being  the  head  of  such  an  alliance.  It 
was  divided  into  four  classes:  1.  The 
Wendish,  of  which  Liibeck  was  particular- 
ly the  head ;  2.  The  Westphalian,  with 
Cologne  at  its  head,  (Cologne  emulated  Lii- 
beck for  precedency  ;  it  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive commerce  by  sea,  and  founded  in 
London  a  celebrated  German  factory  ;  its 
maritime  commerce,  however,  fell  when 
Dortrecht  received  its  oppressive  staple- 
right;)  3.  The  Saxon,  of  which  Bruns- 
wick was  the  head  ;  and  4.  The  Prussian 
and  Livonian,  with  Dantzig  at  the  head. 

Many  records  testify  how  extensive  and 
populous  the  cities  were  precisely  at  a  time 
when  violence  through  the  Faustrecht 
raged  most  wildly.  In  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, for  instance,  Aix-la-Chapelle  had 
19,826  men  who  could  bear  arms,  and 
Strasburg  20,000  more;  Nuremberg  had 
52,000  citizens  ;  and  increased  annually 
by  4000  male  born  children.  Upon  a  re- 
volt of  the  citizens  of  Liibeck,  the  council 
alone  armed  5000  merchants  and  their 
servants.  And  besides  these  and  other 
large  places  Germany  was  covered  with  a 
multitude  of  towns  of  middling  size,  which 
likewise  flourished  in  trade  and  popula- 
tion, but  which  now  retain  only  the  shadow 
of  their  former  importance  ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  many  imperial  cities  in  Swabia. 

.<Eneas  Sylvius,  (afterwards  Pius  II.,) 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  speaks  with  great 


admiration  of  the  riches  of  the  Germas 
cities,  although  even  then  their  splendor 
began  to  sink  :  "  The  kings  of  Scotland 
might  envy,"  he  says,  "  the  state  of  the 
meaner  citizens  of  Nuremberg.  Where 
is  there  a  tavern  among  you  where  you 
do  not  drink  out  of  silver  ?  What  mar- 
ried woman,  I  will  not  say  of  rank,  but 
the  wife  of  merely  a  simple  citizen,  do 
we  not  find  decorated  with  gold  ?  What 
shall  I  say  of  the  neck-chains  of  the  men, 
and  the  bridles  of  the  horses,  which  are 
made  of  the  purest  gold,  and  of  the  spurs 
and  scabbards,  which  are  covered  with 
jewels?" 

The  source  of  such  especial  riches  in 
precious  metals,  possessed  by  Germany, 
originated  not  only  in  the  commerce,  but 
also  in  the  recently  discovered  mines  of 
the  country.  In  the  year  1477,  for  in- 
stance, when  Duke  Albert  of  Saxony 
dined  in  the  mine  of  Schneeberg,  in  the 
Hartz  mountains,  the  viands  were  laid  out 
upon  a  solid  block  of  silver,  whence  after- 
wards 400  quintals  of  silver  were  pro- 
duced. 

The  flourishing  state  and  increasing 
power  of  the  German  cities  was  also  a 
chief  motive  for  the  peasantry  to  recover 
their  freedom  ;  for  the  inhabitants  also  of 
the  rural  districts,  who,  under  the  oppres- 
sion of  slavery,  were  obliged  to  cultivate 
their  own  land,  as  serfs,  for  a  master,  at 
the  view  of  the  flourishing  free  cities  were 
aroused  to  the  love  of  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence, and  when  this  desire  is  once 
properly  reawoke  in  an  enslaved  people, 
it  rests  no  more  until  it  has  cast  its  oppres- 
sive and  degrading  burden  from  its  shoul- 
ders. Not  that  the  gradual  rise  of  the 
rural  population  is  to  be  attributed  to  one 
source  only,  but,  on  the  contrary,  as  in 
this  case,  it  must  be  a  consequence  of  the 
collective  working  of  many  causes,  which 
here  earlier,  there  later,  supplied  an  indi- 
vidual, a  family,  or  a  whole  community 
with  freedom  and  possession  of  the  soil. 
In  this  view  also  the  crusades  nDw  pro- 
duced the  most  important  and  beneficial 
results. 

By  command  of  the  pope,  every  serf 
who  took  the  cross  to  proceed  into  the 
Holy  Land  was  obliged  to  be  made  free  by 
his  lord,  and  thousands  of  them  proceeded 
thither  arid  became  free  accordingly.  In 
other  cases,  the  lord,  previous  to  setting 
out  upon  the  crusade,  animated  by  pious 


THE  PEASANTRY— THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES. 


ccal.  gave  Ins  serfs  their  freedom  at  once, 
or  perhaps  he  did  not  return  at  al^;  and 
if  he  had  no  heirs,  many  of  his  feudal 
servitors,  in  the  consequent  dispute  tor  the 
inheritance,  faithful  until  then,  now  made 
themselves  free.  This  method  of  disfran- 
chisement  was  the  more  easily  put  into 
effect  when  they  belonged  to  a  noble,  and 
if  they  dwelt  near  large  cities.  For  they 
put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the 
latter,  and  continued  to  live  within  their 
walls,  or  remained  upon  their  own  inherit- 
ance, and  were  called  then  Pfahlbiirger 
•T  suburban  citizens,  and  in  case  their  lord 
sought  to  force  them  to  return  to  his  ser- 
vice, it  became  the  affair  of  the  powerful 
city  itself,  and  even  of  the  entire  league  to 
which  it  belonged. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  under  such 
circumstances  many  cities  in  their  muni- 
cipal arrogance  were  unjust  towards  their 
noble  neighbors,  inasmuch  as  they,  with- 
out having  one  justifying  cause,  received 
and  harbored  their  subjects  in  opposition 
to  him  ;  but  what  incited  them  chiefly  to 
do  this  was  the  recollection  of  the  injustice 
which  these  lords  or  their  predecessors 
had  done,  to  them — for  injustice  provokes 
injustice — or  they  were  perhaps  at  open 
variance  with  them,  and  they  thought  they 
were  justified  in  injuring  them  in  every 
way.  When  now  the  nobles  saw  them- 
selves in  danger  of  thus  losing  all  their 
subjects,  one  after  the  other,  if  they  per- 
sisted in  retaining  them  in  their  service  by 
force,  they  preferred  emancipating  them 
themselves,  under  certain  conditions,  for 
lighter  services  and  a  fixed  yearly  impost. 
Finally,  many  from  a  kindliness  of  dispo- 
sition, and  influenced  by  the  enlightenment 
of  the  period,  may  possibly  have  seen  that 
it  was  more  honorable  as  well  as  more 
lucrative,  to  cause  their  land  to  be  culti- 
vated by  free  laborers,  who  in  the  feeling 
that  they  were  toiling  for  themselves  and 
thei/  descendants,  now  devoted  all  their 
powers  of  mind  and  body  to  that  occupa- 
tion which  formerly  as  slaves  they  were 
forced  to  be  driven  to  perform. 
m  It  was  in  this  manner,  particularly  at 
*.he  period  of  which  we  now  speak,  that  by 
a  hundred  different  causes,  a  basis  was 
laid  in  Germany  for  the  establishment  of 
the  important  class  of  common  free  pea- 
santry, which  by  degrees  became  the  fun- 
damental strength  of  the  more  modern 
states  of  Europe. 


When  man  is  raised  to  a  certain  degree 
of  prosperity,  in  which  his  mind  is  no  longer 
absorbed  in  acquiring  the  more  immediate 
and  pressing  means  to  satisfy  the  nccesta- 
ry  cares  and  wants  of  life,  he  then  applies 
and  devotes  the  powers  of  his  genius  to- 
wards producing  the  beautiful  and  grand 
— to  that,  the  creation  of  which  must  shed 
over  his  whole  life  and  memory,  an  endur- 
ing halo  of  glory  and  honor — and  accord- 
ingly all  those  gifts  of  intellectual  great- 
ness are  promoted  by  their  cultivation,  and 
enjoy  the  free  independent  action  they 
demand.  Thence  the  cities  with  their  in- 
creasing riches  necessarily  became  the 
cradle  of  German  art  and  science ;  to 
which  the  excitement  of  the  imagination, 
and  -he  impulse  which  the  crusades  pro- 
duced in  all  minds,  contributed  not  a  little. 
Ideas  both  novel  and  of  vast  and  extraor- 
dinary character  spread  over  the  world, 
elevated  the  powers  of  the  mind  beyond 
the  ordinary  condition  of  life,  and  filled  it 
with  images  which  it  found,  itself  excited 
to  represent  and  embody  in  beautiful  pro- 
ductions  of  art.  If  we  had  no  other  evi- 
dence of  the  splendor  of  the  middle  ages 
than  that  displayed  in  the  works  of  art  of 
all  kinds  which  that  period  has  handed 
down  to  us,  we  should  even  then  have  am- 
pie  proof  wherewith  to  refute  those  opin- 
ions which,  without  any  modification,  pro- 
nounce that  epoch  to  have  been  dark, 
barbarous,  and  miserable.  A  period  of 
ignorance  and  calamity  could  not  have 
produced  such  sublime  works' as  the  min- 
sters of  Strasburg,  Vienna,  and  Ulm, 
together  with  the  cathedrals  of  Cologne, 
Magdeburg,  Spires,  Freiburg,  and  so  many 
other  churches  in  the  cities  of  Germany 
and  the  Low  Countries.  For  art  flourishes 
solely  in  the  light  of  freedom  and  in  the 
genial  warmth  of  prosperity  and  human 
happiness. 

We  have  here  taken  our  examples  from 
architecture,  because  there  is  scarcely  any 
other  art  which,  like  this,  so  peculiarly  ex- 
presses the  genuine  German  genius.  What 
we  call  Gothic  architecture, — and  which 
would  be  better  expressed  with  the  general 
name  of  the  nation,  Teutonic  architecture 
— is  a  combination  of  the  greatest  boldness 
and  sublimity  of  idea,  produced  by  re. 
ligious  inspiration  and  deep  natural  feeling 
with  the  most  admirable  industry  am 
perfection  in  the  execution  of  the  detail. 
In  the  contemplation  of  those  wonderful 


190 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


structures,  our  heart  swells  and  the  breast 
expands  with  reverential  awe  and  emotion  ; 
we  become  completely  lost,  and  forget  our- 
selves in  the  presence  of  so  much  grandeur, 
while  we  feel  as  we  continue  gazing  as  if 
with  those  bold  ideas  our  mind  was  con- 
veyed upward  towards  heaven,  leaving  its 
earthly  infirmities  behind  it — such  is  pre- 
cisely the  expression  which  characterizes 
the  truly  sublime  and  grand  in  all  the 
creations  of  nature,  as  also  in  the  works 
of  man.  And  when  the  eye,  after  it  has 
recovered  from  this  first  and  overpowering 
impression  of  the  whole,  contemplates  the 
detail,  it  observes  that  there  is  scarcely  a 
solitary  stone  throughout  the  gigantic  edi- 
fice which  is  introduced  in  its  rough  state, 
but  each  bears  some  artistical  labor  which 
makes  it  share  in  the  embellishment  of  the 
whole.  Thus  it  might  be  almost  said,  that 
as  in  the  works  of  the  wide  creation  itself 
there  is  not  a  blade  of  grass  but  possesses 
its  own  peculiar  beauty  and  ornament,  and 
this  blade  with  its  millions  of  semblant 
companions,  combined  with  the  'rees,  rocks, 
and  lakes,  present  a  rich  and  magnificent 
picture  of  nature — so,  likewise,  these  works 
of  German  industry  and  art,  faithful  in 
the  detail,  and  sublime  in  the  idea  of  the 
whole,  are  in  this  union  of  both,  objects 
surpassed  by  no  other  nation.  We  will 
only  remark  of  the  Minster  of  Strasburg, 
that  it  has  the  loftiest  tower  in  Europe, 
being  594  feet  high.  Bishop  Werner  be- 
gan to  lay  the  foundation  of  the  church  in 
1015,  but  it  was  not  completed  until  1275. 
After  which  the  eminent  architect,  Erwin 
of'Steinbach,  sketched  the  plan  of  the  tower 
in  1277  ;  this  was  begun  and  completed  in 
1439  by  John  Hulz,  of  Cologne,  so  that  424 
years  were  consumed  in  the  entire  con- 
struction. Of  the  Cathedral  of  Cologne, 
which  in  its  design,  commenced  by  arch- 
bishop  Conrad,  of  Hochstedt,  in  1248,  is 
still  more  noble,  not  even  the  church  itself, 
not  to  name  its  tower,  has  been  completed, 
although  its  construction  has  lasted  250 
years.  But  we  shall  not  wonder  at  this, 
when  we  consider  the  thousands  of  images 
which  are  carvred  in  the  stone.* 

It  tends  to  the  eternal  fame  of  our  nation 
and  of  those  times  that  the  industry,  pa- 
tience, and  outlay  of  capital  so  necessary 

*  It  is,  however,  gratifying  to  observe  as  one  among 
the  many  existing  signs  of  the  progress  made  in  our 
time  in  trie  fine  arts,  that  the  completion  of  this  noble 
edifice  has  been  recently  determined  and  commenced 

•POO. 


for  the  construction  of  such  works  wejt 
not  scared,  while  later  generations  have 
but  too  often  wasted  their  powers  upon  un 
dertakings  which  have  left  no  trace  be 
hind. 

In  order  to  comprehend  the  origin,  and 
especially  the  successful  execution  of  those 
miracles  of  architecture,  according  to  one 
great  plan,  we  must  remark  that  it  was 
not  individual  architects,  who,  with  some- 
times  good,  sometimes  bad  workmen,  as  in 
our  times,  undertook  such  works,  but  they 
were  accomplished  by  an  association  of 
masons,  distributed  over  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many, and  indeed  over  the  whole  of 
Europe,  who  were  bound  together  by  re- 
ligion, honor,  and  discipline.  Even  among 
the  Romans  there  were  building  societies 
of  great  extent,  the  remaining  members  of 
which  retired  to  the  monasteries,  and  there 
occupied  themselves  chiefly  with  the  con- 
struction of  churches,  and  created  the 
more  sublime  style  of  Christian  architec- 
ture. Regular  but  temporal  builders  were 
also  received  into  the  society,  and  when, 
in  the  eleventh  century,  the  vigor  of  the 
monachal  system  began  to  slumber  in  the 
indolence  and  satiety  of  acquired  riches, 
these  temporal  builders  obtained  by  de- 
grees the  superiority,  and  eventually 
formed  the  grand  associations  by  means 
of  which  those  wonderful  works  were  ex- 
ecuted. They  possessed  and  followed 
mysterious  signs  and  customs,  by  which 
the  members  of  the  body  forming  the  class 
of  the  more  sublime  architecture  were  dis- 
tinguished from  the  more  simple  artisans. 
Every  society  had  its  protecting  patron, 
from  whom  it  was  named  ;  and  wherever  a 
grand  undertaking  was  to  be  executed, 
they  all  came  from  their  various  districts 
and  assembled  on  the  spot,  so  that  ihei; 
art,  like  a  common  possession,  was  bene 
ficially  distributed  throughout  most  Chi  Is- 
tian  countries.  These  important  societies 
received  from  the  reigning  emperor  and 
princes  letters  of  license,  and  even  their 
own  exclusive  judicial  courts,  at  which 
the  chief  architect  presided  as  judge. 
Close  to  the  spot  on  which  was  to  be 
erected  the  large  building  they  were  en- 
gaged upon,  arid  which  edifice  perhaps 
took  centuries  to  construct,  a  wooden 
house  or  Hiitte  was  generally  built,  neat- 
ly adorned  inside,  in  which  the  said  chief 
architect,  with  the  sword  of  justice  in  his 
hand,  sat  under  a  canopy  and  pronounced 


THE  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES— PAINTING— POETRY. 


191 


judgment.  This  hlitte  or  courthouse,  in 
Strasburg,  derived  a  peculiar  importance 
during  the  period  of  the  construction  of 
the  minster.  It  was  soon  regarded  as  the 
most  distinguished  among  all  in  Germany  ; 
its  institutions  were  imitated,  and  the  other 
courthouses  frequently  derived  counsel  and 
decision  from  it.* 

But  the  noble  principle  of  these  associ- 
itions  ended  with  the  decline  of  the  general 
.pirit  of  the  middle  ages.  The  great  archi- 
tectural undertakings  ceased  ;  the  ener- 
gies of  men  were  divided  in  all  directions. 
War  monopolized  so  entirely  the  resources 
of  states,  that  for  great  monuments  of  art 
but  little  more  could  be  done,  as  will  be 
more  particularly  developed  as  we  proceed 
in  the  course  of  our  history. 

Painting  was  also  zealously  practised  for 
the  decoration  of  churches  and  other  holy 
places,  and  our  old  cities  are  full  of  splen- 
did specimens  of  this  art.  German  art  in 
its  entire  character  is  grave,  chaste,  and 
moral,  abounding  with  depth  of  tbought 
and  expression,  like  the  nation  itself.  In 
the  figures  of  the  holy  apostles  and  saints, 
as  well  as  of  pious  men  and  women  gene- 
rally, who  are  represented  in  devout  con- 
templation and  prayer,  we  find  expressed 
the  profound  sublimity  of  thought  and  sen- 
tim^nt  which  would  be  vainly  sought  for 
in  the  works  of  art  produced  by  any  other 
nation,  although  they  may,  and  do  possess 
a  superiority  in  finish,  richness  of  color, 
and  skilfully-deceptive  representation.  In 
their  pictures,  also,  the  Germans  display 
that  untiring  industry  which  does  not  con- 
sider it  too  trifling  to  carefully  represent, 
with  truth  and  fidelity,  the  smallest  and 
most  minute  decorations  of  the  walls,  fur- 
niture, or  garments.  It  is  true  that  paint- 
ing attained  its  culminating  point  much 
later,  and  the  names  of  the  most  celebrated 
German  and  Flemish  painters,  who  worked 
in  the  same  spirit,  belong  to  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries  ;  although  in  ear- 
lier times,  and  by  masters  whose  names 
are  unknown,  splendid  pictures  of  subjects 
taken  from  sacred  bistory  were  executed 
for  tbe  churches.  The  most  celebrated  of 

*  After  Stresburg  came,  in  1 081,  under  the  domin- 
ion of  France,  all  connection  between  this  principal 
IlZtte  and  the  others  of  Germany  gradually  ceased  to 
exist ;  and  the  consequent  disputes  which  arose  be- 
tween these  latter  on  the  subject  of  each  other's  claims 
to  superiority  were  eventually  put  an  end  to  in  1731  by 
an  imjierial  decree,  by  which  all  distinctions  of  privi- 
lege between  these  associations  and  the  common  class 
of  architects  were  abolished. 


the  later  artists  were  John  Van  Eyck,  of 
Bruges,  who  died  in  1441,  and  who  is  con- 
sidered as  the  inventor  of  oil  painting  ;  his 
countrymen,  Hans  (John)  Hemling,  Mar- 
tin Schon  of  Culmbach,  in  Franconia,  Mi. 
chael  Wohlgemuth  of  Nuremberg,  bu* 
above  all  others  Albert  Diirer,  who  was 
born  in  1471  and  died  in  1521,  and  whose 
works  are  characterized  by  vigorous  feel- 
ing and  profound  seriousness  of  expression; 
and,  finally,  Lucas  Cranach,  who  was  born 
in  1470,  and  died  in  1553. 

As  a  third  art  in  the  list  of  the  middle 
ages,  poetry  was  one  which  particularly 
flourished  in  the  time  of  the  Swabian  em- 
perors. This  derived  its  vigor  from  the  in- 
spiration of  the  whole  period  of  the  cru- 
sades, and  was  in  high  estimation  among 
the  higher  and  lower  classes.  The  cele- 
brated singers  who  knew  how  to  elevate  the 
hearts  of  men  by  their  songs  of  the  great 
deeds  of  ancient  heroes,  or  by  their  tender 
lays  of  lament — here  and  there,  however, 
refreshed  by  encouraging  and  energetic 
strains — were  hospitably  welcomed  at  every 
festival,  and,  richly  rewarded,  proceeded 
from  the  courts  of  emperors,  princes,  and 
counts,  to  flourishing  cities,  throughout  the 
whole  of  Germany.  Sometimes  a  contest 
of  art  was  instituted,  similar  to  those  where- 
in the  knights  disputed  for  the  prize  of  arms, 
and,  before  an  assembly  of  selected  and 
competent  judges,  songs  resounded  of  the 
most  inspiring  and  admirable  nature.  Some 
of  the  most  celebrated  poets  and  troubadours 
of  this  period  are  Henry  of  Vildeck,  about 
1170,  Wolfram  of  Eschenbach,  Hartman 
of  the  Aue,  Henry  of  Ofterdingen,  God- 
frey of  Strasburg,  Walter  of  the  Vogel- 
weide,  and  Conrad  of  Wiirzburg.  But 
also  emperors,  princes,  and  noble  knights 
themselves  practised  poetry.  All  the  Ho- 
henstaufens  from  Frederick  I:  have  left 
us  poems,  besides  Margrave  Otho  with  the 
Arrow,  of  Brandenburg,  Duke  Henry  of 
Breslaw,  Henry  of  Meissen,  Duke  John  of 
Brabant,  Count  Rodolph  of  Neuenburg,  Kraft 
of  Toggenburg,  and  many  others.  Onecf 
the  greatest  and  most  splendid  collections 
of  German  poems  is  that  of  the  Niebelungcn 
or  Legends  of  Chivalry,  which  although 
not  originally  composed  in  this  period,  still 
at  that  time  was  collected  together  and 
formed  into  one  entire  work  ;  a  poem  as 
sublime  and  grand  as  it  is  sweet  and  touch- 
ing,  and  may  be  justly  compared  with  the 
Homeric  lays  themselves.  The  Heldwibuch, 


THE  MIDDLE   AGES. 


or  great  book  of  heroes,  which  is  derived 
from  the  Swabian  period,  likewise  contains 
the  most  beautiful  poems  ;  and,  about  the 
year  1300,  a  counsellor  of  Zurich,  Riidger 
of  Manesse,  collected  the  metrical  lays  of 
one  hundred  and  forty  Minnesingers,  or 
troubadours. 

In  the  sciences,  the  period  of  the  middle 
ages  cannot,  probably,  be  compared  with 
those  of  later  times,  however  superior,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  may  rank  in  the  fine  arts, 
/'nasmuch  as  the  sciences  are  a  fruit  of 
serious  reflection  and  of  long  experience, 
and  one  age  can  build  upon  the  foundation 
laid  by  a  preceding  one  ;  while  art,  on  the 
contrary,  is  more  a  free  blossom  of  nature, 
and  a  work  of  happy  inspiration,  being  not 
so  much  the  result  of  deep  research  as  it  is 
of  the  impressions  aroused  by  an  excited 
epoch.  The  sciences,  however,  were  not 
despised,  but,  on  the  contrary,  zealously 
promoted  by  the  Hohenstaufen  emperors. 
When  Otho,  bishop  of  Freisingen,  handed 
to  the  emperor  Frederick  I.  his  Chronicles, 
the  emperor  said  :  "  I  receive  with  extreme 
pleasure  the  chronicles  which  you  have 
compiled  so  wisely  in  such  good  order,  and 
which,  hitherto  obscured  and  concealed, 
you  have  brought  to  light  and  harmonized; 
and  I  rejoice  always,  when  freed  from  the 
labors  of  war,  to  read  them,  for  I  guide 
myself  to  excellence  by  the  splendid  deeds 
of  the  emperors."  We  have  already  seen 
in  the  life  of  the  emperor  Frederick  II. 
how  much  he  esteemed  science.  And 
although  herein  his  care  was  directed 
chiefly  to  his  Italian  states  and  universi- 
ties, yet  we  must  take  into  consideration 
its  subsequent  reaction  upon  Germany  ;  for 
all  that  we  trace  proves  that  Germany  itself 
was  occupied  in  the  most  active  develop, 
ment  of  science  and  art.  No  period  of  the 
middle  ages  can  in  this  respect  be  com- 
pared  with  that  of  the  Hohenstaufens. 
The  mind  of  Frederick  II.,  without  doubt, 
worked  both  powerfully  and  effectually 
among  us  for  the  promotion  of  this  object. 

Science,  at  this  period,  was  chiefly  con- 
fined to  the  ecclesiastical  body,  the  mem- 
bers of  which,  by  their  state  of  indeper 
dence.  were  called  to  be  its  true  preservers. 
It  has  been  customary  to  consider  mon- 
asteries as  the  seat  of  indolence  and  igno- 
rance, hypocrisy  and  sensuality,  and,  in 
fact,  of  many  other  vices.  But  this  is  an 
unjust  opinion,  confounding  the  thing  itself 
with  its  abuse  ;  and  what,  in  the  course  of 


years,  by  the  change  of  all  things,  was 
forced  to  pass  away,  has  been  at  the  same 
time  wholly  misunderstood  in  its  earlier 
and  more  active  form.  In  times  when 
rude  force  held  its  sway  in  the  world,  ana 
every  one  who  could  not  defend  himsell 
was  obliged  to  succumb,  or  was  cast  to  the 
ground,  the  cloisters  were  places  of  refuge 
and  retreat  for  thousands  of  men,  who 
found  therein,  not  only  desirable  asylums 
for  security  and  repose,  but  also  that  ne- 
cessary leisure  for  the  calm  and  contem- 
plative occupations  of  the  mind,  which 
silently  and  progressively  produced  the 
sciences.  Without  the  monasteries,  we 
should  have  possessed  but  little  of  the 
treasures  of  ancient  literature,  which  they 
chiefly  preserved  for  us ;  indeed,  but  for 
them  we  should  know  almost  nothing  of 
our  earlier  records,  and  possess  but  a 
very  meager  and  brief  history  of  the 
events  of  former  times.  Before  the  inven- 
tion of  printing,  it  was  so  difficult  and  la- 
borious to  multiply  .copies  of  works,  that 
without  the  leisure  and  the  industry  of  the 
monks  in  cloisters,  who,  with  astonishing 
and  admirable  patience,  transcribed  entire 
works  in  elaborate  characters  and  with 
illuminated  letters,  almost  all  traces  "would 
have  been  lost  of  the  primitive  and  the 
middle  ages.  Besides  which,  the  authors 
of  nearly  all  the  historical  works  were 
clergymen.  Their  names  have  been  men- 
tioned at  the  commencement  of  this  period, 
and  when  we  read  their  productions,  we 
must  be  filled  with  equal  esteem  and  ad- 
miration for  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  middle 
ages. 

The  warlike  spirit  of  that  epoch,  how- 
ever, had  an  important  effect  upon  the 
manners  of  the  clergy.  Christian,  the 
archbishop  of  Mentz,  who  was  frequently 
at  the  head  of  the  armies  of  Frederick  I., 
in  his  expeditions  to  Italy,  and  conducted 
the  very  obstinate  siege  of  Ancona,  in 
1174,  was  as  valiant  a  warrior  as  he  was 
a  zealous  priest  and  skilful  statesman. 
He  could  speak  six  languages — the  Ger- 
man, Latin,  French,  Brabant,  Greek,  and 
Italian.  When,  as  a  clergyman,  he  stood 
before  the  altar,  he  was  the  true  represen- 
tative of  the  minister  of  peace,  in  full 
priestly  dignity ;  but  when,  again,  he  was 
mounted  on  his  warlike  steed,  he  displayed 
an  equally  commanding  and  elevated  mien 
as  a  leader  of  the  church  militant.  Under 
his  sacerdotal  robe  he  wore  a  coat  of  iron 


THE  CLERGY— MONASTERIES,  &c. 


193 


armor,  upon  his  head  a  splendid  helmet 
of  gold,  and  in  his  hand  a  massive  three- 
edged  club.  It  is  related  of  him  that,  in 
the  different  battles  in  which  he  fought,  he 
killed  nine  enemies  with  his  own  hand. 

The  monasteries,  of  the  importance  of 
which  for  the  middle  ages  we  have  already 
spoken,  merit  here  still  closer  observation. 
They  owe  their  first  origin  to  that  pious 
spirit  which  prizes,  by  far,  the  heavenly 
above  all  earthly  possessions ;  and  which, 
by  severe  self-denial,  repentance,  and  mor 
tification,  in  all  sensual  gratifications,  seeks 
to  make  itself  worthy  of  the  blessings  of  a 
purer  life.  At  first,  minds  thus  tutored 
sought  to  fly  from  the  tumult  of  the  world, 
and  retired  into  solitary  and  isolated 
places;  and  when  several  thus  disposed 
were  collected  together,  they  united  them- 
selves into  brotherhoods,  with  the  resolu- 
tion of  practising,  in  a  body,  similar  penance 
and  mortification.  Thus  those  holy  men, 
Antonius  and  Pachonius,  founded  in  this 
manner,  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century, 
in  the  deserts  of  Upper  Egypt,  the  first 
monasteries.  By  degrees,  their  example 
was  followed  in  several  places  ;  and  also 
in  Europe  monasteries  were  founded,  af- 
ter the  holy  Athanasius  brought  the  first 
monks  from  Egypt  into  Rome. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, (515,^  St.  Benedict,  of  Nursia,  gave, 
by  the  rule  he  formed  for  his  monastery  at 
Monte  Cassino,  and  which  was  everywhere 
followed,  an  entire  new  form  to  monastic 
life  ;  and  this  monastery,  seated  upon  a 
high  mountain  in  the  most  beautiful  part 
of  Lower  Italy,  may  be  considered  as  the 
model  of  all  the  others  in  western  Christen- 
dom. It  has  existed  and  operated  during 
a  space  of  thirteen  hundred  years,  and 
above  thirty  popes,  and  a  great  number  of 
cardinals,  bishops,  and  ecclesiastics  of  the 
highest  rank,  have  sprung  from  the  order 
of  Benedictines.  Everywhere  now  arose 
monasteries  ;  partly  because  active  monks 
settled  themselves  in  previously  unculti- 
vated districts,  made  them  arable,  and 
thus  acquired  a  right  to  the  land  around  ; 
partly  because  emperors,  kings,  and  princes, 
the  high  clergy,  and  noble  families,  as  a 
pleasing  work  to  God,  built  abbeys,  and 
endowed  them  with  the  ground  upon  which 
they  were  erected.  Monasteries  also  arose 
in  cities  and  villages,  and  cities  formed 
and  settled  themselves  around  monasteries. 
The  enthusiastic  zeal  excited  in  ancient 
25 


times  for  a  monastic  life,  and  the  %dona- 
tions  which  these  institutions  received,  are 
incredible  ;  the  monastery  of  Ebersberg, 
in  Austria,  alone  received,  as  many  as  twc 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  such  gifts.  I*, 
was  thought  that  no  better  use  could  be 
made  of  earthly  possessions,  than  to  give 
them  to  a  monastery ;  and  the  monks  had, 
besides,  at  sick-beds,  opportunities  enough 
to  foster  and  maintain  this  opinion.  Eco- 
nomical management,  and  cheap  and  ad- 
vantageous purchases  made  at  a  convenient 
time,  augmented  these  possessions,  and 
especially  so  at  the  period  of  the  crusades. 
The  nobles  who  were  not  able  to  com- 
mand the  necessary  means  for  the  expe- 
ditions to  those  distant  countries,  sold  their 
estates,  or  borrowed  money  upon  them ; 
and  if  they  did  not  return,  or  could  not 
pay  back  what  they  had  borrowed,  the 
property  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
monastery.  Subsequently  too,  in  the  time 
of  violence  or  the  Faustrecht,  many  free- 
men gave  themselves  up,  together  with 
their  possessions,  into  the  hands  of  the 
monasteries,  to  enjoy  their  protection.  And 
finally,  the  monasteries  received  from  the 
pope,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  privi- 
lege to  retain  for  their  own  possession,  the 
bequeathed  property  of  the  deceased  rela. 
lives  of  the  brethren — a  productive  source 
of  wealth ;  while,  likewise,  it  was  made 
into  a  law,  that  neither  nuns  nor  monks 
could  ever  bequeath  any  thing  to  a  third 
party,  but  were  forced  to  leave  their  whole 
inheritance  to  the  monastery  they  belonged 
to.  The  cloisters  even  bestowed  upon 
many  rich  persons  the  title  of  monk,  in 
order  to  inherit  their  property,  and  per- 
mitted  them  afterwards  to  live  beyond  the 
monastery,  the  same  a^  befcr°  If  we 
consider  all  this,  it  is  very  easy  to  compre- 
hend how  the  convents,  by  degrees,  ac- 
quired such  large,  and  some  even  immense 
riches.  The  example  produced  stimula- 
tion, and  their  number  increased  incredibly. 
St.  Bernard,  of  Clairvaux,  who  lived  at 
the  period  of  the  second  grand  crusade, 
founded  alone  one  hundred  and  sixty,  and 
some  cities  contained  even  several  hundred 
monasteries. 

The  urgency  displayed  by  applicants  to 
be  received  in  them  was  extraordinary  ; 
many  sought  admission  from  a  true  spon- 
taneous impulse  of  the  soul,  many  in  order 
to  find  the  means  of  living,  and,  lastly, 
many  were  persuaded  and  forced  into  them 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


L>y  the.ir  relatives.  It  is  true,  in  order  to 
remedy  and  prevent  this  latter  abuse,  the 
canon  law  forbid  expressly  that  any  one 
should  be  forced  to  take  the  vow,  either  by 
imprisonment  or  any  other  measure  of  com- 
pulsion ;  besides  which,  it  was  ordained 
that  a  year's  novitiate  should  always  pre- 
cede taking  the  habit ;  and,  finally,  that  no 
male  should  take  the  vow  of  monk  before 
:iis  fourteenth  year,  nor  any  female  before 
her  twelfth  year;  but  this  age  was  evi- 
dently too  early,  for  many  certainly  took 
the  vow  without  knowing  what  they  were 
doing.  Many  orders  fixed,  also,  a  more  ad- 
vanced age. 

The  occupation  of  the  lay  brothers,  ac- 
cording to  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  con- 
sisted in  agricultural  labor,  the  sciences, 
instruction  of  youth,  transcribing  of  books, 
attendance  on  the  sick,  and  the  exercise  of 
prayer  and  religious  worship.  Their  mode 
of  life  was  very  severe,  their  dress  very 
simple,  while  their  food  was  restricted  to 
merely  the  most  necessary  diet,  and  fre- 
quent fasting  was  strictly  enjoined.  Later 
orders,  which  took  that  rule  as  their  foun- 
dation, but  increased  its  severity,  imposed 
upon  their  members  the  most  rigid  pen- 
ances, including  corporeal  castigation.  The 
order  of  the  Carthusians,  which  was  founded 
by  a  German,  St.  Bruno,  previously  a 
canon  at  Rheims,  in  an  inhospitable  and 
desert  valley  near  Grenoble,  was  consid- 
ered the  most  severe.  Their  raiment  con- 
sisted not  only  of  a  rough  hair  skin  worn 
next  the  flesh,  as  in  many  of  the  other  or- 
ders, but  the  rule  commanded  expressly 
that  it  should  be  a  prickly  one ;  and  they 
were  forbidden  any  covering  for  the  head 
or  the  use  of  shoes  and  stockings.  They 
fasted  three  times  in  the  week,  and  during 
the  eight  holy  weeks  they  took  nothing  but 
bread  and  water,  while  fat  of  all  kinds, 
butter,  oil,  &c.,  "were  wholly  prohibited. 
The  religious  exercises  were  not  interrupted 
either  by  night  or  day,  and  solitude  and 
melancholy  silence  increased  the  rigidness 
of  this  mode  of  life.  And  yet  who  could 
believe  that  notwithstanding  this  severity 
of  the  order,  it  numbered,  two  hundred 
years  after  its  origin,  no  less  than  two  hun- 
dred and  eleven  monasteries  and  nunneries? 
Such  examples  may  serve  us  as  a  proof 
that  the  spirit  of  monastic  life,  far  from  be- 
ing in  contradiction  with  the  manners,  was 
much  rather  a  necessary  feature  of  that  age. 
Their  subsequent  degeneration  into  worldly 


views,  and  the  whole  changed  spirit  of  the 
period,  must  not  cause  the  judgment  of  his- 
tory  to  err  in  its  consideration  of  the  origin 
of  these  institutions. 

The  head  of  the  monastery,  to  whom  a 
blind  and  unconditional  obedience  belonged, 
was  the  abbot ;  under  him  stood  next  the 
prior,  then  the  deacon,  the  butler,  the  stew- 
ard, the  cantor,  &c.  In  the  convents  there 
were  under  the  abbess  similar  female  dig- 
nities.  But  every  convent  of  nuns  had  a 
prior  for  religious  worship,  for  preaching, 
confession,  &c.,  because  these  functions 
could  not  be  transferred  to  women.  Lay- 
brothers  were  also  found  in  monasterie*s, 
who,  without  having  taken  the  entire  vow 
of  monks,  attended  to  the  external  business 
of  the  monastery,  in  order  that  the  otheis 
might  not  be  obliged  to  quit  the  cloister  or 
enclosed  space  of  the  monastery. 

The  monasteries,  according  to  the  ancient 
order  of  church  government,  stood  origin- 
ally under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  of  the  diocese,  and  the 
abbots  were  consecrated  by  them ;  they 
gave  permission  for  the  foundation  of  those 
institutions,  authorized  donations,  the  pur- 
chase and  sale  of  land,  &c.  But  ambition 
and  a  desire  for  greater  independence  be- 
came excited  by  degrees  in  the  cloisters  ; 
they  soon  wished  to  be  dependent  only  upon 
the  popes,  and  the  latter  were  not  unwil- 
ling to  increase  in  this  manner  their  im- 
mediate and  extended  influence.  The  same 
as  with  the  cities  in  Germany  and  Italy, 
who  sought  to  make  themselves  free  from 
the  domination  of  princes,  and  would  only 
be  subject  to  the  emperor,  so  it  was  with 
the  cloisters,  with  respect  to  the  bishops  and 
the  pope.  With  the  temporal  clergy  also; 
the  patrons  and  curators,  the  monasteries 
by  degrees  stood  in  direct  opposition.  Ori- 
ginally they  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  cure 
of  souls.  Shortly,  however,  many  individ- 
uals turned  to  the  monastery  to  confess,  to 
have  children  christened,  &c.  The  clergy 
complained  of  it,  and  several  popes  pro- 
hibited these  incursions  upon  the  diocese 
But  in  the  course  of  time  ibe  monks,  by  the 
favor  of  the  bishops,  and  subsequently  of 
the  popes,  gained  in  this  respect  also  greater 
freedom,  and  exercised  the  clerical  duties 
in  a  far  more  extended  circle  around  them. 

A  third  great  extension  of  their  power 
originated  in  the  circumstance,  that  from 
the  tenth  century  the  previously  solitary 
standing  monasteries  became  gradually 


THE  CLERGY— MONASTERIES,  &c. 


195 


united  into  large  societies  or  congregations, 
belonging  to  the  different  principal  orders. 
In  the  year  910,  arose  that  of  Cluny,  from 
the  monastery  of  that  name  in  Burgundy, 
founded  by  St.  Odo  ;  in  1018,  that  of  the 
Czmaldulensians,  by  Romuald  ;  in  1086, 
that  of  the  Carthusians ;  in  1098,  that  of 
the  Cistercians ;  in  1122.  that  of  the  Pre- 
montratensians,  &c.  These  orders  re- 
ceived from  the  chief  monastery  one  com- 
mon central  and  superior  direction.  All 
monasteries  sent  their  deputies  to  the  chief 
assembly  held  in  this  head  cloister,  and 
here  their  common  affairs  were  deliberated 
upon  and  arranged,  and  resolutions  fixed. 
The  abbot  of  this  head  cloister,  to  whom 
the  remaining  abbots  vowed  obedience,  was 
charged  with  the  execution  of  these  regu- 
lations, inspected  the  cloisters,  regulated 
them,  and  thus  exercised  episcopal  rights 
and  privileges. 

These  congregations  were  in  reality  very 
powerful  associations,  and  infused  into  the 
monastic  life  fresh  vigor  and  strength.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  con- 
sequently two  hundred  years  after  its  foun- 
dation, there  were  2000  other  monasteries 
subject  to  the  parent  monastery  of  Cluny. 
Its  abbot  received  all  the  privileges  of  a 
bishop,  and  placed  in  all  the  dependent 
monasteries  priors  only  from  his  own  monks  ; 
and  he  himself  was  elected  by  them.  In 
Cluny  itself  there  lived  four  hundred  and 
sixty  monks,  and  yet  not  one  was  obliged 
to  remove  from  his  own  cell,  nor  was  any 
chamber  appointed  for  public  use  required 
to  be  cleared  when,  in  1245,  Pope  Inno- 
cent IV.,  with  several  cardinals  and  bish- 
ops, the  king  of  France,  with  his  mother, 
sister,  and  brother,  the  emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople,  the  sons  of  the  kings  of  Castile 
and  Aragon,  all  with  their  suites  were  en- 
tertained as  guests  in  this  splendid  and 
spacious  monastery.  The  order  of  Pre- 
rnontratensians,  founded  by  St.  Norbert  of 
Xante,  at  Premonlre  near  Laon  in  France, 
numbered,  eighty  years  after  its  origin, 
twenty-four  provincial  or  district  directors, 
one  thousand  abbots,  three  hundred  friars, 
and  five  hundred  convents  of  nuns.  Nor- 
bert was  afterwards  archbishop  of  Magde- 
burg, and  introduced  his  rule  into  the  mon- 
asteries of  Magdeburg,  Havelberg,  Bran- 
denburg, &c.,  and  the  order  spread  to  Bo- 
hemia and  Silesia. 

In  opposition  and  as  a  contrast  to  these 
rich  orders,  which  by  their  very  wealth 


had  developed  the  germ  of  degeneration 
and  indolence,  there  was  established  at  the 
commencement  of  the  thirteenth  century 
the  order  of  beggar-monks,  whose  first  law 
was  to  acquire  no  fixed  property  beyond 
their  monastic  walls,  and  to  seek  their  sup- 
port by  receiving  small  gifts.  Thus,  they 
could  never  be  troubled  with  a  desire  after 
temporal  possessions  in  their  practice  of 
self-denial,  poverty,  and  mortification — 
three  essential  virtues  in  this  new  order. 
Francis  of  Assissi,  an  kalian,  founded,  in 
1210,  the  order  of  the  Franciscans,  and 
Dominique  Guzman  a  Spaniard,  that  of 
the  Dominicans,  in  1215,  and  it  was  to  this 
Guzman  that  the  pope  afterwards  trans- 
ferred in  particular  the  inquisition.  In 
1238,  the  Carmelites,  who  had  previously 
had  their  original  seat  upon  Mount  Carmel, 
in  the  east,  came  to  Europe,  and  about  this 
time,  under  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  they  as- 
sumed the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  and 
founded  the  order  of  the  Augustines.  All 
these  orders  speedily,  and  at  once,  spread 
themselves,  but  it  was  only  in  the  following 
centuries  that  their  activity  came  into  full 
operation. 

In  this  manner  the  whole  empire  of  the 
church  had  divided  itself  into  two  portions; 
on  the  one  side  the  whole  of  the  monastic 
clergy,  and  upon  the  other  the  secular 
clergy.  It  is  true  they  were  both  united 
in  their  several  grades,  under  their  superior 
and  supreme  head,  the  pope  ;  but  this 
division  of  the  church  was  not  beneficial. 
Envy,  jealousy,  and  many  vexatious  dis- 
putes were  thereby  produced.  The  closer 
inspection  of  the  bishops  might  have  kept 
the  monasteries  in  a  better  state  of  disci- 
pline and  order.  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux, 
who  belonged  to  the  order  of  the  Cister- 
cians, the  only  order  which  recognised  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  bishops,  writes  upon  this 
subject  thus :  "  The  pope  can  by  virtue  of 
his  power  withdraw  the  bishop  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  archbishop,  and  the  abbot 
from  that  of  the  bishop,  but  it  ought  not  to 
take  place,  for  the  bishops  would  thereby 
only  become  more  arrogant,  and  the  monks 
less  restrainable.  All  superiority,  all  fear, 
would  be  removed,  and  the  whole  struc- 
ture of  the  hierarchy,  which  in  wise  order 
ascends  to  the  pope,  would  be  undermined. 
Beneath  their  humble  demeanor  and  ex- 
pressions are  concealed  the  haughty  dis- 
positions of  the  abbots ;  they  plunder  the 
church  in  order  to  free  themselves  ffDm 


196 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


the  superiority  of  the  bishops,  and  they 
purchase  their  independence  so  that  they 
nay  escape  from  that  obedience  which 
should  be  their  richest  ornament.  Thence 
vhis  desire  of  each  to  rank  next  to  and  as 
immediately  as  possible  after  the  pope,  dis- 
solves the  entire  bonds  of  the  hierarchy." 

It  has  been  shown  how  in  the  course  of 
time  these  institutions  which  had  grown 
from,  and  were  adapted  to  the  necessities 
of  the  age,  and  which,  retained  in  proper 
limits,  might  afterwards,  as  at  first,  have 
continued  to  fulfil  their  object,  degenerated 
from  the  moment  that  their  temporal  exer- 
tions entirely  outweighed  their  intellectual 
efforts,  their  multiplicity  having  thus  be- 
come ten,  nay,  a  hundred  times  too  great. 
For  a  proportionate  number  of  men  of 
really  inspired  minds,  who,  disgusted  with 
the  world,  desired  the  retirement  of  a  mo- 
nastic life,  could  not  possibly  be  found  to  in- 
habit the  cloisters  thus  numerously  distri- 
buted. Thence  thousands  against  their 
wills,  or  urged  by  base  motives,  had 
adopted  the  cowl,  to  which  they  were  now 
forever  bound,  and  this  majority  thus  intro- 
duced the  germ  of  ruin  into  every  institu- 
tion they  entered.  Complaints  of  the  de- 
generation of  the  monks,  of  their  con- 
tinued life  of  sensuality,  dissipation,  and 
other  vices,  became  more  and  more  fre- 
quent. The  ancient  reverence  which  had 
hitherto  surrounded  and  hovered  over  these 
places  of  repose  and  pious  meditation,  now 
gradually  disappeared.  The  inhabitants 
of  cities,  who,  formerly  by  presents  and 
grants,  had  contributed  to  build  and  endow 
the  cloisters  within  their  walls,  became 
now  their  enemies,  when  they  beheld  them 
stretch  their  arms  too  widely  around  them, 
and  when  among  other  rights,  they  found 
them  arrogate  to  themselves  that  of  a  free- 
dom from  all  civil  impost,  not  only  for 
themselves,  but  likewise  for  their  laborers 
and  mechanics.  Between  the  princes  and 
nobles  on  one  side,  and  the  monasteries  on 
the  other,  there  arose  jealousy,  contention, 
and  unjust  reprisals.  In  order  to  protect 
themselves  against  external  power,  as  well 
as  to  exercise  their  rights  of  freedom,  which 
alone  depended  on  the  empire,  the  monas- 
teries were  obliged  to  procure  and  establish 
an  authorized  governor  and  protector  (Schulz 
Dr  Kasl-vogi.)  selected  chiefly  from  among 
the  powerful  nobility  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  for  which  service  they  paid  him  a  con- 
siderable tax.  But  between  the  Vogt  and 


the  monastery  disputes  often  arose,  and 
thus  many  a  monastery  was  severely  op 
pressed  by  the  Vogt,  its  own  chosen  de 
fender.  The  contest  often  forced  itsel 
within  the  very  walls  of  the  monastery  i. 
self.  The  monks  rebelled  against  iheii 
superiors,  misused  and  drove  them  away ; 
the  lay  brothers  revolted  against  the  whole 
monastic  brotherhood,  and  consequently 
violence  and  murderous  scenes  of  blood 
desecrated  those  walls  originally  conse- 
crated to  peace.  Such  is  the  fate  of  every 
human  institution  as  soon  as  it  steps  beyond 
the  true  limits  assigned  to  it  for  the  legitK 
mate  attainment  of  its  appointed  object. 

Nevertheless,  we  must  here  observe,  that 
this  sad  degeneration  in  the  monastic  life 
occurred  less  in  the  age  of  the  Hohenstau- 
fens  than  in  the  following  centuries,  when 
it  becomes  evident  that  all  the  institutions 
of  the  middle  ages  inclined,  and  in  fact 
were  hastening  towards  their  fall  and  ruin. 

It  remains  now  lor  us  in  this  description 
of  the  middle  ages  to  speak  of  that  which 
is  made  its  greatest  objection,  the  misuse  of 
power  to  obtain  justice,  or  even  without  the 
least  justice,  to  offend.  Upon  this  account 
these  times  are  called  those  of  the  Faust- 
recht,  (fist  or  club  law,)  because  the  fist  so 
generally  decided  instead  of  the  word,  and 
force  had  all  the  validity  of  law.  Every 
prince  had  his  fortified  castle,  every  knight 
his  strong  tower,  frequently  upon  an  inac- 
cessible rock,  and  every  city  its  protecting 
walls;  and  confiding  in  these  places  of 
retreat,  every  one  mocked  the  demands  of 
the  other,  often  when  he  was  wrong,  until 
he  was  obliged  to  yield  to  force,  or  was 
himself  destroyed.  Little  attention  was 
paid  to  the  sentence  of  judges,  and,  fre- 
quently, even  the  emperor's  word  was  not 
needed,  and  thus  it  was  that  while  the  em- 
pire enjoyed  profound  peace  with  its  neigh- 
bors, internally  the  most  violent  contests, 
small  and  great,  raged  in  different  places 
at  once,  so  that  in  what  they  called  the 
most  ordinary  state  of  these  fatal  times  of 
anarchy  in  Germany,  thousands  of  indivi- 
duals perished  by  the  sword  annually. 
Such  a  condition  appears  fearful  to  us,  and 
we  cannot  comprehend  how  men  could,  in 
such  a  state,  be  easy  and  cheerful  as  if  in 
perfect  security.  For  it  would  seem  that 
only  those  who  were  violently  and  rapa- 
ciously inclined  held  dominion,  while  peace^ 
ful,  tranquil  men  must  have  lived  in  con- 
stant fear  and  dread  of  destruction.  So 


THE  FAUSTRECHT— JURISPRUDENCE. 


severe  a  judgment,  however,  would  again 
be  based  upon  a  misconception  of  the  spirit 
of  that  age,  while  closer  observation  will 
only  serve  to  soften  and  mellow  down  the 
harsh  and  hideous  colors  of  this  sad  picture. 

The  noble  lived  amidst  his  warlike  arms, 
and  was  always  ready  at  a  moment's  notice 
to  resist  force  by  force  whenever  he  was 
attacked  ;  and  in  so  doing,  he  did  not  con- 
sider himself  verging  at  all  beyond  his  or- 
dinary sphere ;  it  often,  indeed,  afforded  him 
pleasure  to  be  thus  occasionally  aroused 
from  a  temporary  state  of  lethargy.  It 
was  a  realizing  proof  of  that  glory  he  was 
bound  to  sustain,  and  as  it  was  for  honor's 
sake  that  the  very  best  friends  broke  a 
lance  together— often  in  serious  contest — 
in  the  tournaments,  so  likewise  in  the  most 
violent  feuds  honor  was  constantly  the  gui- 
ling  star.  They  did  not  oppose  each  other 
in  battle  with  the  animosity  and  absolute 
hatred  excited  in  enemies  of  later  times, 
for  very  frequently  their  encounter  was 
only  a  more  serious  joust  at  arms,  in  which 
the  opponents  measured  their  strength  with 
<  ach  other  for  life  and  death.  It  was  an 
ordeal  of  God,  an  open  and  energetic  mode 
of  deciding  the  quarrel  which  reason  and 
argument  could  no  longer  terminate,  and 
this  decision  was  regarded  as  that  of  justice 
and  good  right, 

We  have  already  seen  that  besides  this, 
the  cities  excited  by  these  continual  wars 
of  the  Fehde,  or  Fausfrecht,  between  the 
princes  and  nobility,  \v  ere  aroused  to  a  full 
development  of  their  powers,  and  that, 
together  with  industrial  activity,  both  man- 
ly virtue  and  the  feeling  of  civil  honor  had 
become  firmly  united,  and  more  and  more 
energetically  brought  into  action.  When, 
therefore,  the  citizen  was  at  home,  within 
the  walls  of  his  own  city,  he  lived  in  perfect 
security  and  full  of  confidence  in  the  cour- 
age of  his  fellow-citizens ;  and  when  he 
was  travelling  he  protected  and  defended 
himself  with  his  own  arms,  assisted  by  his 
numerous  suite,  with  which,  whenever 
possible,  he  took  care  to  provide  himself. 

The  peasant  was  forced  to  suffer  most 
in  these  feuds,  and  his  condition  was  sadly 
deplorable  during  this  period.  The  battle 
was  most  generally  fought  upon  his  ground, 
and  thus  his  plantations  became  destroyed, 
while  he  himself  was  defenceless  and  with- 
oil  arms,  not  having  even  the  right  to  bear 
Jicm;  being  held  unworthy  of  such  honor 
unless  he  was  wholly  or  at  least  half  freed. 


But,  again,  in  many  cases  he  found  a  pro- 
tection  in  the  point  of  honor  established  in 
chivalry,  which  did  not  permit  an  injury 
or  offence  being  offered  to  a  defenceless 
man,  while  he  likewise  derived  considera- 
ble compensation  from  the  security  he  pos- 
sessed in  being,  with  his  sons,  exempt  from 
military  service.  Besides  which,  the  evils 
of  war  were  less  in  extent,  and  left  much 
fewer  and  less  disastrous  traces  behind  than 
in  our  days ;  for  what  are  all  those  minor 
mischances  of  the  battle-field  compared 
with  the  misery  so  inexpressible  and  in- 
calculable which  a  single  war  in  the  present 
time  disseminates! 

We  should  also  err  very  much  if  we  though  t 
that  in  this  period  of  the  Faustrecht  the 
law  had  no  effect,  that  no  judges  were  ap- 
pointed, or  tribunals  held,  and  that  all  was 
left  to  arbitrary  will.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Fehde-recht,  in  its  peculiar  sense,  was 
connected  with  the  dispensation  of  justice 
and  the  infliction  of  punishment  conforma- 
bly with  the  spirit  of  the  age.  But  to  per- 
ceive and  comprehend  this  better,  we  must 
refer  back  to  the  primitive  judicial  syster;. 
of  the  Germans,  and  prosecute  its  entire 
development  in  the  middle  ages. 

The  German  judicial  system  like  every 
other,  the  object  of  which  is  to  furnish  a 
civil  community  with  order  and  well  beinjr, 
was  based  upon  the  principle  that  peace 
should  reign  bet  ween  all  its  members.  Thus, 
whosoever  had  broken  the  peace  by  murder, 
fire,  robbery,  &c.,  (so  did  nature  interpret 
and  decree  to  the  Germans — who  desired 
not  only  justice  but  speedy  justice,)  it  was 
not  necessary  to  cite  the  criminal  before  a 
tribunal,  but  the  offended  party  was  at 
liberty  to  prosecute  retaliation  until  the 
former  made  compensation,  either  by  mon- 
ey or  otherwise.  Thence  this  ancient  and 
original  right  of  the  freed  man  served  to 
found  the  collective  feudal  system.  The 
individual  who  had  committed  the  crime 
might  be  himself  attacked  on  the  same  day 
and  immediately  after  it  occurred ;  but 
subsequently,  when  the  feudal  code  became 
better  regulated,  a  previous  announcement 
of  three  days  was  necessary.  When,  how- 
ever, the  offender  offered  reparation  of  hon- 
or and  right,  that  is  to  say,  a  just  restitution, 
there  was  then  no  longer  cause  to  seek 
justice  by  force  of  arms. 

In  the  earlier  periods  of  German  antiqui. 
ty,  when  all  justice  proceeded  directly  from, 
and  rested  in  the  grand  and  mighty  union 


198 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


of  all  the  freed  men,  there  existed  no  other 
law  but  tne  common  law  practised  by  the 
count,  together  with  the  community  of  his 
Gau  or  district,  the  Centgrave  or  centenary, 
and  the  Decanus  or  tything  man,  at  the 
head  of  the  communities  of  their  jurisdic- 
tion. Every  judge  held  regularly,  and  at 
certain  periods  of  the  year,  his  Echte  Ding, 
or  court  of  session.  Every  defendant  was 
compelled  to  appear,  the  complaints  were 
made,  the  judge  required  the  verdict  of  the 
community,  and  what  these  decided  by  their 
foreman,  who  was  called  on  for  that  pur- 
pose by  the  judge,  the  latter  declared  as 
sentence.  The  community  consequently 
founded  the  law  which  became  absolute  for 
all  similar  cases  subsequently,  and  every 
freeman  took  a  part  in  its  legislation.  Char- 
lemagne first  introduced  the  Schojfen,  whose 
office  it  was  to  attend  at  every  court  held, 
in  order  to  refer  to  ancient  precedents.  If 
the  condemned  refused  to  submit  to  the  sen- 
tence, the  judge  himself,  together  with  the 
whole  judicial  community,  were  obliged  to 
see  the  sentence  executed.  Thus  the  whole 
system  was  based  upon  the  equalized 
strength  of  the  individuals,  and  the  firm 
union  of  the  collective  community.  Char- 
lemagne by  his  power  knew  how  to  main- 
tain order,  and  prevent  each  from  taking 
'he  law  in  his  own  hands.  Under  his  reign 
no  private  or  distinct  feud  was  heard  of. 
But  Louis  the  Pious,  with  his  sons,  soon 
afterwards  gave  already  an  example  of  vio- 
lence, and  under  the  later  Carlovingians  the 
count  lost  all  his  judicial  authority,  and 
with  it,  likewise,  vanished  more  and  more 
the  power  of  the  communities ;  for,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  clergy,  the  monasteries,  and 
the  high  nobility,  with  their  vassals,  began 
to  assume  to  themselves  particular  privi- 
leges which  removed  them  from  the  ordi- 
nary jurisdiction  of  the  communities,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  exempted  them  from  the 
duty  of  making  the  disobedient  attend  to 
the  sentence  pronounced  thereby ;  and,  on 
the  other,  the  necessary  general  equality 
of  the  community  was  destroyed  by  the 
preponderating  authority  acquired  by  the 
princes,  counts,  and  lords. 

A  superior  power — that  of  a  duke — be- 
came then  requisite  in  order  to  restore  the  vig- 
or of  the  courts.  Ever  since  the  first  empe- 
rors of  the  house  of  Saxony,  Henry  and  Otho, 
had  created  dukes  and  raised  them  to  their 
proper  position,  the  judicial  courts  becam6 
also  restrengthened  and  improved ;  inas- 


much as  they  by  their  summons  issued  tc 
all  their  officials  in  the  districts  they  ruted, 
and  by  the  aid  of  their  own  vassals,  were 
nabled  to  command  the  necessary  respect 
being  shown  to  their  authority.  The  firs 
Salic  emperors  strove,  it  is  true,  to  weaker, 
and  overthrow  the  ducal  authority  in  order 
to  procure  a  more  immediate  influence  for 
the  imperial  power,  but  it  was  exactly  in 
the  powerful  authority  invested  in  these 
emperors  that  justice  and  order  found  their 
support.  But  the  long  and  unfortunate 
reign  of  Henry  IV.,  who  was  continu?.lly 
at  war  with  the  Saxons,  as  well  as  with 
his  rivals  to  the  imperial  throne,  and  finally 
with  his  own  sons,  was  the  cause  of  the 
abandonment  of  justice  once  more  and  of  its 
becoming  a  prey  to  violence. 

Not  but  that  the  majority  of  the  Hohen- 
staufens  possessed  dignity  and  personal  au- 
thority enough  to  re-establish  order,  but  all 
their  energies  being  directed  towards  Italy, 
the  inclination  so  general  in  Germany  for 
the  Faustrecht  could  therefore  be  put  into 
practice  more  easily,  especially  as  the  pow- 
er of  the  dukes,  by  the  jealousy  of  the  em- 
perors, and  of  Frederick  I.  in  particular, 
was  now  destroyed.  The  emperors,  indeed, 
now  sought  to  place  themselves  more  im- 
mediately at  the  head  of  the  judicial  power, 
and  by  maintaining  its  dispensation  them- 
selves, endeavored  to  cause  its  authority  to 
be  respected  by  their  princes  and  counts. 
For  this  purpose  Frederick  I.  established  the 
Landfriede,  or  peace  of  the  country,  which 
was  re-established  by  Frederick  II.,  in 
1235 ;  but  the  confusion  in  the  rights  and 
possessions  of  the  princes  being  already  too 
great,  the  individual  princes  and  nobles  op- 
posed each  other  in  constant  feuds.  Those 
wars  had  acquired  even  a  more  regular 
form  by  the  ordinance  of  Frederick  I.,  which 
decreed  that  the  declaration  of  war  should 
be  announced  three  days  previously,  and 
thus  each  knight  was  enabled  to  find  greater 
opportunity  to  secure  himself  against  the 
judicial  power  of  his  superior. 

After  this  law,  opposition  to  justice,  and 
private  feuds  which,  in  earlier  times,  owing 
to  the  vigor  and  strength  of  the  institutions, 
existed  only  as  exceptions,  became  now  of 
regular  and  established  occurrence.  The 
baneful  spirit  of  disorder  took  the  upper 
hand  at  the  period  of  the  Interregnum,  and 
spread  its  dominion  everywhere  around, 
while  the  noble  chivalric  feeling  of  honor 
and  virtue  which  was  still  maintained 


THE  REICIISFRIEDE— JURISPRUDENCE. 


under  the  Hohenstaufens,  gradually  dis- 
appeared, and  rude  and  brutal  violence 
became  more  and  more  intolerant  and  op- 
pressive. 

Several  of  the  emperors,  whom  the  next 
division  of  our  history  will  name,  endeav- 
ored to  remove  and  overcome  these  evils. 
Rudolphus,  or  Rodolph  of  Hapsburg,  re- 
newed, in  several  diets,  the  law  for  the 
Landfrieden^  (or  peace  of  the  country,)  and 
strove  to  strengthen  it  by  the  association  of 
several  districts,  as,  for  instance,  West- 
phalia, Lower  Saxony,  Thuringia,  Hessia, 
Bavaria,  and  Swabia.  This  was,  in  real- 
ity, a  new  mode  of  giving  strength  to  jus- 
lice,  after  it  was  found  that  the  authority 
of  the  courts,  the  dukes,  and  even  that  of 
the  emperors  had  successively  lost  all 
power.  But  in  a  country  which  was  di- 
vided into  so  many  petty  dominions,  these 
unions  only  fostered  too  easily  a  party 
spirit,  and  consequently  led  to  much  injus- 
tice. The  temporal  nobles  and  knights, 
especially  in  the  southwest  of  Germany, 
took  advantage  thereof,  to  oppose  and  make 
war  against  all  those  powerful  cities,  which 
had  also  concluded  alliances  together.  To 
which  followed  very  speedily,  continued 
dissensions  and  disputes  upon  the  subject 
of  the  election  of  the  emperors,  and  claims 
to  inheritance  in  several  countries :  in 
Liineburg,  Hessia,  the  Tyrol,  &c.  ;  dur- 
ing which  the  nobility  received  greater 
weight,  and  could  arrogate  to  themselves 
the  right  of  justice.  The  emperor  Wen- 
ceslas  and  his  successors  endeavored  to 
unite  all  these  various  associations  into  one 
grand  alliance  of  a  ^eichsfrifj^^  (or  peace 
of  the  empire,)  and  thus  restore  a  superior 
authority,  but  in  vain.  It  was  not  until 
towards  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the 
nobility  were  obliged  by  degrees  to  yield 
to  the  power  of  the  territorial  princes,  and 
when,  especially,  the  vigor  of  chivalry  was 
broken  by  the  development  of  a  new  epoch, 
that,  at  length,  a  solid  and  durable  founda- 
tion was  laid  for  the  dominion  of  justice, 
by  the  emperor  Maximilian's  fixed  law  of 
the  Reichsfriede,  which  secured  the  public 
peace  forever. 

We  will  now  trace  the  prominent  fea- 
tures of  the  forms  of  judicial  proceedings, 
and  of  the  laws  in  the  middle  ages.  Origi- 
nally, the  superior  court  of  jurisdiction 
was  held  only  in  the  particular  county 
ivhich,  in  the  name  of  the  king,  or  under 
die  Konigslami)  exercised  high  judicial 


authority  over  real  property  and  life.  In 
the  centgraviates  (which  were  called,  in 
Lower  Saxony  and  in  Westphalia,  Goge- 
richte)  there  was  only  a  petty  court  of  jus- 
tice, to  which  the  nobles  (Semperfreien) 
were  not  subject ;  for,  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  middle  ages,  we  find  main- 
tained the  rule,  that  every  one,  to  what- 
soever class  he  belonged,  could  be  adjudged 
only  by  his  equals;  so  that  the  general 
grand  principle  of  the  administration  of 
justice  by  the  communities,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  lowest,  continued  to  form  the 
basis  of  all  judicial  proceedings  through- 
out Germany.  The  emperor  could  pass 
no  sentence  which  the  princes  and  nobles 
had  not  approved  ;  and  in  the  class  of  peas- 
ants, even  in  the  courts  of  law,  among  feu- 
datories and  vassals,  no  lord  and  no  supe- 
rior authority  could  adjudge  capriciously 
and  arbitrarily,  inasmuch  as  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  the  approbation  of  the  commu- 
nity. Justice,  therefore,  remained  the  liv- 
ing property  of  the  people,  and  its  code 
was  formed  by  custom  and  descent,  from 
among  themselves.  Written  laws,  indeed, 
were  held  in  dread  and  suspicion,  for  then 
the  proceedings  would  have  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  those  learned  in  jurisprudence. 
The  church  alone  was  ruled  by  written 
laws,  and  almost  in  every  thing  by  the  Ro- 
man code.  Wherever  solitary  written 
laws  were  found,  such  as  privileges,  prin- 
ciples of  jurisprudence  and  rights,  for 
cities  or  particular  districts,  they  were  of 
such  trifling  import  in  their  incomplete 
state,  that,  far  from  being  so  constituted  as 
to  form  sources  of  right  and  fountains  of 
justice,  they  only  served  as  testimonies  to 
prove  that  the  true  law  lived  exclusively 
in  the  people. 

The  first  collection  of  German  laws  was 
formed  by  a  Saxon  nobleman,  Epke  or 
Eike  von  Repgow,  between  1215-18,  and 
which  is  known  under  the  name  of  Sack. 
s£££pi?£?l.  or  Saxon  Mirror.  It  was  a  mere 
private  labor  ;  but  as  the  collection  was 
more  complete  than  the  hitherto  so-called 
laws,  it  came  by  degrees  into  general  prac- 
tice, particularly  in  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries.  The  compiler  was  total- 
ly  ignorant  of  the  Roman  code,  and  did  not 
therefore  adapt  his  composition  to  it,  either 
in  form  or  matter ;  but  those  who  revised 
it  subsequently,  introduced  much  of  the 
Roman  canon  law.  Among  the  compila- 
tions, we  must  include  the  Schwalenspitgel 


200 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 


or  Swabian  Mirror,  and  the  Kaiserreclit  or 
Imperial  Code,  the  latter  of  which,  in  par- 
ticular, contains  the  feudal  system. 

The  Roman  law  was  evidently  intro- 
duced by  the  clergy  into  Germany,  and 
was  adopted  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts. 
It  was  only  in  the  fifteenth  century  that 
'he  municipal  courts  commenced  referring 
ID  it.  The  reawakened  taste  for  the  study 
of  Roman  antiquity,  in  general,  brought 
with  it  also  a  desire  to  investigate  and 
make  researches  into  the  Roman  law-books, 
particularly  in  the  universities;  and  they 
commenced,  in  doubtful  cases,  to  procure 
opinions  and  legal  decisions,  as  well  from 
the  doctors  of  the  universities  as  from  the 
superior  courts.  The  influence  which  the 
gradual  introduction  of  the  Roman  law  had 
upon  the  public  affairs  of  Germany,  will 
become  more  and  more  evident  as  we  pro- 
ceed in  the  course  of  our  history. 

Before  we  conclude  our  description  of 
the  state  of  judicial  affairs  in  the  middle 
ages,  we  will  contemplate  one  of  its  most 
remarkable  institutions,  namely,  that  of  the 
Velun  or  Femgericht,  (secret  executive  tri- 
bunal,) which  formed  itself  in  Westphalia, 
and  which  gives  us  a  profound  view  of  the 
spirit  of  that  period.  But  for  the  sake  of 
connection,  we  must  previously  enter  upon 
and  anticipate  the  limits  of  the  immediate 
succeeding  period. 

In  Westphalia  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
princes  and  nobles  was  wholly  founded 
upon  the  Gogcrichte  or  Centgraviates.  The 
ancient  tribunal,  however,  of  the  Graf  or 
count  had  also  maintained  itself,  although 
much  diminished  in  authority,  as  the  su- 
preme and  royal  court.  The  high  nobility 
and  the  families  comprising  the  original 
free  land  proprietors,  who  had  continued 
free  from  fiefs  and  had  never  become  the 
vassals  of  the  dominant  lords,  could  alone 
be  chosen  as  Schojfen  or  ministers  in  this 
court ;  they  being  called  on  that  account 
Freischoffen,  or  free  ministers  and  judges, 
and  the  court  was  styled  a  free  court  or 
tribunal. 

Again,  as  the  rights  of  the  free  tribunals 
were  attached  to  the  primitive  rights  of  the 
ancient  jurisdiction  of  the  counties,  so  also 
those  of  the  Sluhlherr  were  connected  with 
the  Frei.st.uhls  or  free  courts  ;  for  the  term 
Stuhlherr  was  applied  to  every  prince, 
noble,  and  knight,  who  as  judicial  lord  pos- 
sessed a  jurisdiction  which  did  not  depend 
upon  the  emperor.  The  Stuhlherr  was 


appointed  to  watch  especially  that  justice 
was  done.  For  this  purpose  he  created  a 
Frdgrafor  free  count,  who  was  investec 
with  authority  by  the  emperors,  or  dukes 
and,  after  the  fall  of  Henry  the  Lion,  he 
was  appointed  by  the  archbishop  of  Co- 
logne, as  inheritor  of  the  duchy  of  West- 
phalia. The  free  count  stood  in  the  same 
affinity  to  the  Stuhlherr  as  the  judge  or 
judicial  lord;  the  Freischoffen,  however, 
were  not  servants  of  the  judge,  but  they 
represented  the  ancient  community  or  jury, 
and  the  free  count  was  only  the  president 
or  foreman  who  maintained  order  in  the 
assembly.  All  the  Freischoffen  present 
possessed  the  right  to  participate  in  pro-' 
nouncing  judgment;  a  less  number  than 
seven  members  could  not  form  a  court,  and 
if  there  were  too  many  to  enable  all  to 
take  an  immediate  part  in  the  proceedings, 
the  remainder  formed  the  audience,  of 
whom,  in  the  later  and  more  splendid  pe- 
riods of  this  tribunal,  there  were  assem- 
bled hundreds  and  even  thousands.  Be- 
sides this,  every  free  count  had  his  clerks, 
who  were  called  Fronboten,  and  were  ap- 
pointed to  serve  him  especially,  taking  no 
share  in  the  decisions  of  the  court. 

The  superior  Freistuhl  or  tribunal  was 
at  Dortmund,  that  city  being  a  free  city  of 
the  empire,  and  acknowledging  no  Stuhl- 
herr or  judicial  lord,  owing,  perhaps,  to 
the  antiquity  and  celebrity  of  its  tribunal, 
as  well  as  the  aboriginal  privileges  it  had 
acquired  in  the  time  of  Charlemagne.  In 
Dortmund  all  the  free  counts  assembled 
every  year  to  meet  a  general  chapter, 
where  they  founded  Weisthumer,  or  prin- 
ciples of  law,  examined  the  judgments  of 
the  free  courts,  and  confirmed  or  put  them 
aside  when  an  appeal  was  entered. 

As  these  tribunals  drew  their  origin  from 
those  of  the  ancient  county  courts,  it  will 
be  readily  perceived  that  they  exercised  a 
jurisdiction  over  ordinary  legal  disputes 
which  we  call  civil  actions,  as  also  ovei 
penal  cases,  which  presuppose  a  crime 
But  this  last  division  of  their  office,  at  thai 
time  so  important,  became  still  more  so  in 
the  course  of  time,  in  order  to  enable  their, 
to  exercise  their  whole  power,  in  sup- 
pressing as  much  as  possible  the  savage 
spirit  existing  so  universally  and  among 
all  classes,  to  commit  the  most  serious 
crimes  against  life,  honor,  and  property. 
And  as  they  adjudged  in  the  name  of  tha 
emperor,  and  by  the  law  of  life  and  death, 


THE  VEHMGERICIIT,  OR  SECRET  TRIBUNAL. 


201 


,hey  thought  that  in  all  criminal  affairs 
they  could  extend  their  jurisdiction  beyond 
the  limits  of  Westphalia,  more  especially 
as  not  another  tribunal  existed  throughout 
the  empire  so  authorized,  from  which  to 
obtain  justice  against  criminals.  In  fact, 
such  influence  did  this  tribunal  command, 
that  at  length  no  cases  of  contention,  nor 
even  purely  civil  disputes  arose  which 
could  not  bo  brought  before  them  for  de- 
cision, if  the  defendant  refused  to  do  jus- 
tice and  honor  to  the  plaintiff;  for  thence 
the  crime  became  one  absolutely  confirmed 
against  the  sanctity  of  the  law. 

Thus  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  the  power  of  the  Freigericlite  ex- 
tended over  all  parts  of  Germany,  as  far 
as  Prussia  and  Livonia ;  while  all  com- 
plaints, even  from  the  most  distant  districts, 
were  obliged  to  be  brought  before  a  West- 
phalian  superior  tribunal,  and  it  was  upon 
Westphalian  ground  (styled  in  the  judicial 
language  the  red  earth)  that  the  cited  per- 
son was  forced  to  appear.  Beyond  West- 
phalia no  such  Freistuhl  could  exist,  and 
when  the  emperor  Wenceslas  endeavored 
to  introduce  one  into  Bohemia,  the  free 
counts  declared  that  any  one  participating 
in  such  a  Freistuhl  incurred  the  penalty  of 
death.  Thus  originally  it  was  Westpha- 
lians  alone,  and  of  these  only  the  ancient 
free-born  Sclwffen  or  Stuhlfrcien  that  could 
be  constituted  judges  in  the  tribunal ;  but 
in  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  the  custom 
to  receive  also  other  free,  irreproachable, 
and  honorable  men  as  Schoffen,  and  when 
the  court  itself  extended  its  jurisdiction 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  Westphalia,  every 
free  German  could  become  a  Freischuffe, 
and  princes,  counts,  knights,  and  citizens, 
strove  to  attain  the  honor  of  participating 
in  the  privileges  of  Freischoffen.  A  Frei- 
schoffe  could  be  cited  only  before  a  Frei- 
gericht  or  free  tribunal,  and  great  weight 
was  laid  upon  his  word  and  oath.  But 
they  were  very  careful  and  strict  in  their 
election  of  a  Freischoffe  ;  he  was  obliged 
to  prove  that  he  was  free  born,  of  a  good 
family,  not  suspected  of  any  misdeeds,  and 
was  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  his  rights,  and 
finally  two  Freischoffen  were  obliged  to 
become  his  security.  The  reception  could 
ake  place  only  in  Westphalia.  Even  the 
emperor  himself  could  make  Freischuffen 
only  upon  the  so-called  red  earth,  in  this 
superior  court.  They  had  among  them  a 
very  ancient  secret  sign  and  peculiar  | 


greeting,  whereby  they  recognised  each 
other ;  whence,  or  perhaps  from  their  know 
ledge  of  the  laws,  they  were  called  the  ini- 
tiated, and  in  order  to  make  any  one  know- 
ing or  wise  implied  receiving  him  among 
the  Schoffen  of  the  superior  tribunal ;  even 
emperors  were  subjected  to  this  reception 
for  in  the  year  14*29  the  emperor  Sigis 
mund  was  solemnly  received  among  the 
initiated,  at  the  Freistuhl  of  Dortmund. 
We  may  consider  these  courts  of  justice  in 
Westphalia  at  this  brilliant  moment  of  their 
existence,  when  almost  all  the  princes, 
nobles,  and  knights,  became  Freischoffen, 
as  an  absolute  and  important  association, 
which  in  all  its  ramifications  spread  over 
the  whole  of  Germany,  and  which,  at  a 
time  when  all  the  other  courts  had  lost 
their  power,  acted  as  a  substitute,  and  con- 
stituted a  barrier  against  the  rude  and 
brutal  force  of  crime.  A  solemn  oath 
held  all  the  members  united,  and  not  even 
in  the  confessional  were  they  suffered  to 
reveal  a  secret  of  the  Velim  tribunal ;  nei- 
ther were  the  clergy  themselves  admitted 
into  it. 

Originally  the  non-initiated  were  not  ta- 
ken at  once  before  the  secret  tribunal,  but 
before  the  ancient  tribunal  of  the  commu- 
nity or  jury  court,  (the  Echte  Ding,)  but 
that  was  formed  by  the  same  individuals ; 
the  forms  only  were  less  severe,  and  like- 
wise there  every  one  could  be  present. 
But  if  the  cited  individual  did  not  appear, 
he  was  then  taken  before  the  closed  or  se- 
cret court,  so  called  because  only  those 
initiated  could  be  present,  and  any  non- 
initiated  one  venturing  to  introduce  him- 
self was  immediately  hanged.  The  term 
secret  here,  therefore,  implies  dosed  court, 
and  does  not  indicate  those  terrible  mys- 
teries which  dared  not  be  exhibited  before 
the  light  of  day. 

It  is  equally  as  fabulous  that  these  tri- 
bunals were  held  at  night  in  woods,  cav- 
erns, and  subterranean  vaults,  although  in 
later  times,  when  this  court  had  become 
degenerated,  it  may  have  occurred  in  iso- 
lated cases.  But  the  place  of  meeting  was 
the  ancient  palace  court  of  the  grafs  or 
counts,  generally  upon  a  mountain  or  hill, 
whence  the  eye  coald  command  a  view  of 
the  entire  country  around,  under  the  shade 
of  lime-trees,  and  by  the  light  of  the  sun. 
The  free  graf  or  count  ascended  and  pre- 
sided on  the  seat  of  justice  ;  before  him  lay 
the  sword,  the  symbol  of  supreme  justice. 


202 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES 


at  the  same  time  representing  in  the  form 
of  its  handle  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  the 
next  to  it  the  Wyd,  or  cord,  as  a  sign  of 
right  over  life  and  death.  The  count  then 
opened  and  closed  the  court,  that  is,  he 
called  ."he  Schoffen  around  him  and  as- 
signed to  them  their  places.  They  were 
obliged  to  appear  bareheaded  and  without 
arms  or  armor.  Upon  the  judges'  declara- 
tion that  the  court  was  opened,  peace  was 
commanded  for  the  first,  second,  and  third 
time.  From  that  moment  the  deepest  si- 
lence reigned  throughout  the  assembly,  no 
one  ventured  to  argue  or  converse,  for  by 
so  doing  he  transgressed  against  the  solemn 
decreed  peace  of  the  tribunal.  The  cited 
person,  who  was  also  obliged  to  appear 
without  arms,  stepped  forward,  accompa- 
nied by  his  two  sureties  or  bail,  if  he  had 
any.  The  complaint  made  against  him 
was  stated  to  him  by  the  judge,  and  if  he 
swore  upon  the  cross  of  the  sword,  the  le- 
gal oath  of  purification,  he  was  free  :  "  He 
shall  then  take  a  Krcuzpfennig,  or  farthing 
piece,"  says  an  ancient  work  on  jurispru- 
dence, "  throw  it  at  the  feet  of  the  court, 
turn  round  and  go  his  way.  Whoever  at- 
tacks or  touches  him,  has  then,  which  all 
freemen  know,  broken  the  king's  peace." 
Such  was  the  ancient  proceeding  with  the 
genuine  Freischb'ffen,  who  enjoyed  par- 
ticular privileges,  and  who  were  presumed 
to  have  a  strict  love  for  truth  and  honor. 
In  later  times  that  simple  straightforward 
way  seems  to  have  become  quite  changed, 
for  we  read  in  other  ancient  codes  that  the 
plaintiff  was  entitled  to  oppose  and  destroy 
the  validity  of  the  purifying  oath  of  the 
defendant  by  three  witnesses,  which,  how- 
ever, the  latter  could  again  oppose  with 
six  ;  if  the  accuser  appeared  with  fourteen, 
the  defendant  could  swear  himself  free 
with  twenty-one,  which  was  the  highest 
testimony.  If  the  defendant  acknowledged 
the  crime,  or  if  the  plaintiff  convicted  him 
by  oath  and  witnesses,  the  Sckoffen  then 
gave  judgment.  If  the  criminal  received 
sentence  of  death  he  was  executed  imme- 
diately and  hanged  on  the  next  tree ;  the 
minor  punishments  were  exile  and  fine. 

But  if  the  defendant  did  not  appear  upon 
the  third  citation,  and  could  produce  no 
satisfactory  cause  of  absence  within  a 
stipulated  period,  he  was  considered  as 
having  confessed  his  crime,  or  as  one  de- 
spising justice  and  peace,  and,  therefore, 
having  placed  himself  be~c>nd  the  pale  of 


either,  the  sentence  of  the  Vehm,  whioh 
was  equivalent  to  condemnation,  was  pro- 
nounced against  him ;  and  thence  these 
courts  received  the  name  of  Vehmgericliie. 

The  sentence  pronounced  by  the  court 
was  dreadful :  "  As  now  N.  has  been  ci- 
ted, prosecuted,  and  adjudged  before  me, 
and  who,  on  account  of  his  misdeeds,  1 
summoned  before  me,  and  who  is  so  hard- 
ened in  evil,  that  he  will  obey  neither  hon- 
or nor  justice,  and  despises  the  highest 
tribunal  of  the  holy  empire,  I  verfeme,  or 
denounce  him  here,  by  all  the  royal  power 
and  force,  as  is  but  just,  and  as  is  com- 
manded by  the  Konigsbann,  or  royal  ban. 
I  deprive  him,  as  outcast  and  expelled,  of 
all  the  peace,  justice,  and  freedom  he  has 
ever  enjoyed  since  he  was  baptized  ;  and 
I  deprive  him,  henceforward,  of  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  four  elements,  which  God  made 
and  gave  as  a  consolation  to  man,  and  de- 
nounce him  as  without  right,  without  law, 
without  peace,  without  honor,  without  se- 
curity j  I  declare  him  condemned  and  lost, 
so  that  any  man  may  act  towards  him  as 
with  any  other  banished  criminal.  And 
he  shall  henceforward  be  considered  un- 
worthy, and  shall  enjoy  neither  law  nor 
justice,  nor  have  either  freedom  in,  01 
guidance  to  any  castles  or  cities,  except- 
ing  consecrated  places.  And  I  herewith 
curse  his  flesh  and  his  blood  ;  and  may 
his  body  never  receive  burial,  but  may  it 
be  borne  away  by  the  wind,  and  may  the 
ravens  and  crows,  and  wild  birds  of  prey 
consume  and  destroy  him.  And  I  adjudge 
his  neck  to  the  rope,  and  his  body  to  be 
devoured  by  the  birds  and  beasts  of  the  air, 
sea,  and  land ;  but  his  soul  I  commend  to 
our  dear  Lord  God,  if  He  will  receive 
it." 

According  to  some  customs,  after  he  had 
cast  forth  the  rope  beyond  the  walls  of  the 
court,  the  count  was  obliged  to  pronounce 
these  words  three  times,  and  every  time  to 
spit  on  the  earth  with  the  collective  Schof- 
fen, as  was  the  usage  when  any  one  was 
actually  executed.  The  name  of  the  con- 
demned criminal  was  then  inserted  in  the 
book  of  blood,  and  the  count  then  con- 
cluded the  sentence  as  follows :  "  I  com- 
mand all  kings,  princes,  lords,  knights,  and 
squires,  all  free  counts,  and  all  free,  true 
Schoffen,  and  all  those  who  belong  to  the 
holy  empire,  that  they  shall  help  with  all 
their  power  to  fulfil  this  sentence  upon  this 
banished  criminal,  as  is  but  just  to  the  so. 


THE  VEHMGER1CI1T,  OR  SECRET  TRIBUNAL. 


203 


cret  tribunal  of  the  holy  empire.  And  no- 
thing  shall  cause  them  to  withhold  from  so 
doing,  neither  love  nor  afFeetion,  relation- 
ship," friendship,  nor  any  tiling  whatever  in 
this  world." 

The  banished  man  was  now  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  criminal  condemned  to  death, 
over  whom  execution  lowered.  Whosoever 
received  or  even  warned  him,  was  also 
taken  before  the  tribunal  of  the  free  count. 
The  assisting  members  of  the  court  were 
bound  by  a  terrible  oath,  and  by  a  heavy 
sentence  of  death,  to  conceal  the  judgment 
which  had  been  passed  against  any  one ; 
that  is  to  say,  to  make  it  known  to  nobody 
but  one  initiated  ;  and  even  if  the  con- 
demned man  was  a  brother  or  father,  the 
member  durst  not  warn  him  thereof.  Be- 
sides which,  each  initiated  one  to  whom  the 
sentence  was  authentically  conveyed,  was 
bound  to  help  to  put  it  in  execution.  Gen- 
erally a  letter  of  outlawry  was  given  to 
the  plaintiff,  with  the  seal  of  the  free  count 
and  seven  SchofFen,  that  he  might  pursue 
the  guilty  party ;  the  oath  of  three  Frei- 
schofFen  sufficed  to  confirm  the  sentence. 
Wherever  the  Verfemte,  or  banished  man 
was  found,  whether  in  a  house,  in  the  open 
street,  the  high  road,  or  in  the  forest,  he 
was  hanged  at  the  next  tree  or  post,  if  the 
servants  of  the  secret  court  could  obtain 
possession  of  him.  As  a  sign  that  he  was 
put  to  death  in  execution  of  the  holy  Vehm, 
and  was  not  murdered  by  robbers,  they  left 
him  all  that  he  bore  about  him,  and  stuck  a 
knife  in  the  ground  close  beside  him.  Be- 
sides this,  the  SchofFen  of  this  secret  court 
possessed  the  privilege  of  hanging  without 
a  trial  every  criminal  taken  in  the  fact,  if, 
faithful  to  the  laws  of  honor,  they  took  no- 
thing from  him  which  they  found  about 
him,  and  left  behind  the  sign  of  the  Vehm. 

We  are  astonished  when  we  contemplate 
this  terrific  and  mighty  power  of  the  Schof- 
fen alliance,  and  can  at  the  same  time 
easily  comprehend  how  the  most  extraor- 
dinary traditions  of  this  Vehmgericht,  or 
secret  tribunal,  based  upon  their  nocturnal 
assemblies,  their  mysterious  customs,  their 
initiation  and  course  of  justice,  together 
with  their  condemnation  and  execution  of 
the  criminal,  have  been  preserved  in  the 
mouths  of  the  people,  for  even  the  plain 
historical  descriptions  thereof  are  sufficient- 
ly striking.  An  association  of  several  thou- 
sand men  spread  throughout  the  whole  of 
Germany,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 


classes,  (for  we  find  examples  of  commor 
fivrmen,  mechanics,  and  citizens,  being 
clothed  with  the  dignity  of  a  free  count, 
and  that  even  princes  and  knights  did  not 
disdain  to  assist  as  SchofFen  under  their 
presidency,)  such  a  society  whose  member* 
recognised  each  other  by  secret  signs,  anc 
by  a  solemn  oath  were  bound  to  support 
each  other,  who  adjudged  and  punished  in 
the  name  of  the  emperor  and  the  empire, 
who  reached  the  criminal  even  after  an 
elapse  of  years,  and  in  whatever  corner  he 
might  seek  refuge,  and  finally  who  were 
not  subjected  to  give  any  account  for  what 
they  did  if  only  the  terrific  knife  was  pres- 
ent as  evidence :  what  power,  we  repeat, 
did  not  this  alliance-command  against  the 
evil-minded,  and  what  a  powerful  support 
and  guarantee  might  it  not  have  been  for 
the  peace  and  justice  of  the  empire  ?  The 
prince  or  knight  who  easily  escaped  the 
judgment  of  the  imperial  court,  and  from 
behind  his  fortified  walls  defied  even  the 
emperor  himself,  trembled  when  in  the  si- 
lence of  the  night  he  heard  the  voices  of 
the  FreischofFen  at  the  gate  of  his  castle, 
and  when  the  free  count  summoned  him  to 
appear  at  the  ancient  malplatz  or  plain,  un- 
der  the  lime-tree,  or  on  the  bank  of  a  rivu- 
let upon  that  dreaded  soil,  the  Westphalian 
or  red  ground.*  And  that  the  power  of 
these  free  counts  was  not  exaggerated  by 
the  mere  imagination,  excited  by  terror,  nor 
in  reality  by  any  means  insignificant,  is 
proved  by  a  hundred  undeniable  examples, 
supported  by  records  and  testimonies,  that 
numerous  princes,  counts,  knights,  and 
wealthy  citizens,  were  seized  by  these 
SchofFen  of  the  secret  tribunal,  and  in  exe- 
cution of  its  sentence,  perished  by  their 
hands. 

Such  power  placed  in  human  hands  with- 
out the  protecting  check  of  publicity  and 
responsibility  could  not  long  exist  without 

*  We  must  add  here,  that  the  summons  was  execu- 
ted by  two  Schoffen  who  were  the  bearers  of  the  free 
count's  letter.  If  they  did  not  succeed  in  finding  the 
accused,  because  he  was  living  either  in  a  city  or  a  for- 
tress, where  they  could  not  safely  enter,  they  were  au- 
thorized to  execute  the  summons  in  the  night.  They 
stuck  the  letter,  enclosing  a  farthing  piece,  in  the  panel 
of  the  gate  of  the  castle,  and  cut  off  three  chips  from 
the  same  gate,  which  they  handed  to  the  free  count  as 
a  testimony  that  they  had  delivered  the  summons,  hav- 
ing, when  leaving  the  gate,  cried  out  to  the  sentinel  on 
the  walls  that  they  had  deposited  there  a  letter  for  his 
lord.  If  the  accused  was  a  man  without  any  regular 
place  of  residence,  and  if  he  could  not  be  met  with,  he 
was  summoned  at  four  different  cross  roads,  where  at 
each  point,  the  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  they  at- 
tached a  summons,  enclosing  in  each  the  royal  petty 
coin. 


204 


THE  MIDDLE  AGES— RUDOLPHUS  I.  OF  HAP§BURG. 


misuse.  In  the  great  development  and  ex- 
tension of  the  association,  it  could  not  be 
avoided,  but  that  unworthy  individuals 
should  be  received  as  members,  who  used 
the  power  confided  to  them  for  the  sole  satis- 
faction of  their  revengeful  and  baser  pas- 
sions.  At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century 
many  complaints  arose  in  several  parts  of 
the  empire,  and  particularly  on  the  part  of 
the  clergy,  against  these  free  courts;  and 
n-e  find  that  the  whole  spirit  of  modern 
times  began  to  work  against  them  far  more 
than  these  charges  upon  isolated  events. 
The  power  of  the  lords  of  the  soil  had  now 
become  increased  and  confirmed ;  they 
could  not  endure  that  their  subjects  should 
be  judged  by  a  strange,  although  originally 
imperial  tribunal.  Thence  arose  alliances 
of  princes,  nobles,  knights,  and  cities, 
against  the  Westphalian  courts,  and  when 
the  law  for  the  lasting  peace  of  the  land, 
the  new  imperial  chamber  of  justice,  and 
a  new  criminal  court  were  introduced,  the 


study  of  law  and  jurisprudence  became 
substituted  for  a  knowledge  of  the  ancient 
customs ;  and  when  crimes  againsi  the 
peace  of  the  land  and  against  obedience  to 
the  authorities  ceased,  then  did  the  powei 
of  the  secret  tribunal  evaporate  of  itself 
without  any  formal  abrogation,  so  that 
it  is  equally  difficult  to  trace  the  last  as  il 
is  to  fix  the  first  year  of  its  existence.* 


*  In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  association  contended 
for  its  rights  and  privileges,  and  the  struggle  still  con- 
tinued in  the  seventeenth  century,  although  much 
weakened  and  the  scene  confined  to  Westphalia.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  there  were  left  only  a  few 
traces,  the  ruins  of  the  past ;  its  recollections  and  its 
signs,  however,  still  continue  to  exist  among  the  peas- 
ants of  certain  provinces  in  Westphalia.  At  Gehmen, 
in  Miinster,  the  secret  tribunal  was  only  extinguished 
entirely  by  the  French  legislation  in  1811 ;  and  even  to 
the  present  day,  some  of  the  free  peasants  who  have 
taken  the  oath  of  the  SchorTen,  meet  annually  at  a  par- 
ticular spot  around  the  Freistuhl,  and  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  extract  from  them  the  secret  oath.  The 
principal  signs  are  indicated  by  the  letters  S.  S.  G.  G., 
which  signify  stock  (stick,)  stein  (stone,)  gras  (grass,) 
grein  (tears;)  but  we  cannot  trace  the  mysterious 
meaning  these  words  convey  in  connection  with  the 
Vehmgericht. 


FIFTH    PERIOD. 


FROM  RUDOLPHUS  I.  OF  HAPSBURG  TO  CHARLES  V. 


1273—1520 


THE  sources  of  the  history  of  this  period  are  again 
4ill  more  scanty  than  in  that  of  the  Hohenstaufens, 
consisting  chiefly  of  special  chronicles  rather  than  of 
general  historical  works,  constituting  one  entire  and 
continuous  representation  of  events,  added  to  which 
they  are  all,  or  for  the  greater  portion,  written  in  the 
Latin  tongue.  The  first  we  have  to  mention  are  those 
works  of  general  history  which  appear  in  the  form  of 
chronicles  or  annals,  and  which  present  but  a  meager 
portion  of  German  history.  The  most  important  are  : 

1.  Hermann,  a  monk  of  Attaich,  known  under  the 
name  of  Henricus  Sterv  ;  Chronicle  1147-1300. 

2.  Annales  Colmarienses,  1211-1303;  in  the  collec- 
tion of  Urstisius. 

3.  Matthias  of  Neuenburg  ;  Chronicle  as  far  as  1353, 
continued  by  Albert  of  Strasburg  (Albertus  Argenti- 
nensis)  to  1378  ;  in  Urstisius. 

4.  Johnyitododuranus;  Chron.  1215-1348  ;  in  Eccard. 

5.  Gobelinus  Persona,  deacon  of  Birkefeld ;  Review 
of  the  World  (Cosmodromium)  to  1418  ;  in  Meebom. 

G.  Dieterich  Engelhusen  ;  Chronicle  to  the  year  14-20 ; 
in  Leibnitz  and  Menken. 

7.  Andreas,  a  Presbyterian  of  Ratisbon ;  Chronicle 
to  1442  ;  in  Eccard. 

8.  Werner  Rolewink  of  Laer,  a  Carthusian  monk  in 
Cologne  ;  Chronicle  to  1470,  continued  by  Hans  Lind- 
uer  to  1514;  in  Pistorius. 

9.  Hermann  Korner,  Domin,  in  Ltibeck ;  Chronicle 
to  1435 ;  in  Eccard. 

10.  Ilartmann  Schedel,  a  doctor  in  Nuremberg; 
Chronicle  to  1492  ;  printed  separately. 

11.  John  Nauklerus,  professor  in  Tiihgen  ;  Universal 
H  istory,  to  1500  ;  printed  separately. 


12.  John   of    Trittenheim,  (Joannes  Trithemius,/ 
from  the  vicinity  of  Treves,  abbot  of  Sponheim  and 
Wurzburg,  who  died  in  1516 :  his  works  are  very  im- 
portant, and  have  been  edited  by  Freher.    The  most 
valuable  among  them  is  the  Chronicle  of  the  Monas- 
tery of  Hirschau  in  Wurtemberg  (published  at  SL 
Gallen  in  1630;   Chronic.  Hirsaugiense)  830-1514;  in 
which  the  historian  has  interwoven  the  whole  history 
of  Germany. 

13.  Albert  Kranz,  canon  in  Hamburg,  who  died  in 
1517,  wrote  the  history  of  Northern  Germany,  in  three 
parts:   Metropolis,  Saxonia,  et  Vandalia;  'a  learned 
man,  and,  for  his  time,  an  independent  thinker. 

As  especial  and  entire  works  on  Germany  may  be 
mentioned : 

14.  The  State  letters  of  the  Emperor  Rudolphus  L; 
edited  by  Gerbert,  1772,  and  Bodmann.  1806. 

15.  The  Biography,  &c.,  of  the  Emperors  Rudolphus 
I.,  and  Albert  I.,  written  by  Gottfried  of  Ensningen,  by 
desire  of  Magnus  Engelhard,  a  citizen  of  Strasburg. 

16.  Albert  Mussatus,  professor  in  Padua,  and  who 
died  in  1330,  wrote  De  Gestis  Ilenrici  VII.  Imp.,  and 
History  of  Italy,  after  the  death  of  Henry  VII. 

17.  Caroli  IV.,  Commentarius  de  vita  sua  ad  filios. 

18.  ^Eneas  Sylvius  Piccolornini,  subsequently  Pope 
Pius  II.,  and  who  died  in  the  year  1464,  produced  : 

a.  The  history  of  his  own  times  from  1405-63,  which 
he  caused  to  be  written  by  his  own  private  secretary 
J.  Gobelin,  of  Bonn. 

b.  The  history  of  the  ecclesiastical  council  of  Basle, 
written  by  himself;  as  also 

c.  The  history  of  the  Emneror  Frederick  III.,  and 

d.  Various  minor  works,  among  which  Lie  Descrii- 


RUDOLPHUS  I.— HIS  GOOD  AND  NOBLE  CHARACTER. 


205 


tio  de  Ritu,  Situ,  Mori! HIS  <>t  Conditione  Germanize, 
and  numerous  letters,  all  of  which  have  been  collected 
ami  repeatedly  printed. 

19.  Pertz's  Script  a  rerum  A  i  striae,  contains  many 
valuable  sources  lor  the  history  of  the  Austrian  empe- 
rooL 

•jii.  J.  Joach.  Miiller  has  co.lected  the  most  impor- 
tant transactions  of  the  diets  of  the  Germanic  empire, 
especially  of  those  under  Frederick  III.  and  Maximil- 
ian I.,  published  in  Jena,  1701),  and  subsequently. 

In  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  we  find 
historical  works  in  the  German  language  become 
more  frequent : 

111  Ottocar  of  Hcrnegk  wrote  a  Chronicle  in  rhyme, 
which  contains  the  entire  epoch  of  the  Interregnum 
and  the  history  of  the  Kmperors  Rudolphus,  Adolphus, 
Albert,  and  Henry  VII.,  as  tar  as  1301) ;  a  work  which 
although  not  strictly  historical,  is  nevertheless  worthy 
to  be  referred  to  as  a  history  of  those  times.  It  is  re- 
printed in  Pertz's  History  of  Austria. 

22  Jacob  of  Konigshoven,  an  ecclesiastic  in  Stras- 
burg,  who  died  in  1 420,  wrote  a  Chronicle  of  Alsace 
and  Strasburg  in  th»'  Swabian  dialect,  which  was  ed- 
ited by  Schiller,  and  published  with  his  notes  in  1698. 

•2:1.  Eberhard  Windeck,  of  Mentz,  private  secretary 
to  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  wrote  a  biography  of  that 
monarch  ;  in  Menken. 

24.  J.  Rothe,  domin.  in  Eisenach,  wrote  a  Chronicle 
of  Thuringia,  in  the  low  Saxon  dialect,  as  far  as  1434 ; 
continued  by  an  anonymous  writer  to  1440. 

'J.I.  The  Limpurgian  Chronicle  from  1336-89,  which 
contains  much,  especially  of  the  history  of  manners, 
customs,  &c.,  and  has  been  several  tunes  reprinted. 

2i>.  Conrad  Bothe,  chronicler  of  the  Saxons  to  1489, 
in  the  low  German  dialect ;  in  Leibnitz. 

27.  Diebold  Schilling,  about  1480,  history  of  the  wars 
of  Burgundy ;  very  well  written. 

2H.  Melchior  Pn'nzing  (of  Nuremberg,  born  in  1481, 
Imperial  Counsellor,  and  subsequently  Provost  in 
Mentz)  sang  the  history  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian 
L.  under  an  adopted  title  :  "  Geuerlichkeiten  and  Ge- 
Bchichten  des  loblichen  streitbaren  Helds  und  Ritters 
Tewrdanks."  Nuremberg,  1517,  and  subsequently 
ollen  reprinted. 

2'.i.  Marcus  Treizsauerwein,  private  secretary  to  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  I.,  has  presented  us  likewise 
with  a  description  of  that  monarch's  great  deeds  in  his 
work:  der  \Veiskunig,  1514;  and  for  which  the  empe- 
ror himself  furnished  much  of  the  materials. 

:«).  Bilibald  Pirkheimer  (of  Eiclistiidt,  boni  1470. 
Counsellor  in  Nuremberg,  and  subsequently  Imperial 
Counsellor,  died  in  1530)  wrote  his:  Hist,  belli  Helvet- 
ic!, and  Currus  triumphalis,  honori  Max.  I.  inventus; 
together  with  many  other  works. 

31.  Finally,  we  must  mention  two  works  by  Sebas- 
tian Franks,  (born  1500,  died  1545,)  the  Zeitbuch,  1531, 
and  Teutsche  Chronik,  1538. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

EMPERORS  OF  DIFFERENT  HOUSES. 1273-1347. 

Rudolphus  I.  of  Hapsburg,  1273-91— Adolphus  I.  of 
Nassau.  1292-98— Albert  I.  of  Austria,  1298-1308— 
Switzerland— Confederation  of  the  Swiss — Gessler— 
William  Tell— Henry  VII.  of  Luxemburg,  1308-13— 
Frederick  of  Austria.  1314-30,  and  Lewis  of  Bavaria, 
1314-47— Switzerland— the  Battle  of  Morgarten,  1315 
—The  Battle  of  MuhWorf,  1322— The  First  Electoral 
Alliance,  1338— Death  of  Lewis,  1347. 

THE  state  of  commotion  in  Germany 
continued  to  grow  daily  more  violent;  and 
when,  in  1272,  Richard  of  England  died, 
and  Alphonso  took  not  the  least  interest  in 
he  German  empire,  the  princes  at  length, 
in  the  year  1273,  held  an  imperial  diet  at 


Frankfort,  in  order  to  choose  an  emperor 
who  should  meet  the  views  of  every  one. 
It  was  necessary  that  he  should  be  great 
and  wise,  in  order  that  he  might  restore 
the  imperial  dignity ;  but  at  the  same  time 
not  powerful,  lest  the  princes  should  have 
reason  of  apprehension  for  the  security  of 
their  own  power.  To  unite  both  requisites 
was  a  difficult  matter;  however,  good  for- 
tune  determined  the  election  to  the  advan- 
tage of  the  country.  In  Switzerland  lived 
Count  Rudolphus  of  Hapsburg,  whose  ter- 
ritories and  subjects  were  not  very  exten- 
sive or  numerous,  but  who  by  his  valor, 
prudence,  and  integrity,  had  obtained  the 
respect  of  the  higher  orders,  and  of  the 
people  generally.  He  had  been  formerly 
the  companion  and  friend  of  the  emperor 
Frederick  II.,  who  in  the  year  1218,  had 
personally  stood  godfather  to  him,  and  in 
one  of  his  campaigns  in  Italy,  possibly 
after  the  glorious  battle  at  Cortenuova,  had 
conferred  upon  him  the  order  of  knight- 
hood. During  the  turbulent  time  of  the 
Interregnum,  he  lived  on  his  family  es- 
tates, and  defended,  to  the  utmost  of  hia 
power,  all  who  required  his  assistance 
against  the  oppression  and  injustice  of  the 
rapacious  knights.  He  was  for  a  long 
time  the  protector  and  governor  of  the  cities 
of  Zurich  and  Strasburg,  and  of  the  towns 
situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps  of  St.  Gott- 
hard.  In  his  manners  he  displayed  the 
natural  simplicity  and  frankness  of  a  good 
and  noble  man ;  and  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  pope,  the  archbishop  of  Cologne, 
when  speaking  of  him,  says  :  "  He  reveres 
the  church,  he  is  a  lover  of  justice,  a  man 
of  prudent  counsels  and  piety,  beloved  of 
God  and  man,  possessing  an  agreeable 
form  and  countenance,  and  which  although 
of  a  stern  expression,  still  when  he  speaks 
is  invested  with  an  air  of  affability  which 
inspires  confidence  ;  he  possesses  besides, 
a  hardy  constitution,  and  in  his  wars 
against  the  faithless  he  has  always  been 
successful." 

He  was  more  especially  held  in  high 
esteem  by  Werner,  archbishop  of  Mentz, 
for  when  on  one  occasion  this  prelate  took  a 
journey  to  Rome  for  the  purpose  of  receiv- 
ing his  archbishop's  robe,  deeming  the 
passage  through  the  mountains  of  Switzer- 
land unsafe,  he  besought  Count  Rudolphus 
to  escort  him  from  Strasburg  to  the  Alps 
and  back.  This  Rudolphus  did  with  all 
the  chivalric  faith  of  a  true  knight.  During 


<H)6 


THE  CORONATION—  RUDOLPHUS  AND  OTTOCAR 


BOHEMIA. 


the  journey  the  archbishop  became  gradu- 
ally acquainted  with  his  great  and  rare 
virtues,  and  when  he  was  about  to  leave  his 
noble  defender,  he  said,  that  he  only  wished 
to  live  long  enough  to  be  able  in  some  de- 
gree to  reward  him  for  his  services  ;  and 
this  opportunity  had  now  arrived.  He  so 
urgently  recommended  Count  Rudolphus 
of  Hapsburg  for  the  imperial  dignity, 
that  the  German  princes  elected  him  at 
once  to  the  throne  of  the  empire. 

Rudolphus,  who  little  expected  such  an 
elevation,  was  at  that  moment  engaged  in 
war  with  the  city  of  Basle,  in  order  to  re- 
instate in  that  city,  that  portion  of  the  no- 
bility  who  called  themselves  the  "  Sterners," 
and  who  had  been  expelled  by  the  other 
party,  the  "  Psittichers."  It  was  at  midnight 
that  the  burgrave  of  Nuremberg,  Fred- 
erick of  Hohenzollern,  Rudolphus's  bro- 
ther-in-law, arrived  at  the  camp,  and 
brought  the  unexpected  intelligence.  Ru- 
dolphus, at  first,  did  not  believe  it ;  but 
when  the  marshal  of  the  empire,  Henry  of 
Pappenheim,  arrived,  he  sent  the  burgrave 
into  the  city,  with  an  offer  of  peace  to  the 
citizens,  he  being  now,  as  he  said,  the  more 
powerful  party.  They  accepted  it  with 
gladness,  and  were  the  first  to  congratulate 
him  upon  his  elevation.  He  then  went  to 
Frankfort,  and  thence  to  Aix-la-Chapelle, 
where  he  was  publicly  crowned.  After 
the  coronation  the  princes  present,  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  custom,  rendered  homage 
to  the  new  emperor  for  their  estates.  It  so 
happened,  that  there  was  no  sceptre  at 
hand,  probably  because,  owing  to  the  many 
foreign  emperors,  and  the  consequent 
changes  in  the  government,  ;he  state  jewels 
were  dispersed  ;  great  concern  was,  there 
fore,  manifested,  as  to  what  the  emperor 
could  possibly  use  for  performing  the  cere- 
mony of  enfeoffment.  Rudolphus  there- 
upon removed  the  difficulty,  and  snatching 
up  a  crucifix,  he  employed  that  instead  of 
the  sceptre  :  "  For,"  said  he,  "  a  symbol  by 
which  the  world  was  redeemed,  may  well 
supply  the  place  of  a  sceptre  ;"  language 
which  pleased  all  present. 

The  new  emperor  began  his  reign  with 
great  rigor,  but  at  the  same  time  with  such 
paternal  benevolence,  that  the  meanest  of 
his  subjects  experienced  the  good  results 
therefrom  :  his  new  dignity  effecting  no 
change  in  the  greatness  and  firmness  of  his 
character  ;  and  even  in  his  outward  ap 
oearance  he  -emained  as  simple  and  unos- 


tentatious as  before.  So  little  did  he  regard 
external  display  and  magnificent  apparel, 
hat  he  did  not  hesitate,  especially  in  his 
great  expeditions,  to  wear,  equally  with  his 
companions  in  arms,  an  inferior  cloak,  and 
even  with  his  own  hands  to  repair  his  OWL 
doublet.  Once  only  we  find,  by  his  ac- 
counts, that  he  bestowed  a  large  sum  of 
money  upon  dress  for  himself,  his  consort, 
and  children,  which  occurred  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  first  interview  with  the  pope. 

In  order  that  he  might  at  once  heal  and 
radicate  the  disorders  of  the  kingdom,  he 
sent  the  following  communication  to  all  the 
vassals  and  loyal  subjects  of  his  realm  :  "  I 
now  intend,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  to  re- 
establish peace  throughout  this  country  so 
long  distracted,  and  to  take  under  my  pro- 
tection against  farther  tyranny  all  those 
who  have  hitherto  groaned  under  oppres- 
sion ;  to  promote  which  object  I  confide  in 
the  efficient  co-operation  of  my  estates." 

He  suited  the  action  to  the  word,  and 
travelled  throughout  the  countries  of  Fran- 
conia,  Swabia,  and  the  borders  of  the 
Rhine,  and  wherever  he  met  with  a  peace- 
breaker  who  would  not  conform  to  order,  he 
punished  him  with  all  the  severity  of  the 
law.  This  was  the  case  especially  with 
regard  to  the  more  petty  robbers  and  dis- 
turbers ;  but  Rudolphus  clearly  perceived 
that  if  the  imperial  dignity  was  to  be 
clothed  with  its  original  and  proper  impor- 
tance, the  great  princes  must  likewise  be 
compelled  to  perform  their  duties,  and  pay 
him  due  homage.  King  Ottocar,  of  Bo- 
hemia, however,  would  hear  nothing  of  any 
such  subjection  to  the  emperor  \  he  was  a 
much  more  powerful  prince  than  the  count 
of  Hapsburg,  possessing  in  addition  to  Bo- 
hemia, also  the  Austrian  estates,  which,  after 
the  extinction  of  the  ducal  house  of  Baben- 
berg,  he  had  obtained  partly  by  inheritance 
and  partly  by  money  and  force  of  arms, 
and  he  by  no  means  felt  bound  to  yield. 
Moreover,  the  Austrian  estates  complained 
bitterly  of  his  tyranny  and  oppression. 
Rudolphus,  therefore,  commenced  by  sum- 
moning Ottocar  to  appear  at  the  imperial 
diet  of  Nuremberg,  in  1274,  there  to  take 
the  usual  oath  of  allegiance.  But  the 
king  came  neither  then  nor  to  a  second  diet 
at  Wiirzberg  ;  and  to  a  third  held  at  Augs. 
burg,  in  the  year  1275,  he  only  sent 
Bernard,  bishop  of  Seckau,  as  his  repre- 
sentative, who  was,  however,  so  daring  as 
to  begin  a  Latin  speech  in  the  presence  of 


RUDOLPHUS'S  GRAY  DOUBLET— OTTOCAR'S  HUMILIATION. 


207 


ihe  assembled  princes ;  in  which  lie  en- 
deavored to  prove  that  the  emperor  R,u- 
'.iolphus's  election  was  not  legitimate. 
Rudolphus  however  interrupted  him,  say- 
ing, "  My  lord  bishop,  if  you  have  any 
affairs  to  settle  with  my  clergy,  speak  by 
all  means  in  Latin,  but  if  you  have  to  say 
ought  touching  me  or  the  privileges  of  my 
empire,  speak  as  is  the  custom,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  country,"  and  the  princes, 
when  they  understood  that  he  intended  to 
impeach  Rudolphus's  election  to  the  em- 
pire, could  scarcely  refrain  from  turning 
him  out ;  but  the  bishop  saved  them  the 
trouble  by  departing  of  his  own  accord,  and 
ne  hastened  away  from  Nuremberg. 

The  ban  of  the  empire  was  now  pro- 
nounced against  the  rebellious  Ottocar  ;  but 
he  was  so  insolent  and  faithless,  that  he 
ordered  the  heralds  who  had  brought  to  him 
the  declaration  of  the  ban,  to  be  tied  up  at 
the  gates  of  Prague.  He,  however,  soon 
suffered  the  punishment  due  to  him.  Ru- 
dolphus, in  the  year  1276,  suddenly  made  j 
an  attack  upon  Austria,  and  subdued  the 
country  as  far  as  Vienna,  which  he  be- 
sieged. Ottocar  encamped  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Danube,  thinking  himself  se- 
cured by  the  width  of  the  river  ;  but  Ru- 
dolphus, to  the  astonishment  of  all,  so 
quickly  threw  a  bridge  across,  in  order  to 
attack  and  capture  the  king  in  his  strong- 
hold, that  the  latter,  being  greatly  alarmed, 
immediately  offered  peace.  He  was  obliged 
to  resign  Austria,  Styria,  Carinthia,  and 
Carniola.  And  for  the  ratification  of  peace 
a  marriage  was  contracted  between  the 
Bohemian  crown  prince,  Wenzeslas,  and 
one  of  the  six  daughters  of  Rudolphus,  and 
another  between  the  son  of  the  emperor 
and  a  Bohemian  princess.  Ottocar  then 
came  to  Rudolphus,  in  his  encampment,  to 
obtain  the  feoffment  of  his  estates.  This 
scene  did  not  pass  without  the  humiliation 
and  shame  of  the  proud  king.  He  had 
noped  by  the  splendor  of  his  royal  retinue 
to  eclipse  the  unostentatious  emperor,  but 
Rudolphus  availed  himself  of  this  very  cir- 
cumstance in  order  to  humble  him  :  "  The 
king  of  Bohemia  has  often  laughed  at  my 
gray  doublet,"  said  he,  "  but  to-day  my  gray 
doublet  shall  laugh  at  him."  Accordingly, 
arrayed  in  his  plain  and  simple  attire,  and 
seated  upon  the  imperial  throne,  he  re- 
ceived the  king,  who,  glitterirgin  gold  and 
purple,  was  now  obliged,  in  tin  presence  of 
all  the  bishops  and  princes,  to  humbly  sup- 


plicate on  his  knees  for  pardon,  and  to  dc 
homage  for  his  kingdom  of  Bohemia  ana 
Moravia. 

Hereupon  the  princes  of  the  empire,  as 
usual  after  a  terminated  campaign,  re- 
turned home  ;  but  Rudolphus,  who  by  no 
means  trusted  the  proud  king,  remained  in 
Austria  with  his  faithful  Alsatian  and 
Swabian  knights,  who  continued  attached 
to  him  from  the  time  when,  under  his  or- 
ders as  count  of  Hapsburg,  they  fought 
with  him  in  so  many  battles.  And,  in 
reality,  very  shortly  afterwards  Ottocar 
recommenced  hostilities,  thinking  that  Ru- 
dolphus had  now  no  competent  forces  with 
him.  But  the  emperor  with  his  small  but 
valiant  band  boldly  marched  against  his 
adversary,  and  maintained  a  most  sangui- 
nary battle,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1278, 
at  Marchfeld,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Danube.  The  victory  was  long  doubtful, 
and  Rudolphus  himself  was  in  great  dan- 
ger, for  among  the  Bohemian  knights  seve- 
ral had  agreed  and  sworn  to  attack  and 
destroy  him.  One  of  them,  Henry  of 
Fullenstein,  sprang  upon  him  with  his 
couched  lance,  but  the  emperor  avoided 
the  stroke,  and  dexterously  thrusting  the 
point  of  his  own  spear  through  the  aper- 
ture of  his  antagonist's  helmet,  he  pierced 
his  head,  and  he  fell  dead  from  his  horse. 
At  the  same  moment,  however,  a  gigantic 
Thuringian  knight,  who  also  belonged  to 
the  conspirators,  stabbed  the  horse  of  Ru- 
dolphus,  which  fell  to  the  ground,  and  its 
royal  rider  with  difficulty  protected  him- 
self with  his  shield  from  being  trampled 
under  foot,  until  one  of  his  own  knights 
brought  him  another  horse.  Being  again 
mounted,  and  his  general,  Berthold  Kap- 
pler,  bringing  up  now  the  rear-guard,  he 
once  more  dashed  against  the  enemy, 
who  could  no  longer  resist  the  attack,  but 
was  completely  put  to  flight.  Neverthe- 
less, although  deserted  by  his  army,  Otto- 
car, as  Rudolphus  himself  testifies,  fought 
bravely  to  the  last ;  until,  with  his  horse, 
he  was  struck  to  the  earth  and  killed  by  a 
knight  of  St.yria,  whom  he  had  formerly 
much  injured  and  oppressed.  When  peace 
was  restored,  the  marriage  between  the 
two  royal  houses  was  celebrated,  and  Bo- 
hemia was  governed  in  trust  for  the  chil- 
dren of  Ottocar  by  the  margrave  of  Bran, 
denburg. 

Rudolphus,  however,  with  the  consent 
of  the  German  princes,  transferred  Aus- 


208 


INTERNAL  TRANQUILLITY— DEATH  OF  RUDOLPHtS  1. 


tria,  as  imperial  fief,  to  his  own  house  ; 
it  was,  in  fact,  a  country  reconquered  by 
his  arms  for  the  German  empire  ;  and  one 
of  the  electoral  princes,  in  a  letter  he 
wrote  in  approbation  of  this  arrangement, 
said — "  That  it  was  only  just  that  Rudol- 
phus  should  convey  over  to  his  children,  if 
lie  thought  fit,  that  principality  which  he 
had  reconquered  for  the  empire  with  so 
much  sacrifice  of  his  own  blood."  Ac- 
cordingly, at  an  imperial  diet  held  in 
Augsburg  in  1282,  the  emperor  took  sol- 
emn possession  thereof,  an,d  in  the  presence 
of  all  the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  empire, 
he  gave  to  his  sons  Albert  and  Rudolphus, 
the  countries  of  Austria,  Styria,  Carniola, 
and  Vienna  ;  but  Carinthia  he  gave  to 
Meinhard,  count  of  Tyrol,  whose  daugh- 
ter his  son  Albert  had  married.  Thus  the 
emperor  Rudolphus  became  the  founder 
of  the  powerful  house  of  Austria. 

These  affairs  being  settled,  he  was  again, 
although  far  advanced  in  years,  zealously 
engaged  in  seeking  to  promote  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  empire.  He  required  the 
counts,  nobles,  and  cities  of  the  several 
countries  throughout  the  empire  to  take  an 
oath  to  preserve  the  public  peace  for  the 
term  of  five  years ;  and  knowing  well 
that  all  who  nourish  evil  intentions  are 
never  sufficiently  bound  by  their  word,  he 
himself  journeyed  through  all  the  pro- 
vinces, and  routing  the  freebooter  knights 
from  their  castles  and  strongholds,  com- 
pletely destroyed  them.  Thus,  on  one 
expedition  to  Thuringia,  he  razed  sixty-six 
such  places,  and  executed  twenty-nine  of 
these  brigand  nobles  ;  among  those  of  the 
most  troublesome  princes  whom  he  pun- 
ished was  Count  Eberhard  of  Wurtem- 
berg,  and  whose  motto  was,  "  The  friend 
of  God  and  enemy  of  the  world  ;"  him  he 
besieged  in  his  own  city  of  Stuttgard,  and 
forced  him  to  yield  and  to  raze  with  his 
own  hands  the  walls  of  that  his  actual 
place  of  residence.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  suffered  other  persons  of  rank  to  build 
fortresses  for  their  defence  against  the 
freebooters,  as  in  the  case  of  the  bishop  of 
Paderborn,  who  in  1290  was  permitted  to 
build  two  castles  upon  his  domain. 

Hence  the  emperor  Rudolphus  was  so 
fully  employed  in  Germany,  that  he  never 
seriously  contemplated  going  to  Italy  in 
order  to  be  crowned  king.  He  was  also 
accustomed  to  say  that  "  Italy  resembled  a 
lion's  den,  in  which  it  was  true  many  tra- 


ces might  be  found  of  those  emperors  who 
had  entered  it,  but  very  few,  if  any,  of 
those  who  had  quitted  it."  Nay,  so'little 
did  he  follow  out  the  plans  of  former  kings 
with  regard  to  Italy,  that  in  a  negotiation 
with  the  pope,  Gregory  X.,  he  ceded  all 
the  imperial  right  of  interference  within 
the  domain  of  the  Church  as  in  the  present 
day.  Hence  he  could  congratulate  him 
self  in  beholding  that  destructive  cause  of 
incitement  removed  which  impelled  the 
emperors  to  make  their  expeditions  into 
Italy. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  his  reign,  Ru- 
dolphus was  anxious,  at  an  imperial  diet 
held  at.  Frankfort  in  1291,  to  have  his  own 
son  Albert  recognised  by  the  princes  as 
emperor  of  Germany  ;  but  the  nobles,  jeal- 
ous and  nred  of  the  government  of  Rudol- 
phus, which  had  already  become  too  vigor- 
ous and  firm  for  them — inasmuch  as  it 
prevented  them  from  following  their  own 
selfish  interests — thinking  that  Germany 
would  cease  to  be  an  elective  kingdom  if 
the  son  were  allowed  to  succeed  his  father, 
refused  their  consent  to  the  proposal.  Dis- 
pleased with  this  ingratitude  Rudolphus 
took  his  departure  in  disgust,  and  proceeded 
to  Basle. 

He  had  now  attained  a  great  age.  and 
suffered  much  from  infirmity  and  disease ; 
so  much  so  that,  during  the  last  year  of  his 
life,  his  physicians  had  only  prolonged  his 
existence  by  artificial  means.  One  day, 
while  he  was  sitting  at  the  chess-board, 
they  announced  to  him  the  near  approach 
of  his  death.  "  Well  then,"  he  said,  "  let 
us  away,  my  friends,  to  Spires,  to  the  tomb 
of  the  kings  !"  Accordingly  he  was  care- 
fully conveyed  to  the  travelling  equipage, 
and  with  his  train  set  off  and  journeyed 
along  the  Rhine ;  he  did  not,  however, 
reach  Spires,  but  died  on  the  road,  at  Ger- 
mersheim,  on  the  30th  of  September,  1291, 
aged  seventy-four. 

His  memory  was  so  universally  revered 
throughout  Germany,  that  for  a  long  time 
after  his  death  it  was  common  to  say :  "  No, 
no,  that  is  not  acting  with  the  honesty  of 
Rudolphus  !"  He  was  a  warrior  from  his 
boyhood,  and  one  of  his  dearest  wishes  as 
a  youth  was  that  he  might  have  the  com- 
mand of  a  German  army  of  40.000  infantry 
and  4000  cavalry,  for  with  such  a  force, 
he  said,  he  would  have  marched  against 
and  faced  the  whole  world. 

Several  of  the  princes  were  not  unfavoi 


ADOLPHUS  OF  NASSAU— HIS  DEATH— ALBERT  I.  OF  AUSTRIA 


209 


able  to  Albert  of  Austria,  tbe  son  of  Ru- 
dolphus,  but  Archbisbop  Gerhard  of  Mentz 
understood  so  to  arrange  matters  tbat  his 
own  cousin,  Count  Adolphus  of  Nassau, 
was  chosen  emperor.  Adolphus  was  in- 
deed a  brave  and  valiant  knight,  and  pos- 
sessed many  amiable  qualities,  but  for  such 
a  station  he  had  neither  sufficient  tact,  nor 
adequate  power  and  influence.  He  held 
only  the  moiety  of  the  territory  of  Nassau, 
and  his  property  was  so  insignificant  that 
he  could  not  even  cover  the  expenses  at- 
tending the  coronation  ;  and  when  he  tried 
to  extricate  himself  from  this  difficulty  by 
imposing  a  tax  upon  the  Jews  in  Frankfort, 
he  was  opposed  by  the  mayor  of  that  city ; 
Archbishop  Gerhard,  therefore,  was  obliged 
to  mortgage  his  ecclesiastical  estates  in  his 
favor. 

As  emperor,  he  sought  to  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  Rudolphus,  by  maintaining  the 
peace  of  the  land,  and  at  the  same  time  en- 
deavoring to  aggrandize  his  own  house ; 
but  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  succeed  in 
either  of  these  objects,  and  in  the  latter  es- 
pecially he  employed  such  means  as  pro- 
duced disaffection  and  disgust  in  the  public 
mind.  In  the  first  place,  in  order  to  obtain 
money,  he  promised  King  Edward  I.  of 
England  his  aid  in  troops  against  Philip 
of  France,  in  return  for  a  considerable  sum. 
This  aid,  however,  although  the  money  was 
paid,  was  not  required,  as  the  war  between 
the  two  kings  was  suspended  for  that  time. 
The  money,  however,  Adolphus  devoted  to 
the  purchase  of  fresh  lands.  Just  at  this 
period  a  profligate  margrave,  Albert  the 
Base,  held  his  sway  in  Thuringia,  and 
abandoned  his  amiable  and  virtuous  wife 
Margaret,  the  daughter  of  the  emperor 
Frederick  II.,  in  order  to  marry  Cuni- 
gunde  of  Isenburg.  The  unhappy  mother, 
when  obliged  to  take  leave  of  her  children, 
in  the  anguish  of  separation,  bit  the  cheek 
of  her  son  Frederick,  who  from  this  cir- 
cumstance is  styled  in  history  "  Frederick 
with  the  bitten  cheek."  This  unnatural 
and  truly  base  father  sold  the  hereditary 
estates  of  his  two  sons  by  the  first  marriage, 
to  the  emperor  Adolphus,  and  presented  the 
money  to  Albert,  the  son  of  Cunigunde. 
Subsequently,  however,  Frederick  and 
Dietzmann,  the  two  sons  of  Margaret,  hav- 
ng  come  to  manhood,  fought  bravely  for 
.heir  inheritance,  their  people  having  re- 
mained faithful  to  them ;  so  that  the  em- 
peror found  himself  obliged  to  wage  an  un- 
2? 


righteous  war  against  them — be  whose 
primary  duty  it  was  to  maintain  with  all 
his  power  and  influence  right  and  justice 
towards  all.  The  brothers,  however,  re- 
gained a  portion  of  their  lands. 

Such  unworthy  proceedings  had  brought 
down  upon  Adolphus  the  hatred  of  Ger- 
many ;  besides  this,  the  fickle-minded  arch- 
bishop,  Gerhard  of  Mentz,  was  also  dissa- 
tisfied with  him,  because  he  found  that  he 
was  deceived  in  the  hopes  he  had  cherished 
of  making  him  subservient  to  his  own  in- 
terests. At  his  suggestion,  therefore,  a  new 
diet  of  all  the  princes  and  nobles  was  held, 
and  Adolphus  was  there  deposed  :  inasmuch 
as  he  had  desolated  the  churches,  received 
pay  from  a  prince  (the  king  of  England) 
inferior  to  himself,  and  had  likewise  dimin- 
ished the  empire  instead  of  extending  it,  and 
finally  had  not  promoted  and  maintained 
the  peace  of  the  country.  Albert  of  Aus- 
tria was  therefore  chosen  to  replace  him. 
This  was  the  first  instance  in  which  the 
electoral  princes,  without  the  instigation  of 
the  pope,  dethroned  an  emperor  of  their 
own  accord.  The  two  rival  sovereigns  ap- 
pealed to  arms,  marched  against  each  other, 
and  met  at  Worms,  where,  in  1298,  they 
fought  the  decisive  battle.  Adolphus  was 
completely  overthrown,  and  fell  in  the  con- 
test mortally  wounded — as  some  say,  by 
the  hand  of  Albert  himself. 

This  Albert  was  by  no  means  of  a  kind, 
friendly  disposition  like  his  father ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  was  a  severe,  austere,  and 
despotic  ruler ;  besides,  even  in  his  exter- 
nal appearance  he  was  disfigured  by  the 
loss  of  an  eye.  It  is  true  his  severity  to- 
wards the  archbishop  of  Mentz  was  just, 
for  the  emperor  not  being  disposed  to  con- 
sult his  will  in  every  thing,  the  archbishop 
had  menacingly  said,  "  that  he  had  yet 
more  emperors  in  his  pocket ;"  and  actually 
adopted  means  for  the  election  of  another. 
But  Albert  very  soon  brought  him  to  rea- 
son, and  obliged  him  to  sue  for  mercy.  In 
other  matters,  however,  his  actions  were 
not  always  guided  by  justice.  His  aim 
was  to  bring  under  his  subjection  several 
other  countries,  in  which  lie  partly  suc- 
ceeded ;  and  his  eyes  were  now  turned  to- 
wards Thuringia,  Bohemia,  and  Holland, 
when  all  his  enterprises  were  suddenly 
annihilated  by  death.  In  the  spring  of  the 
year  1308,  he  went  to  his  hereditary  estates 
on  the  borders  of  Switzerland,  in  order  to 
re-establish  peace  among  the  insurgent 


210 


ALBERT'S  ASSASSINATION— SWITZERLAND— GE^SLER. 


Swiss,  and  to  levy  great  forces  to  enable 
him  to  carry  on  the  contemplated  war 
against  Bohemia.  He  had  with  him  also 
his  young  nephew,  John  of  Swabia,  the  son 
of  his  brother  Rudolphus,  from  whom,  al- 
though he  was  now  out  of  his  minority,  he 
withheld  the  share  he  inherited  of  the  Haps- 
burg  estates.  In  vain  did  the  ambitious 
youth  repeatedly  beg  for  his  patrimony; 
the  king  always  refused.  Finding,  there- 
fore, all  his  just  demands  in  vain,  he,  with 
four  knights,  who  also  nourished  a  secret 
hatred  against  Albert,  determined  at  length 
to  assassinate  him.  On  the  1st  of  May, 
1303,  and  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  reign, 
the  emperor  set  out  from  Stein  near  Baden 
through  Argau,  in  order  to  return  to  the 
camp  at  Reinfeld,  where  his  court  was  as- 
sembled. They  came  through  the  deep 
valleys  to  the  ferry  across  the  Reuss  at 
Windisch.  Here  the  conspirators  pressed 
forward  with  a  view  of  entering  the  same 
boat  with  the  emperor ;  and  thus,  having 
separated  him  from  his  attendants,  they 
crossed  the  stream  together.  Having  reach- 
ed the  shore,  they  remounted  their  steeds 
and  proceeded  for  some  distance,  through 
the  vast  cornfields,  at  the  base  of  the  hills, 
on  the  highest  of  which  towered  the  mighty 
castle  of  Hapsburg,  when  suddenly  rushing 
upon  the  emperor,  Duke  John  of  Swabia 
buried  his  lance  in  his  neck,  loudly  ex- 
claiming :  "  Such  is  the  reward  of  injus- 
tice !"  At  the  same  time  Rudolphus  of 
Balm  stabbed  him  with  his  dagger,  and 
Walter  of  Esehenbach  divided  his  head 
with  his  sword.  The  king  sunk  to  the 
earth  powerless  and  bathed  in  his  blood. 
A  poor  woman,  who  had  witnessed  the 
deed,  hurried  to  the  spot,  and  in  her  arms 
the  emperor  Albert  breathed  his  last.  The 
conspirators  decamped  and  separated  from 
each  other  immediately  after  the  tragedy  ; 
and,  tormented  by  their  guilty  consciences, 
never  afterwards  met  or  saw  each  other 
again.  One  of  them,  Rudolphus  of  Wart, 
was  taken  and  broken  upon  the  wheel  on 
ihe  spot  where  the  deed  of  blood  was  com- 
mitted ;  the  others,  as  well  as  the  duke 
himself,  ended  their  days  in  obscurity  and 
misery. 

It  was  during  the  year  in  which  King 
Albert  was  murdered,  that  the  foundation 
of  the  Swiss  confederacy  was  laid.  The 
history  of  this  vigorous,  industrious,  and 
treedom-loving  people,  who  inhabit  many 
greater  and  smaller  tracts  of  country  at  the 


foot  of,  and  amidst  the  lofty  chains  of  moun« 
tains  which  run  between  Germany,  France, 
and  Italy,  belongs  also  to  the  history  ol 
Germany  ;  for  the  origin  of  the  Swiss  na- 
tion is  entirely  German,  and  it  is  only  on 
the  borders  of  this  country  and  France  that 
the  French  language  is  spoken.  The  chief 
cities  in  the  districts  towards  Swabia,  Berne. 
Zurich,  Freiburg,  Soleure,  &c.,  were  origi- 
nally,  and  continued  for  a  long  period  to  he 
imperial  free  cities  ;  and  the  Waldstadte 
or  forest  towns,  Schwyz,  Uri,  and  Unter 
wald,  were  likewise  under  the  immediate 
protection  of  the  empire.  Their  form  of 
government  was  very  ancient,  and  seemed, 
as  it  were,  fresh  from  the  hand  of  nature. 
The  same  as  among  the  ancient  Germans 
the  whole  community  of  freemen  exercised 
under  their  Landammann  or  president,  the 
greatest  power ;  and  the  strength  of  their 
constitution  lay  entirely  in  the  combined 
will  of  the  people.  The  emperor  of  Ger- 
many however,  as  they  belonged  to  the 
empire,  had  among  them  his  Vogts  or  in- 
tendants,  who  attended  to  the  collection  of 
taxes,  the  coinage  and  stamping  of  money, 
and  matters  by  no  means  burdensome. 

Albert,  who  was  anxious  to  extend  the 
power  of  his  house,  proposed  that  they 
should  renounce  their  connection  with  the 
imperial  state,  and  place  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  his  powerful  house,  pos- 
sessing as  it  did  such  extensive  patrimo- 
nial possessions  in  their  immediate  vicinity, 
which  meant,  in  other  words,  that,  instead 
of  remaining  longer  Germans,  they  should 
become  Hapsburgians,  or  Austrians.  They, 
however,  regarding  his  acts  with  a  suspi- 
cious eye,  refused  to  agree  to  his  proposal ; 
upon  which  the  emperor,  in  his  turn,  re- 
nounced them,  permitting,  and  even  en- 
couraging the  intendants  to  oppress  and 
levy  upon  the  people  severe  and  cruelly  un- 
just exactions.  He  treated  these  compar- 
atively little  known  and  obscure  moun- 
taineers with  derision  and  contempt.  He 
appointed  as  his  representatives  two  Vogts  • 
Hermann  Gessler  of  Bruneck,  a  haughty 
overbearing  nobleman,  who  possessed,  neai 
the  town  of  Altorf,  in  Uri,  a  castle  or  strong 
fortress,  in  which  he  used  to  force  the  in- 
habitants of  the  neighborhood  to  obedience; 
and  Beringer  of  Landenberg,  who  dwelt  at 
the  castle  of  Sarnen,  in  Unterwald  ;  to 
those  Albert  added  several  other  officers, 
who  performed  the  functions  of  nnter-vogtg 
or  sub-intendants. 


THE  SWISS  CONFEDERATION— WILLIAM  TELL— DEATH  OF  GESSLER    211 


But  three  patriotic  and  noble-minded 
Swiss,  who  felt  and  deeply  participated  in 
the  misery  endured  by  their  native  land, 
while  deprived  of  its  ancient  freedom,  uni- 
ted together  in  order  to  overthrow  and  crush 
the  tyrannical  power  of  these  imperial 
Vogts.  - 

The  names  of  these  fearless  and  magnan- 
imous men  were :  Werner  StaufTacher  of 
Schwyz,  Walter  Fiirst  of  Attinghausen  in 
Uri,  and  Arnold  of  Melchthal  in  Unterwald. 
They  knew  well  that  their  hardy  country- 
men, bold  and  undismayed  in  the  defence 
of  their  rights,  would  readily  take  part 
with  them.  Arnold  of  Melchthal  espe- 
cially, however,  had  grievous  cause  for  re- 
sentment, inasmuch  as  the  intendant,  Lan- 
denberg,  for  some  very  trifling  circum- 
stance, had  most  unjustly  taken  from  him 
a  team  of  fine  oxen,  and  when  his  father 
complained  of  it,  Landenberg's  officer  re- 
plied, contemptuously  :  "  If  peasants  wish 
to  eat  bread,  let  them  draw  the  plough 
themselves."  Arnold,  incensed  at  the 
shameful  act  itself,  as  well  as  indignant  at 
the  fellow's  insolence,  broke  the  servant's 
arm  with  the  stick  he  held  in  his  hand,  and 
knowing  but  too  well  the  cruel  character 
of  the  Vogt,  took  flight  and  secreted  him- 
self. The  tyrant,  unable  to  find  him,  or- 
dered the  eyes  of  his  venerable  father  to  be 
plucked  out — an  instance  of  savage  cruelty 
but  too  frequently  presented  at  that  time  in 
this  oppr?ssed  country. 

These  three  patriots  now  uniting  together, 
met  regularly  during  the  silent  hour  of 
night  at  Rutli,  a  small  meadow  in  a  lonely 
place,  between  high  rocks  on  the  banks  of 
the  Lake  of  Lucerne.  At  the  same  time 
they  were  busily  engaged  in  enlisting  their 
friends  into  the  noble  cause,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  Wednesday  before  Martinmas, 
in  the  year  1307,  each  brougr*:  with  him 
to  this  place  ten  fellow-patriots,  men  of  up- 
right, resolute  mind.  When  these  thirty- 
three  good  and  true  men  were  assembled 
at  the  Rutli,  filled  with  the  recollection  of 
their  former  liberty,  and  united  together 
by  the  perils  of  the  times  in  the  closest  bonds 
of  friendship,  the  three  leaders  lifted  up 
their  hands  to  heaven,  and  swore  in  the 
name  of  the  Supreme  Being  that  they 
would  manfully  combhie  in  defence  of  their 
common  liberty.  •  The  other  thirty  mem- 
bers, following  the  example  of  their  chief, 
and  raising  their  hands  to  heaven  with 
equal  ardor  and  enthusiasm,  pronounced 


the  same  oath.  The  execution  of  theii 
plan,  however,  was  reserved  for  the  firs 
day  of  the  ensuing  new  year  ;  and  separa. 
ting  now,  they  each  returned  to  their  cot- 
tages,  where  in  the  mean  time  they  pre- 
served the  most  strict  silence,  and  put  up 
their  cattle  for  the  winter. 

Meanwhile,  the  Vogt  or  Governor,  Her- 
mann Gessler,  was  shot  by  William  Tell, 
a  citizen  of  Uri,  and  a  native  of  Burglen, 
son-in-law  of  Walter  Fiirst.  How  that 
free  and  brave  man  refused,  at  the  com- 
mand  of  the  cruel  Vogt,  to  do  homage  to 
a  hat,  the  symbol  of  his  tyranny,  how  he 
was  obliged  to  shoot  an  apple  from  the  top 
of  his  son's  head,  and  how  he  escaped  from 
the  threatened  incarceration  by  leaping  out 
of  a  boat  in  the  midst  of  a  heavy  storm,  on 
the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  and  finally  of  his 
shooting  Gessler  at  Kiissnacht — all  this  is 
well  known,  and  having  continued  to  form 
the  theme  of  universal  praise,  has  been 
celebrated  by  the  poet  and  painter,  both  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  down  to  the 
present  moment.  And  although  this  event 
took  place  before  the  hour  destined  to  liber- 
ate the  country,  and  without  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  oppressed  people,  it  nevertheless 
strengthened  the  courage  of  the  confeder- 
ates, and  was  hailed  as  the  harbinger  of 
their  emancipation  by  all  the  sturdy  natives 
of  that  noble  and  majestic  country. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  first  day 
of  the  year  1308,  when  Landenberg,  the 
Vogt,  was  proceeding  from  the  castle  to 
attend  mass  at  Sarnen,  he  was  met  by 
twenty  men  of  Unterwald  with  calves,  goats, 
sheep,  fowls,  and  hares,  which,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  mountaineers,  they 
brought  for  his  acceptance  as  a  new  year's 
gift.  The  Vogt,  pleased  with  their  present, 
desired  the  men  to  convey  the  animals  into 
the  court  of  the  castle.  As  soon,  however, 
as  these  twenty  patriots  had  entered  within 
the  gates,  one  of  them  blew  a  horn,  at  which 
signal  each  of  them  drew  forth  a  steel  blade 
concealed  beneath  his  doublet,  and  fixed  it 
upon  the  end  of  his  stick,  while  thirty  more 
of  their  comrades  rushed  down  the  hill 
through  the  wood  of  Erlen.  and  joining  them 
in  the  castle,  they  all  took  possession  of 
the  place,  and  made  the  whole  garrison 
prisoners.  Landenberg,  who  having  heard 
the  tumult,  had  fled  from  Sarnen,  across 
the  fields,  towards  Alpnach,  was  pursued 
and  taken ;  but  as  the  confederates  had 
agreed  to  shed  no  blood,  they  having  first 


212       HENRY  VII.  OF  LUXEMBURG— HIS  DEATH— FREDERIC  AND  LEWIS. 


made  him  swear  to  quit  Switzerland  for- 
ever, and  never  return  to  it,  allowed  him 
to  depart  and  seek  refuge  at  the  court  of 
his  emperor. 

By  similar  stratagems  to  that  employed 
in  the  taking  of  the  castle  of  Sarnen,  many 
others  were  captured  and  demolished,  and 
the  various  imperial  Vogts,  with  their  de- 
pendents, sent  beyond  the  borders ;  so  that 
messengers  arrived  from  every  quarter  at 
the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  with  the  good  news 
of  success.  On  the  following  Sunday,  the 
7th  of  January,  the  Swiss  met  together, 
and  again  pledged  themselves  to  the  ancient 
oath  of  confederacy.  The  next  and  most 
immediate  danger  which  threatened  them 
was  from  King  Albert,  who  was  resolved 
to  avenge  himself  upon  them  for  their  con- 
duct. From  this,  however,  they  were  in  a 
few  months  rescued  by  the  arm  of  Duke 
John  of  Swabia,  and  his  confederates. 
Nevertheless,  they  had  still  to  sustain  some 
dreadful  struggles  for  their  newly-acquired 
freedom. 

After  the  death  of  Albert  I.  the  German 
princes  remained  true  to  their  principle, 
not  to  choose  several  emperors  from  the 
same  house  in  succession,  and  therefore  as 
chivalric  virtues  in  their  estimation  sur- 
passed all  other,  they  elected  Count  Hen- 
ry of  Luxemburg,  who  was  known  to  be  a 
valiant,  manly  hero  and  knight.  His  reign 
in  Germany  was  too  short  to  permit  him 
to  do  much  for  its  welfare ;  nevertheless, 
brief  as  it  was,  he  showed  by  his  conduct 
that  he  possessed  sufficient  courage  and 
nobleness  of  mind  to  render  himself  worthy 
of  the  ancient  imperial  crown.  He  like- 
wise made  an  expedition  to  Italy,*  whither 
no  emperor  had  gone  since  Conrad  IV. ; 
and  there  he  testified  his  noble  and  chival- 
ric principles  by  effecting  a  reconciliation 
between  the  Guelfs  and  the  Ghibelins,  thus 
again  uniting  together,  under  the  ascen- 
dency of  the  government,  those  whose 
minds  had  been  distracted  with  hatred  and 
discord ;  but  the  violence  of  the  parties 
soon  again  broke  forth,  and  Henry  himself 
sunk,  probably  their  sacrifice.  After  being 
crowned  at  Rome,  he  died  suddenly  in  the 
midst  of  their  contention,  in  an  expedition 
against  Robert,  king  of  Naples,  at  Buon- 


*  Dante  was  among  the  first  to  do  homage  to  him  on 
his  arrival,  and  presented  him  with  a  letter  and  a  La- 
tia  discourse  upon  the  imperial  dominion,  in  which  he, 
he  a  Ghibelin,  highly  extolled  it,  and  invited  Henry  to 
TOUtfc  a  vigorous  use  of  his  power 


conventi,    near   Sienna,    on  the    24th   ol 
August,  3313,  as  was  thought  by  poison. 

He  acquired  for  his  house  the  kingdom 
of  Bohemia,  and  by  this  means  laid  the 
foundation  of  its  greatness.  In  Bohemia, 
Ottocar's  grand-daughter  Elizabeth  was 
left  as  the  last  survivor  of  the  ancient  royal 
race.  In  a  spirit  of  hatred  to  the  Haps- 
burgian  house,  which,  after  this  princess, 
possessed  the  next  claim  upon  Bohemia, 
the  nobility  gave  this  heiress  in  marriage  to 
John,  the  son  of  the  emperor,  and  with  her 
the  house  of  Luxemburg  obtained  the  royal 
crown  of  Bohemia,  to  which  was  after- 
wards added  also  the  imperial  crown. 

In  the  new  election  of  emperor  the 
princes  were  far  from  being  unanimous  ; 
the  one  party,  with  the  archbishop  of  Mentz 
at  their  head,  chose  Lewis  of  Upper  Bava- 
ria ;  the  other,  led  by  the  archbishop  of 
Cologne,  selected  Duke  Frederick  of  Aus- 
tria, surnamed  the  handsome,  because  of 
his  fine  and  noble  form.  Lewis  was  crown- 
ed at  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  Frederick  at 
Bonn,  with  the  real  insignia  of  the  empire. 
Thence  a  new  war  broke  out  in  Germany  ; 
everywhere  there  was  violent  opposition. 
The  greatest  number  of  towns,  especially 
those  in  Swabia,  were  for  Lewis,  and,  as 
might  be  expected,  the  Swiss  people  also; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  nobility  were  chiefly 
for  Frederick  of  Austria.  Moreover,  Fred- 
erick  had  a  powerful  ally  in  the  person  of 
his  brother,  Duke  Leopold,  who  was  a 
brave  knight  and  a  good  general.  This 
prince  resolved  in  the  first  place  to  avenge 
the  honor  of  the  Austrian  house  upon  the 
Swiss  people,  and  he  forthwith  advanced 
into  their  country,  accompanied  by  a  nu- 
merous retinue  of  knights.  He  threatened 
to  trample  these  boors  under  his  feet,  and 
provided  himself  with  an  abundant  supply 
of  ropes  for  the  execution  of  their  rebellious 
chiefs  ;  for  he  had  no  idea  of  the  astonish- 
ing feats  which  an  oppressed  people  are 
capable  of  performing  in  the  cause  of  their 
freedom,  however  unskilled  in  the  ordinary 
tactics  of  war. 

The  duke  divided  his  army  into  two  di- 
visions, and  advanced  from  Aegeri  to  Mor- 
garten,  towards  the  mountains  of  Schwyz. 
The  heavy  cavalry,  consisting  of  knights 
clad  in  complete  iron-armor,  the  pride  and 
flower  of  the  army,  formed  the  van-guard, 
for  the  known  heroism  of  the  duke  had  at. 
tracted  the  whole  of  the  ancient  nobility 
of  Hapsburg,  Lenzburg,  and  Kyburg,  to 


SWITZERLAND— THE  BATTLE  OF  MOKGARTEN 


21S 


"oin  his  ranks,  together  with  the  Vogt  of 
Landenberg,  and  the  male  branches  of  Gess- 
ler's  family,  all  burning  to  revenge  his  death. 

But  the  confederates,  when  they  received 
the  news  that  the  enemy  was  approaching, 
did  not  in  the  least  waver  in  their  courage 
and  heroism,  but  prepared  at  once  for  bat- 
tle. On  that  same  night  four  hundred  men 
fromUri  landed  at  Brunnen,in  Schwyz,  and 
a  few  hours  afterwards  they  were  joined  by 
three  hundred  men  from  Unterwald  ;  they 
then  all  marched  across  the  fields,  and  joined 
the  main  body  in  Schwyz.  There  they 
were  gladly  welcomed  by  a  venerable  pa- 
triot, Rudolphus  Redin,  of  Biberegg,  so 
aged  and  infirm  that  he  could  scarcely 
totter,  yet  so  skilled  and  prudent  in  war, 
that  the  people,  as  he  now  drew  up  their 
plan  of  attack,  gladly  listened  to  his  sage 
advice,  which  they  scrupulously  followed  : 
"  Our  grand  aim,  my  sons,  must  be,"  said  he, 
"  as  we  are  so  inferior  in  numbers,  to  pre- 
vent the  duke  from  gaining  any  advantage 
uy  his  superior  force."  He  then  showed 
them  how  they  must  occupy  the  heights  of 
Morgarten  and  the  Sattel  mountain,  in  or- 
der to  surprise  the  duke's  army  in  the 
narrow  pass,  and  falling  upon  its  flank, 
thus  divide  and  cut  it  off. 

The  small  but  united  band  of  patriots, 
after  they  had  knelt  down,  and  implored  the 
help  of  God,  according  to  ancient  custom, 
went  forth  to  the  number  of  thirteen  hun- 
dred, and  gained  the  summit  of  the  Sattel 
mountain,  near  the  Einsiedeln  boundary. 
Here  they  were  joined  by  an  unexpected 
body  of  fifty  men,  who  on  account  of  some 
dispute  had  been  banished  from  Schwyz, 
but  who  on  being  made  acquainted  with 
the  danger  that  threatened  their  country, 
forgot  their  quarrel,  and  repaired  to  Mor- 
garten,  resolved  to  sacrifice  xheir  lives  for 
their  native  land. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  1315,  the 
host  of  well-accoutred  horsemen  com- 
menced the  ascent  of  the  mountains  under 
the  ruddy  rays  of  a  morning's  sun,  in  the 
reflection  of  which  their  forest  of  glittering 
spears  and  lances  extended  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  The  van  now  entered 
the  pass,  and  th*  avenue,  which  was  hedged 
in  with  mountains  and  water,  soon  became 
rilled  with  the  close  ranks  of  the  cavalry. 
At  this  moment  the  aforesaid  fifty  exiled 
Bchwyzers,  shouting  aloud,  rolled  down 
from  the  heights  of  Morgarten  huge  frag- 
of  rock  in  quick  succession  on  the 


enemy.  When  the  1300  Swiss  who  were 
posted  on  the  summit  of  the  Sattel  moun- 
tain, beheld  the  confusion  now  produced 
among  the  ranks  of  the  horsemen  in  the 
pass  beneath,  (near  the  Lake  of  Aegeri,) 
they  quickly  descended,  and  in  a  firm, 
united  body,  made  an  overwhelming  attack 
upon  the  enemy's  flank,  committing  every- 
where the  most  sanguinary  execution  with 
their  iron-pointed  clubs  and  halberbs.  Many 
of  the  nobles  and  knights,  the  flower  of  the 
Austrian  nobility,  fell,  two  of  the  Gesslers 
were  slain,  and  Landenberg  was  pierced  to 
death.  Duke  Leopold  himself  narrowly 
escaped  from  the  vengeance  of  those  hardy 
mountaineers,  previously  held  by  him 
in  such  contempt,  but  now  become  his  vic- 
torious pursuers,  and  was  with  difficulty 
saved  by  a  peasant  acquainted  with  the 
roads,  who  conducted  him  through  narrow 
by-passes  as  far  as  Winterthur,  where  he 
at  length  safely  arrived  in  the  greatest  de- 
jection and  fatigue  of  mind  and  body. 

Thus  the  whole  Austrian  army,  in  spite 
of  all  its  chivalric  bravery  and  superior 
discipline,  was  completely  annihilated  by  a 
small  body  of  peasantry,  who,  however, 
although  simple  and  rude  by  nature  and 
condition,  aroused  at  length  from  their  for- 
mer state  of  slavery  and  oppression,  became 
at  once  ennobled  by  their  innate  love  of 
liberty  and  patriotism ;  so  that  already 
within  the  short  space  of  an  hour  and  a 
half,  by  their  united  courage  and  tact,  they 
succeeded  in  trampling  upon  their  haughty 
and  tyrannic  foe,  and  obtaining  over  him  a 
glorious  triumph.  After  this  happy  day 
the  confederates  renewed  their  ancient 
bond  of  amity,  whose  basis  was,  that  all 
should  be  ready  in  defence  of  one,  and  one 
in  defence  of  all  ;  and  the  emperor  Lewis 
in  several  letters -confirmed  the  liberty  of 
the  Swiss. 

In  Germany,  however,  the  war  between 
Frederick  of  Austria  and  Lewis  of  Bava- 
ria still  continued  with  undiminished  fierce- 
ness. Many  provinces  were  desolated  with 
fire  and  sword,  until  at  length,  in  the  year 
1322,  a  decisive  action  was  fought  at  Mlihl- 
dorf  in  Bavaria.  Frederick  very  indis- 
creetly allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  into 
that  battle,  without  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
his  brother  Leopold,  who  was  advancing 
to  the  spot  with  assistance.  The  battle 
commenced  at  sunrise,  and  lasted  ten 
hours.  Frederick  himself  fought  bravely 
at  the  head  of  his  body-guard,  equipped  in 


214 


THE  BATTLE  OF  MUHLDORF— FREDERICK  AND  LEWIS. 


a  splendid  suit  of  gold  armor,  and  bearing 
aloft  upon  his  helmet,  glittering  in  the 
sun's  rays,  the  imperial  eagle ;  while 
Lewis,  on  the  contrary,  did  not  appear  at 
all  on  the  field  of  battle.  At  noon,  Lewis's 
brave  and  experienced  general,  Seyfried 
Schweppermann  of  Nuremberg,  ordered 
his  army  to  wheel  round,  and  thus  the 
Austrians  had  the  sun,  dust,  and  wind  full 
in  their  face,  while  at  the  same  time,  as 
directed  by  Schweppermann,  the  bur- 
grave  of  Nuremberg  fell  upon  them  from 
behind  with  five  hundred  cavalry.  This 
body,  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  the  ene- 
my, carried  Austrian  colors  and  banners, 
so  that  Frederick  and  those  with  him  were 
so  deceived  that  they  felt  assured  Duke 
Leopold  had  at  that  critical  moment  ar- 
rived with  his  desired  aid.  When,  how- 
ever, they  discovered  their  mistake,  they 
were  speedily  thrown  into  disorder  and  put 
to  flight,  and  Frederick,  whose  horse  was 
stabbed,  was,  with  his  brother  Henry,  taken 
prisoner.  When  he  was  presented  by  the 
burgrave  of  Nuremberg  to  Lewis,  he  was 
received  by  the  latter  with  the  words : 
"My  cousin,  we  are  glad  to  see  you." 
Frederick,  however,  made  no  reply,  but 
with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  ground  re- 
mained completely  silent.  He  was  con- 
veyed to  the  strong  fortress  of  Traussnitz, 
in  the  Upper  Palatinate.*  Lewis  was  now 
the  sole  ruler  of  Germany,  but  Frederick's 
brother  LeopDld,  and  other  princes,  would 
not  recognise  him,  but  still  carried  on  war 
against  him ;  while  in  addition  to  this, 
Pope  John  XXII.  excommunicated  him  for 
having  taken  part  with  the  duke  of  Milan, 
against  him.  Lewis  determined,  there- 
fore, in  this  emergency,  to  effect  a  recon- 
ciliation between  himself  and  the  house  of 
Austria.  Accordingly  he  went  in  1325  to 
Frederick,  who  was  still  imprisoned  in  the 
castle  of  Traussnitz,  and  concluded  a  treaty 
with  him,  in  which  Frederick  renounced 
all  claim  to  the  empire,  and  agreed  to  some 
other  severe  conditions,  after  which  he  was 
set  at  liberty,  having,  however,  through  his 
imprisonment  become  so  much  changed  in 
his  appearance,  that  his  relations  scarcely 
recognised  him,  while  his  wife  Elizabeth 

*  It  is  related  that  the  victorious  army,  after  the 
oattle,  were  without  any  provisions,  having  merely  a 
»mall  supply  of  eggs,  which,  on  being  distributed 
among  them,  left  but  one  ^or  each  man.  The  empe- 
ror Lewis  on  hearing  this  exclaimed  :  "  Well,  give  to 
every  soldier  his  egg,  but  to  the  brave  Schweppermann 
siTe  two  !"  as  a  proof  that  to  him  alone  was  due  the 
honor  of  the  victory. 


of  Aragon  had,  curing  this  interval  of  twc 
years  and  a  half,  so  incessantly  wept  tears* 
of  grief  and  lamentation  on  his  account, 
that  she  had  become  totally  blind.  Fred- 
erick on  his  part  employed  every  means 
to  carry  into  effect  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty ;  he  made  his  abdication  known 
throughout  the  empire  by  public  docu 
ments,  and  exhorted  every  one  to  submit 
to  Lewis.  Neither  the  pope  nor  Leopold, 
however,  felt  themselves  bound  by  the 
contract,  but,  on  the  contrary,  proceeded 
in  every  possible  way  to  show  their  hostil- 
ity to  Lewis.  The  two  princes  then  gave 
an  example  of  fidelity  and  friendship,  which 
redounds  to  their  honor.  Frederick  main- 
tained his  friendship  with  Lewis,  paying 
no  regard  either  to  the  representations  of 
his  brother,  nor  to  those  of  the  pope,  who 
even  offered  to  release  him  from  the  obli- 
gations of  his  oath  to  Lewis,  the  latter  being- 
excommunicated  ;  while  Lewis,  appreci- 
ating this  magnanimity  of  character  in 
Frederick,  and  remembering  their  mutual 
friendship  in  early  life,  they  having  grown 
up  together,  resolved  formally  to  share  the 
empire  of  Germany  with  him.  Frederick 
came  to  him  at  Munich,  and  Lewis  offered, 
as  he  was  just  on  the  point  of  making  aa 
expedition  on  behalf  of  his  son  Lewis' in 
Brandenburg  against  the  Poles,  to  intrust 
the  defence  of  his  own  country  against 
Leopold  to  his  hands.  That  expedition, 
however,  was  not  made,  and  the  two  kings, 
on  the  5th  of  September,  1325,  at  Munich, 
entered  publicly  into  an  alliance  :  "  They 
would  both  conjointly  bear  the  title  of  a 
Roman  king,  call  and  regard  themselves 
as  brothers,  and  in  their  dispatches  and 
other  documents  their  signatures  and  seals 
should  be  affixed  alternately.  They  would 
grant  enfeoffments  in  their  joint  capacity, 
and  would  both  together  as  one  person  pre- 
side over  and  govern  the  Roman  empire, 
over  which  they  had  been  appointed  and 
set  apart."  The  two  friends  pledged  them- 
selves anew,  ate  at  one  table,  and  lived 
affectionately  together,  as  they  had  done  ir 
their  childhood. 

Pope  John,  who  knew  nothing  of  the 
German  character,  and  who  considered 
such  good  faith  unprecedented,  wrote  tc 
King  Charles  of  France,  to  whom  it  might 
appear  equally  novel :  "  This  incredible 
example  of  friendship  and  confidence  was 
confided  to  me  on  the  best  authority,  in  * 
communication  from  Germany  " 


THE  FIRST  ELECTORAL  ALLIANCE. 


Frederick,  however,  did  not  long  con- 
linue  to  take  a  part  in  the  government  ; 
for,  greatly  depressed  by  his  many  suf- 
ferings, he  retired  into  solitude,  and  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  quiet  medita- 
tion, at  the  castle  of  Guttenstein,  where  he 
died  in  the  year  1330,  his  amiable  and  af- 
Ilicted  consort  having  preceded  him  a  short 
time  before. 

The  house  of  Austria,  as  well  as  the 
pope,  remained  still  inimical  to  Lewis  of 
Bavaria,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  op- 
pose him ;  so  that  his  whole  reign  pre- 
sented one  scene  of  confusion  and  anarchy, 
and  this  emperor,  whose  kind  and  noble, 
although  less  powerful  mind,  would  in 
happier  times  have  rendered  him  an  ex- 
cellent ruler,  was  not  able,  in  the  rage  of 
such  distraction,  to  direct  the  helm.  It  is 
difficult  to  say  what  degree  of  blame-  at- 
taches to  him,  or  how  much  was  owing  to 
the  perplexity  of  his  situation  •  but  his 
measures  appear  to  have  been  often  inde- 
terminate. At  one  time  he  adopted  the 
language  of  entreaty,  at  another  he  em- 
ployed  the  means  of  resistance ;  now,  he 
united  with  the  king  of  Bohemia,  then  with 
the  king  of  England,  and  at  last  even  with 
the  king  of  France  ;  and,  in  order  to  get 
rid  of  the  anathema,  he  sent  to  the  pope 
more  than  seven  ambassadors  ;  but  all  was 
in  vain.  For  the  popes  resided  no  longer 
at  Rome,  having  for  a  considerable  time 
held  their  seat  at  Avignon  in  France  ;  they 
were  therefore  in  subjection  to  the  kings 
of  France,  who,  not  being  upon  good  terms 
with  Germany,  were  rejoiced  a;  the  dis- 
union which  there  prevailed,  and  prevent- 
ed a  reconciliation  taking  place  between 
the  pope  and  the  emperor,  as  Pope  Benedict 
XII.  himself  privately  acknowledged^  with< 
tears  in  his  eyes,  to  the  German"  princes. 
In  like  manner,  King  John  of  Bohemia, 
when  he  had  secured  himself  against 
Austria,  showed  himself  hostile  to  the  house 
of  Bavaria,  whose  growing  greatness  he 
sought  to  oppose  as  much  as  possible. 
This  daring  and  adventurous  prince,  who 
was  incessantly  traversing  Europe  on 
horseback,  like  a  courier,  used  his  influ- 
ence in  throwing  the  torch  of  discord  into 
Italy,  producing  there  the  most  sad  dissen- 
sions, while  he  likewise  succeeded  in  con- 
firming both  the  pope  and  the  king  of 
France  still  more  strongly  in  their  hatred 
against  the  emperor  Lewis. 

In  the  year  1388  the  German  electoral 


princes,  in  order  to  preserve  tlio  security 
of  the  empire,  held  a  diet  at  Reuse,  on  tha 
Rhine,  and  made  there  the  famous  treaty 
known  by  the  name  of  the  first  electoral 
alliance.  In  this  they  solemnly  dcclar<  d 
that  as  the  holy  Roman  empire  had  been, 
and  still  continued  to  be  attacked  in  its 
honor,  burdened  and  oppressed  in  its  rights 
and  possessions,  they  would  unite  to  de- 
fend it,  and  courageously  support  it  with 
all  their  strength  and  power  against  every 
aggressor.  Besides  which,  this  protest 
was  solemnly  approved  by  all  the  other 
estates  in  an  imperial  diet,  when  it  was 
declared  :  ;<  That  the  imperial  dignity  and 
power  were  immediately  derived  from  and 
depended  upon  God,  and  that  as  a  matter 
of  right  and  ancient  custom,  the  moment 
an  individual  was  elected  emperor,  that 
moment  he  must,  by  reason  of  his  elec- 
tion, be  regarded  as  a  true  king  and  Ro 
man  emperor,  without  any  need  of  con 
firmation  by  the  papal  see."  This  impe- 
rial decision  was  made  known  to  the  pope 
in  a  special  communication,  and  from  this 
moment  commenced  the  strong  opposition 
made  against  the  papal  see. 

Had  Lewis  now  possessed  sufficient 
firmness  of  character  to  have  availed  him- 
self of  this  declaration  made  by  the  diet, 
and  thereupon  have  based  his  power ;  if, 
above  all,  he  had  understood  how  to  con- 
fide in  the  fidelity  and  constancy  of  all  his 
subjects,  as  did  in  ancient  times  his  impe- 
rial predecessors,  he  might  still,  notwith- 
standing all  the  hostility  of  .foreigners, 
have  enjoyed  a  prosperous  reign.  But  as 
he  was  deficient  in  that  greatness  of  soul, 
so  necessary  to  bring  into  happy  realiza- 
tion the  great  objects  in  view,  the  princes 
became  more  and  more  inimical  towards 
him,  so  that,  at  a  diet  held  at  Reuse  in 
1344,  they  again  brought  heavy  com- 
plaints against  him,  and  censured  his  mal- 
administration of  the  affairs  of  the  empire. 
This  ill-will,  however,  of  the  princes  to- 
wards the  emperor  originated  chiefly  in 
the  jealousy  with  which  they  regarded  the 
radual  aggrandizement  of  his  house.  For 
by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  the 
count  of  Hennegau,  Holland,  Zealand, 
and  Friesland,  he  had  acquired  a  title  to 
all  these  countries,  inasmuch  as  there  was 
no  male  heir ;  and,  again,  when  the  line 
of  male  descendants  to  the  territory  of  An- 
haty-Brandenburg  became  extinct,  he  made 
over,  in  1323,  to  his  son  Lewis,  the  Bran- 


LEWIS  DEPOSED— HIS  DEATH— CHARLES  IV. 


denburg  possessions,  and  afterwards  gave 
this  same  son  in  marriage  to  Margaret,  of 
Maultasch,  the  heiress  of  Tyrol.  By  this 
last  acquisition  he  made  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria still  more  hostile  towards  him,  while 
in  the  two  previous  cases  he  brought  down 
upon  him  the  enmity  of  the  Luxemburg- 
Bohemian  house,  and  that  of  the  king  of 
France. 

The  opponents  of  Lewis,  especially  Pope 
Clement  VI.,  carried  their  animosity  at 
length  to  such  an  extent  that  a  number  of 
the  princes,  at  an  assembly  held  in  the 
year  1346,  chose  as  German  emperor, 
Charles,  the  son  of  John,  king  of  Bohemia, 
who  was  also  margrave  of  Moravia  ;  a 
prince  who  was  brought  up  at  the  French 
court,  his  father  having  a  great  predilec- 
tion for  France.  This  emperor,  however, 
proved  to  be  no  blessing  to  Germany. 
When  after  being  proclaimed  at  Reuse,  he 
mounted  the  so-called  imperial  throne 
erected  there,  in  order  to  present  himself 
before  the  people  for  the  first  time,  and 
while  the  Vivat  Rex  resounded  on  every 
side,  the  imperial  banner,  which  had  been 
elevated  on  the  bank  of  the  Rhine,  fell  into 
its  waters,  and,  in  spite  of  every  exertion 
made  to  save  it,  sunk  to  the  bottom — an 
event  which  was  regarded  by  all  as  an  evil 
omen.  Neither  did  he  enjoy  any  popu- 
larity while  Lewis  lived ;  the  latter,  how- 
ever, in  the  following  year,  1347,  died  of 
apoplexy  while  hunting  a  bear.  The  spot 
where  he  fell  from  his  horse,  in  the  vicini- 
ty of  Fiirstenfeld,  near  Munich,  is  still 
called  the  Kaiserwiese  or  emperor's  mead- 
ow, in  recollection  of  the  event.  Lewis 
was  the  last  emperor  excommunicated  by 
the  popes. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

EMPERORS  OF  DIFFERENT  HOUSES 1347-1437. 

Charles  IV.  1347-1378— Wencedas,  1378-1400— Switzer- 
land—The  Battle  of  Sempach,  1386— Leopold  of  Aus- 
tria—Arnold of  Winkelned— His  Heroism  and  Self- 
Devotion— Wenceslas  deposed— Rupert  of  the  Palati- 
nate, 1400-1410— Siaismund,  1410-1437— Grand  Coun- 
cil of  Constance— John  Huss  and  the  Hussite  Wars- 
Death  of  Sigismjund,  1437. 

AT  this  time  there  were  in  Germany 
three  powerful  houses,  which,  if  they -had 
been  united,  could  easily  have  subdued  all 


the  others  ;  but  they  were  so  far  from  act- 
ing in  concert  together,  that  they,  on  the 
contrary,  opposed  each  other.  These  were 
the  house  of  Luxemburg,  which  possessed, 
in  addition  to  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  also 
part  of  Silesia  and  Lusatia  ;  that  of  Ba- 
varia, which  had  acquired  Brandenburg, 
Holland,  and  the  Tyrol ;  and  that  of  Aus- 
tria, which,  besides  its  hereditary  estates, 
possessed  likewise  much  of  the  Swabian 
territory. 

The  house  of  Bavaria  could  not  forget 
that  Charles  IV.  had  been  the  enemy  of 
Lewis  ;  accordingly,  in  conjunction  with 
the  archbishop  of  JVfentz  and  other  princes, 
it  sought  to  procure  and  establish  a  rival 
king  in  opposition,  and  at  length,  after  King 
Edward  of  England,  and  the  Margrave 
Frederick  of  Meissen,  had  rejected  the 
crown,  it  found  in  the  person  of  Count  Giin- 
ther  of  Schwarzburg,  a  brave,  powerful, 
and  upright  man,  who  accepted  it,  as  he 
declared,  solely  for  the  welfare  of  the  em- 
pire, and  who  would  have  been  a  very 
important  rival  to  Charles,  if  he  had  not 
suddenly  fallen  sick,  and  soon  after  died — 
as  he  himself  thought,  of  poison.  Charles, 
therefore,  now  reigned  alone  and  for  a 
lengthened  period.  Much  was  expected 
from  him,  as  he  was  cunning  and  skilful 
in  his  enterprises,  and  was  likewise  mas- 
ter of  many  languages.  Nevertheless, 
however  well  he  succeeded  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  his  hereditary  lands  by  va- 
rious useful  regulations,  still  he  was,  as  it 
were,  but  a  step-father  of  the  German 
empire,  and  his  heart  was  not  devoted  to  it. 
The  last  existing  remains  of  the  imperial 
estates,  which  in  some  degree  still  con- 
tributed to  preserve  the  dignity  of  the 
empire,  were  sold  by  him  similar  to  the 
unworthy  head  of  a  family,  who  turns  his 
real  property  into  money,  in  order  that  he 
may  the  more  readily  enjoy  it. 

His  reign  presented  a  series  of  many 
great  calamities,  which  certainly  could  not 
be  imputed  to  him,  and  were  in  fact  beyono 
his  control.  Already  at  its  commence- 
ment, Germany,  like  many  other  countries 
of  Europe,  was  visited  with  the  most  terri- 
ble disasters.  The  same  as  in  the  summer 
of  1338,  ten  years  previously,  innumerable 
hosts  of  locusts  had  flocked  from  the  east, 
and  covered  a  part  of  Europe  so  dreadfully, 
that  they  completely  obscured  the  light  of 
the  sun,  and  Hungary,  Poland,  Austria, 
and  other  places,  became  entirely  deso. 


DREADFUL  VISITATIONS— 1  HE  JEWo— THE  GOLDEN  BULL. 


217 


iated,  and  famine  raged  among  mankind  ; 
so  likewise  in  the  year  1348,  a  succession 
of  even  still  greater  afflictions  followed. 
On  the  17th  of  January  in  this  year  the 
sun  was  eclipsed,  and  on  the  25th  a  great 
earthquake  was  felt  over  nearly  the  whole 
of  Europe.  Cities  and  villages  were  over- 
whelmed, and  buried  their  inhabitants  un- 
der their  rains.  The  shocks  during  this 
year  were  several  times  repeated,  and  in 
the  following  one,  a  great  plague,  which 
was  brought  into  Italy  by  the  ships  trading 
in  the  east,  raged  throughout  that  country, 
and  soon  extended  its  desolation  over  the 
whole  of  France  and  Germany.  History 
presents  no  parallel  to  the  terrible  scenes 
of  misery  presented  in  this  epoch.  In  the 
large  cities  the  dead  were  numbered  by 
hundreds  of  thousands,  and  in  many  cases 
the  survivors  scarcely  amounted  to  a  tenth 
part  of  the  previously-existing  population. 
Thousands  of  families  became  wholly  ex- 
tinct, whole  streets  uninhabited  and  laid 
waste,  and  no  living  being,  nor  even  do- 
mestic animal  was  to  be  found  :  nay,  some 
travellers  who  were  going  from  Italy  to 
Bohemia,  found  whole  cities  and  villages 
without  a  single  living  inhabitant  of  any 
sort. 

These  calamities  had  the  effect  of  awa- 
kening to  reflection  many  who  were  pre- 
viously sunk  in  sin  ;  for  the  age  which  had 
preceded  this  had  been  extremely  corrupt. 
In  this  state  of  despair,  penances  of  every 
description  were  again  put  into  force,  and 
especially  the  use  of  the  scourge  was  again 
put  in  requisition.  Hundreds  and  even 
thousands  went  in  procession  from  city  to 
city,  and  practised  their  flagellations  in 
the  market-places,  walking  with  their  backs 
bare,  singing,  and  at  the  same  time  flogging 
themselves  and  each  other  with  knotty 
thorny  whips.  The  leaders  of  the  proces- 
sion were  often  obliged  themselves  even  to 
check  by  stern  command  the  rage  with  which 
the  infatuated  penitents  lacerated  their  flesh. 
Even  children  were  infected  with  a  passion 
for  these  inflictions,  and  took  part  in  these 
scenes.  As  these  proceedings  were  found 
to  be  the  result  of  mere  fanaticism  and 
madness,  accompanied  by  extravagances 
of  every  description,  the  pope  at  last  inter- 
dicted them  on  pain  of  excommunication  ; 
but  it  was  only  with  difficulty  that  they 
could  be  suppressed. 

Meantime,  as  if  that  epoch  was  to  be 
one  distinguished  alone  for  its  wild  disor- 


ders and  excesses,  the  former  persecution 
of  the  Jews  was  also  renewed.  Among 
the  people  the  opinion  had  become  more 
and  more  prevalent  that  the  Jews  had  been 
the  originators  of  the  late  great  plague,  by 
poisoning  the  springs  and  rivers,  for  tin 
purpose  of  exterminating  the  whole  o 
Christendom.  The  ancient  animosity  was 
revived,  and  became  more  and  more  em- 
bittered ;  the  authorities  were  unable  tc 
restrain  the  fury  of  the  people,  and  through- 
out Switzerland,  in  all  the  cities  along  the 
Rhine,  and  generally  throughout  Germany, 
the  massacre  of  the  Jews  was  so  dreadful, 
that  many  of  them  in  their  despair  destroy- 
ed themselves  in  their  own  houses.  The 
mildest  treatment  they  received  was  that 
of  having  their  property  confiscated,  and 
being  banished  the  country.  The  princes, 
and  especially  the  pope  and  bishops,  at  last 
interested  themselves  in  behalf  of  this  per- 
secuted people,  and  saved  the  small  rem- 
nant of  those  as  yet  left  untouched.  His- 
tory, however,  leaves  unmentioned  whether 
the  emperor  Charles  contributed  his  share 
towards  the  general  good  during  this  time 
of  distress. 

The  most  important  work  effected  by 
him  for  Germany  was  published  in  an  im- 
perial edict  called  the  Golden  Bull,  (thus 
called  from  the  seal  of  gold  affixed  to  it,) 
the  institution  of  a  fundamental  law  of  the 
empire,  enacted  in  the  year  1356,  which 
determined  and  regulated  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  seven  electors,  the  mode 
of  precedence  in  electing  the  emperor  in 
the  diet  of  Frankfort,  and  at  the  coronation 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  and  some  other  regu- 
lations ;  among  the  rest  it  was  decreed  that 
after  a  proclamation  made  three  days  pre- 
viously, the  right  of  warfare  should  be  de- 
clared and  enforced. 

But  it  was  not  by  such  regulations  affect- 
ing the  external  and  less  essential  objects, 
that  the  dignity  of  the  empire  could  be 
restored  ;  on  the  contrary,  division,  jeal- 
ousy, and  selfishness  were  excited  more 
than  ever  by  the  advantages  which  he  se- 
cured especially  to  the  electoral  houses  ; 
so  that  from  the  time  of  the  Golden  Bull 
may  be  dated  the  dissolution  of  the  imperial 
dominion,  rather  than  its  re-establishment. 
The  seven  electoral  princes  who  had  al- 
ready, for  nearly  an  entire  century,  exer. 
cised  the  right  of  voting,  included  the  arch 
bishops  of  Mentz,  Treves,  and  Cologne, 
together  with  the  king  of  Bohemia,  the 


218        CHARLES'S  AGGRANDIZEMENT— PETRARCA— CHARLES'S  DEATH. 


duke  of  Saxe- Wittenberg,  tho  margrave 
of  Brandenburg,  and  the  count  palatine  of 
the  Rhine. 

Charles  labored  with  ability  and  extra- 
ordinary success  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
his  own  house.  By  his  first  consort  Anna, 
princess  palatine,  he  secured  to  his  house 
the  upper  palatinate,  and  by  his  second 
wife  Anna,  of  Schweidnitz  and  Jauer,  he 
again  transferred  to  it  the  possession  of  the 
entire  southwest  line  of  the  beautiful  ter- 
ritory in  Silesia,  along  the  borders  of  Bo- 
hemia ;  while  already  his  father  John  and 
himself  subsequently,  having  both  gradu- 
ally succeeded,  partly  by  fraud  and  partly 
by  force,  in  subjecting  all  the  other  princes 
of  Silesia  to  the  dominion  of  Bohemia,  he, 
by  a  royal  decree  in  1855,  united  the  whole 
of  Silesia  and  Lower  Lusatia  to  Bohemia. 
In  like  manner  he  became  possessed  of  the 
margraviate  of  Brandenburg  from  the 
house  of  Bavaria,  by  which  it  had  been 
only  shortly  before  acquired  under  the 
emperor  Lewis  ;  for,  availing  himself  of 
their  weakness  and  total  want  of  energy, 
he  induced  the  Margraves  Lewis  the  Ro- 
man, and  Otho,  to  conclude  a  treaty,  ac- 
cording to  the  terms  of  which,  passing 
over  their  cousins  of  the  house  of  Bavaria, 
the  margraviate  should  be  transferred  to 
the  house  of  Luxemburg  in  the  event  of 
both  margraves  dying  without  any  heir. 
Soon  after  Lewis  died,  and  the  imbecile 
Otho  made  over,  even  during  his  life,  in 
1373,  the  government  of  his  own  country 
into  the  hands  of  the  emperor,  shortly  after 
which,  in  1379,  the  former  died,  despised 
and  forgotten.  Thus  Charles,  solely  bent 
upon  the  aggrandizement  of  his  house,  uni- 
ted Brandenburg  to  the  kingdom  of  Bohe- 
mia, and  by  this  means,  quite  contrary  to 
all  the  institutions  of  Germany,  he  made 
one  German  electorate  dependent  upon  an- 
other. Henceforth  likewise,  he  took  as 
warm  and  paternal  an  interest  in  the  riewly 
acquired  country  as  he  did  in  his  own  he- 
reditary estates ;  ruling  over  a  range  of 
beautiful  tracts  of  country,  extending  from 
ihe  confines  of  Austria,  near  the  Danube, 
to  Pomerania.  Nevertheless,  Charles,  as 
so  often  happens  to  the  selfish,  was  all  this 
time  working  for  strangers.  His  son  Sigis- 
mund  already  mortgaged  the  margraviate 
of  Brandenburg  to  the  family  of  Hohen- 
zollern,  and  by  that  laid  the  foundation  for 
the  greatness  of  I  hat  house  ;  while  the 
greater  Dart  of  his  other  lands  fell  to  the 


house  of  Austria,  which  was  destined  to 
rise  still  higher,  after  having  been  so  much 
injured  by  him.  At  this  time  also  that 
house  obtained  a  great  increase  of  territory 
in  the  county  of  Tyrol,  where  the  Bavarian 
lineage,  introduced  by  the  emperor  Lewis. 
had  become  extinct,  and  the  house  of  Wii. 
telsbach  approached  its  end. 

Charles  proceeded  also  to  Italy,  but  not 
as  it  became  the  successor  of  the  greal 
emperors,  who  had  by  their  bravery  obtain- 
ed the  sovereignty  of  that  country  ;  for  he 
was  obliged,  in  order  that  the  pope  mighl 
confirm  his  election  to  the  Germanic  em 
pire,  to  submit  to  the  disgraceful  stipula 
tion,  that  when  he  came  to  Rome  in  orde* 
to  be  crowned,  he  would  only  remain  one 
day  in  that  city,  and  quitting  it  before 
night,  forthwith  retire  from  the  pope's  ter- 
ritories. Accordingly  he  made  his  entry 
into  Rome  on  Easter  day,  1355,  was  crown- 
ed, and  under  pretence  of  going  out  to 
hunt,  left  the  city  on  the  same  day  and 
hastened  out  of  the  country.  The  Romans, 
not  knowing  the  cause,  were  not  a  little  as- 
tonished  at  his  abrupt  departure,  and  Pe- 
trarca,  the  celebrated  poet,  who  by  his  an- 
imated letters  had  called  upon  him  to  reas- 
sume  the  ancient  glorious  imperial  sway, 
now  wrote  to  him :  "  What  would  his  an- 
cestors, the  ancient  German  emperors,  have 
said,  if  they  had  met  him  on  the  Alps  re 
treating  so  ignobly  ?" 

Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  his  great 
fondness  for  France  induced  him  to  visit 
that  country  once  more  ;  and,  immediately 
after  his  return  to  Germany,  he  died  in  the 
year  1378. 

Charles  IV.  had  already  induced  the 
princes  to  nominate  as  emperor  after  his 
death  his  son  Wenceslas.  But  actuated  in 
like  manner,  as  his  father  had  been,  by 
that  egotism  and  avarice,  which  ever  aim- 
ed at  his  own  interest,  the  son,  although 
naturally  endowed  with  good  qualities,  but 
without  energy,  and  wholly  given  up  to 
sensual  gratification,  especially  to  drinking 
and  the  chase,  achieved  nothing  important 
either  for  Germany  or  even  for  his  own  he- 
reditary lands. 

The  times  were,  at  this  moment,  in  a 
state  of  dreadful  anarchy.  The  imperial 
government  had  lost  all  its  dignity.  Reli- 
gion was  at  its  lowest  ebb,  and  Christen- 
dom was  divided  into  parties ;  instead  of 
one,  there  were  two  popes,  one  at  Rome, 
the  other  at  Avignon  :  both  thundered  forth 


THE  SWISS  AND  OTHER  CONFEDERATIONS. 


21C 


against  each  other  their  bans  of  excommu- 
nication ;  and  in  their  wrath,  each  anathe- 
matized whole  communities  and  countries 
that  happened  to  adhere  to  his  opponent. 
Long  and  vainly  did  the  most  upright  and 
judicious  men  of  the  day  raise  their  voices 
against  the  destructive  vices  of  their  time, 
which  were  spreading  far  and  wide,  and 
all  urged  a  general  assembly  of  the  Chris- 
tian council ;  but  Wenceslas,  whose  busi- 
ness it  was  as  emperor  to  convoke  such  an 
assembly,  had  neither  the  will  nor  energy 
of  mind  sufficient  to  enforce  it. 

Under  his  reign  there  arose  throughout 
Germany  an  increasing  number  of  confed- 
erations among  individual  members  of  the 
empire  for  mutual  protection  ;  which  was  a 
proof  of  the  prostration  of  the  supreme  pow- 
er, and  served  still  more  to  weaken  and 
destroy  it.  The  most  powerful  of  these 
associations  was  that  of  Swabia,  which  con- 
sisted of  thirty-four,  and  afterwards,  even 
of  forty-one  cities,  including  likewise  several 
princes.  On  the  other  hand,  various  simi- 
lar societies,  formed  of  the  nobles,  were 
not  less  flourishing,  when,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  contests  and  battles  upon  a  large  as 
well  as  small  scale  were  the  order  of  the 
day.  The  Swabian  towns  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Swiss  confederacy,  which  be- 
came more  and  more  extensive,  including 
even  in  its  alliance  several  of  the  chief 
towns  of  Switzerland,  Berne,  Zurich,  So- 
leure,  and  Zug,  and  already  adopted  the 
name  of  confederates.  Thence,  as  in  times 
of  discord  and  hatred,  no  class  keeps  within 
the  bounds  of  moderation,  or  adheres  to  jus- 
tice, it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  com- 
plaints made  by  the  princes  and  nobility, 
viz.  that  the  towns  had  unlawfully  de- 
prived them  of  the  services  of  such  of  their 
people  as  were  bound  to  serve  them,  by 
affording  them  protection  and  granting  them 
the  privileges  of  citizens,  were  in  many 
cases  reasonable  and  well-founded.  In 
consequence,  therefore,  of  these  grievances, 
a  new  war  broke  out  between  the  nobility 
of  Austria  and  the  Swiss. 

Duke  Leopold  of  Austria,  in  heroism  and 
arrogance  equal  to  the  Leopold  who  fought 
at  Morgarten,  was  incensed  against  the 
Swiss,  because  in  their  alliance  they  had 
included  several  towns  and  villages  which 
were  subject  to  him,  as  for  instance  :  Entli- 
buch,  Sempach,  Meyenberg,  and  Reichen- 
see.  There  was  certainly  good  foundation 
for  complaint,  but  Austria  likewise  was  not 


free  from  blame ;  for  these  places  had  been 
severely  oppressed  by  its  avaricious  and 
inhuman  agents  j  while  the  duke,  contrary 
to  the  stipulations  made,  had  imposed  taxes 
on  the  frontiers  of  the  Swiss,  which  checked 
their  commercial  intercourse.  Duke  Leo- 
pold vowed  he  would  chastise  the  whole  ot 
the  inhabitants,  the  originators  and  promo- 
ters of,  as  he  styled  it,  unrighteous  and  un- 
lawful warfare,  and  swore  to  destroy  their 
offensive  alliance.  The  hatred  towards  the 
free  peasantry  and  citizens  became  so  gener- 
ally violent  among  the  nobility,  that  within 
a  few  days  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  of  the  nobles,  both  spiritual  and 
secular,  joined  in  denunciations  of  war, 
breathing  utter  destruction  against  the  con- 
federates. The  letters  of  war  were  brought 
to  the  assembled  confederacy  by  twenty 
distinct  expresses,  that  their  terror  might  be 
perpetually  renewed.  On  the  evening  of 
the  day  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  a  messenger 
from  the  court  of  Wurtemberg  arrived  with 
fifteen  declarations  of  war ;  these  letters 
were  scarcely  read  when  the  messenger  of 
John  Ulric  of  Pfirt,  and  of  eight  other  no- 
bles arrived  with  letters  to  the  same  pur- 
pose, and  he  had  scarcely  finished  when 
the  letters  of  the  lords  of  Thurn  and  of  all 
the  nobles  of  Schaffhausen  came  to  hand. 
Finally,  on  the  following  day  eight  more 
messengers  arrived  with  forty-three  sucb 
declarations  of  war. 

The  confederates  had  no  other  aid  to  look 
or  hope  for  but  that  of  their  own  faithful 
union  and  persevering  courage  ;  undismay- 
ed, however,  they  awaited  the  commence- 
ment of  the  contest  with  indescribable  impa- 
tience. The  cry  of  war  and  the  din  of  hos- 
tile preparation  resounded  throughout  the 
country,  and  already  four  days  previously 
all  the  population  capable  of  bearing  arms 
were  equipped  and  ready.  The  term  of 
the  armistice  having  expired,  the  war  be- 
tween the  federal  peasantry  and  their  nobles 
now  burst  forth,  and  within  a  week  or  two 
many  a  strong  castle — so  long  the  terror  of 
the  frontiers — was  levelled  and  razed  :o 
the  ground  by  the  brave  confederates. 

Duke  Leopold  now,  with  a  numerous 
force,  including  many  distinguished  knights 
and  auxiliaries  from  all  his  states,  marched 
from  Baden  through  Aargau  by  Sursee  for 
Sempach,  in  order  to  punish,  as  he  said, 
with  the  rod  of  iron  its  citizens  for  their 
inflexible  adherence  to  the  confederates. 
But  on  his  arrival  there  he  found  the  con- 


220 


ARNOLD  OF  WINKELRIED— HEROISM  AND  SELF-DEVOTION 


federates  already  collected  on  the  heights, 
prepared  and  burning  with  impatience  to 
receive  him.  Unwilling  to  await  the  arri- 
val of  his  foot-soldiers,  and  afraid  lest  the 
cavalry  might  be  thrown  into  confusion  in  a 
mountain  engagement,  he  commanded  all 
the  nobles,  knights,  and  the  entire  body  of 
norsemen  to  dismount  to  the  number  of 
several  thousands,  and  joining  their  ranks 
as  closely  as  possible,  like  an  impenetrable 
wall  of  iron,  he  ordered  them  to  rush  for- 
ward and  charge  the  confederates  spear  in 
hand.  When  the  baron  of  Hasenburg,  a 
veteran  warrior,  perceived  this  order  of  bat- 
tle, and  contrasted  it  with  the  position  com- 
manded by  the  Swiss,  he  at  once  tried  to 
dissuade  the  proud  duke  and  his  nobles  from 
adopting  this  plan  of  attack,  adding,  as  he 
cautioned  them,  that  pride  never  served  any 
good  purpose,  "  that  they  had  better  wait 
until  the  infantry  marched  up."  They, 
however,  only  derided  him,  and  cried  aloud, 
"Der  Hasenburg  hat  em  Hasenherz  !"* 
(Literally,  "  Hasenburg  has  a  hare's- 
heart.")  Some  of  his  nobles  having  repre- 
sented to  the  duke  how  necessary  it  was 
that  he  should  restrain  his  ardor,  while  they 
tried  to  persuade  him  to  keep  in  the  rear  of 
the  army,  he  only  smiled  a  reply  ;  but  when 
they  continued  to  urge  him  to  adopt  their 
suggestions,  he  exclaimed  impatiently  : 
"  What !  shall  Leopold  be  a  mere  looker-on 
and  calmly  behold  his  knights  die  around 
him  in  his  own  cause  ?  Never !  here  on 
my  native  soil  with  you,  I  will  conquer  or 
perish  for  my  people !"  Saying  which,  he 
nlaced  himself  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 

As  long  as  the  enemy  remained  on  horse- 
back, it  appeared  too  dangerous  to  the  con- 
federates to  descend  and  stand  the  charge 
of  such  a  body  of  cavalry  on  level  ground  ; 
but  when  they  beheld  them  quit  their  sad- 
dles, and  form  in  ranks  as  foot-soldiers,  the 
mountaineers  forthwith  abandoned  their 
elevated  position,  and  inarched  down  into 
the  plain  below.  Their  numbers  were : 
400  men  from  Lucerne,  900  from  the 
Waldstiidten,  and  about  100  from  Glaris, 
Zug,  Entlibuch,  and  Rotenburg.  Some 
were  armed  with  short  weapons,  others 
carried  halberds,  with  which  their  forefa- 
thers had  fought  in  the  pass  at  Morgarten  ; 
and  some  again,  instead  of  a  shield,  had 

*  A  play  upon  the  baron's  name,  Hasenburg;  hare's- 
atronshold,  literally  interpreted ;  Hase,  hare ;  Burg,  fort, 
or  stronghold  ;  fnd  Herz,  heart  Hasenherz,  hare's- 
ueart  or  heart  ol  a  hare. 


only    a   small    board    bound   to  their   lefl 
arm. 

This  small,  but  firm  and  united  body  oi 
brave  men,  now  fell  upon  their  knees  and 
prayed  to  God,  according  to  their  custom 
while  the  nobles  on  the  opposite  side  bucK- 
led  on  their  helmets,  and  the  duke  then 
created  several  knights.  It  was  then  the 
season  of  harvest,  when  the  sun  shone  with 
full  power,  and  the  day  was  extremely 
sultry.  The  confederates  now  precipitated 
themselves  with  great  impetuosity  upon  the 
impregnable  phalanx  of  shields ;  but  not  a 
man  yielded  to  the  shock.  The  Swiss  fell 
one  after  another  ;  and  the  company  of  Lu- 
cerners,  especially,  fought  with  impatient 
and  enthusiastic  rage,  seeking  to  make  a 
road  between  the  forest  of  spears,  but  in 
vain.  Numbers  lay  bleeding  around,  and 
their  force  began  to  waver.  The  enemy 
then  moved  his  extended  body  of  men  round 
in  the  form  of  a  half-moon,  thinking  to  en- 
circle the  few  courageous  Swiss.  But  the 
scene  of  this  dreadful  moment  of  approach- 
ing destruction  to  the  confederates  was  un- 
expectedly changed,  by  a  brave  knight, 
Arnold  of  Winkelried,  in  Unterwald,  who 
suddenly,  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  exclaimed 
to  his  comrades :  "  I  will  open  a  passage 
to  freedom,  faithful  and  beloved  confede- 
rates !  Protect  only  my  wife  and  chil- 
dren !"  And  with  these  words,  rushing 
from  his  ranks  he  threw  himself  upon  the 
enemy,  and  seized  with  both  arms  as  many 
of  the  enemy's  spears  as  he  was  able,  bu- 
ried them  in  his  body,  and  sank  dead  to  the 
ground,  while  the  confederates  rushed  for- 
ward through  the  breach,  over  the  body  of 
their  heroic  and  self-devoted  compatriot. 
The  Austrians  gave  way  ;  and,  in  endeav- 
oring to  stop  the  breach,  became,  in  their 
confusion,  so  crowded,  that  many  of  them 
died  in  their  armor,  unwounded,  but  suffo- 
cated and  overwhelmed  with  heat  and  ter- 
ror. Meantime,  the  chief  banner  of  Aus- 
tria was  sinking  for  the  third  time  to  the 
ground,  when  Ulric,  a  knight  of  Aarburg, 
seized  it,  bore  it  aloft,  and  defended  it,  un- 
til, after  a  desperate  struggle,  he  was  mor- 
tally wounded,  crying  out  with  his  last 
breath:  "Save  Austria,  rescue  !"  At  this 
moment,  Duke  Leopold,  pushing  through 
the  crowd,  received  the  banner  from  his 
dying  hand  ;  it  once  again  appeared  aloft, 
covered  with  blood,  waving  in  the  hand  of 
the  duke.  But  he  was  now  surrounded  bj 
the  Swiss,  who  pressing  close  upon  him,  he 


THE  SWISS  TRIUMPHANT— WENCESLAS  DEPOSED. 


221 


exclaimed,  as  he  saw  all  his  brave  warriors 
falling  around  him  :  "  Since,  then,  so  many 
nobles  and  knights  have  ended  their  days 
in  my  cause,  thus  let  me  also  honorably 
follow  them !"  and,  vanishing  from  the 
sight  of  his  few  remaining  adherents,  he 
plunged,  in  the  madness  of  grief  and  de- 
spair, amidst  the  hostile  ranks,  seeking  his 
death.  In  the  pressure  of  the  crowd  he 
fell  to  the  earth ;  and  while  he  was  strug- 
gling in  his  heavy  armor  to  raise  himself 
upon  his  feet,  he  was  discovered  by  a  citi- 
zen of  Schwyz,  to  whom  Leopold,  quite 
helpless,  called  out,  "  I  am  the  prince  of 
Austria  I"  The  man,  however,  either  did 
not  hear  or  believe  him,  or,  perhaps,  think- 
ing that,  in  war,  all  distinctions  cease,  forth- 
with killed  him.  The  body  of  the  duke 
was  found  by  a  knight,  Martin  Malterer, 
who  bore  the  banner  of  Freiburg  in  Breis- 
gau  ;  he  stood  petrified,  and  the  banner  fell 
from  his  hand.  He  threw  himself  upon 
the  body  of  the  prince,  in  order  that  it 
might  not  be  trampled  upon  by  friends  and 
enemies,  and  in  this  situation  he  awaited 
and  received  his  own  death. 

The  Austrian  troops,  in  a  state  of  utter 
dismay  and  terror,  now  gave  the  signal  for 
retreat,  and  all  the  cavaliers  flew  to  regain 
their  horses.  But  they  were  too  late  ;  their 
attendants  had  already  mounted  them,  and 
saved  themselves  by  flight.  All  therefore 
that  remained  for  them  now,  oppressed  with 
their  ponderous  armor,  rendered  still  more 
intolerable  by  the  scorching  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  exhausted  with  thirst  and  fatigue, 
was  to  avenge  their  prince,  and  sell  their 
lives  at  as  dear  a  rate  as  possible.  Thus, 
there  perished  altogether  six  hundred  and 
fifty-six  counts,  barons,  and  knights,  to- 
gether with  thousands  of  their  vassals. 

Such  was  the  issue  of  the  great  battle  of 
Sempach,  fought  on  the  9th  of  July,  1386  ; 
by  this  victory,  and  another  at  Nufels, 
the  confederates  of  Switzerland  so  weak- 
ened  the  power  of  Austria,  that  in  the  year 
13S9,  by  the  mediation  of  tne  imperial 
cities  on  the  Lake  of  Constance,  a  seven 
years5  peace  was  agreed  to,  by  which 
means  the  Swiss  preserved  all  they  had 
acquired,  while  Austria  retained  only  its 
chief  possessions  in  Aargau  and  Thurgau. 

In  the  cities  of  Germany  the  passion  for 
war  was  again  awakened  by  the  successes 
of  the  Swiss.  The  ancient  hostility  between 
he  nobles  and  citizens  was  resumed,  par- 
ticularly in  Swabia,  on  the  Rhine,  and  in 


the  Wetteraw.  But  these  cities  did  not 
command  the  favorable  passes  of  the  moun- 
tains, neither  were  the  citizens  equal  to  the 
peasants  of  Switzerland.  They  were  beat- 
en in  several  contests,  among  others  by 
Count  Eberhard  of  Wurtemberg,  between 
Weil  and  DofFingen,  also  by  the  Count 
Palatine  Rupert,  near  Worms.  In  1389 
tranquillity  was  in  some  degree  restored  by 
the  peace  proclaimed  at  Eger.  This  was 
a  sad  period  of  disaster  for  Bavaria,  Swa- 
bia, Franconia,  and  the  whole  of  the  Upper 
Rhine.  It  is  related  in  the  Chronicle  of 
Konigshoven,  that  more  persons  were  de- 
stroyed at  that  time  than  had  been  for  seve- 
ral centuries  before.  Most  of  the  country 
people  were  obliged  to  remain  throughout 
the  winter  in  the  fortresses  and  cities.  In 
many  parts  not  a  single  village  or  house 
was  to  be  found  within  ten  miles  of  the 
cities  and  strong  castles :  so  much  desola- 
tion had  been  produced  by  fire  and  sword. 
The  emperor  Wenceslas  had  not  suffi- 
cient energy  and  authority  to  settle,  by  the 
imperial  decision,  the  existing  differences 
between  the  nobility  and  the  cities ;  be 
sides  which  he  came  but  seldom  to  Ger- 
many, and  after  the  year  1391,  he  only 
visited  it  at  the  end  of  six  years.  The  Bo. 
hemians,  who  were  likewise  dissatisfied 
with  him,  owing  to  the  cruel  acts  he  had 
committed  at  various  times,  which  together 
with  his  other  infirmities,  made  him  only 
the  more  hated  and  despised,  imprisoned 
him  in  the  castle  of  Prague,  where  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  liberated  by  his 
younger  brother  John.  This  was  an  addi- 
tional cause  of  his  downfall  in  Germany, 
and  at  length,  in  the  year  1400,  the  princes 
proceeded  to  depose  him.  The  charges 
against  him  were  :  "  that  the  holy  Roman 
empire,  the  holy  church,  and  all  Christen- 
dom, instead  of  finding  in  him  comfort, 
protection,  and  succor,  had,  on  the  contra- 
ry, been  rent  asunder,  abused  and  shame- 
fully abandoned  by  him  ;  that  all  this  had 
been  repeatedly  and  fearlessly  represented 
to  him,  but  he  had  neither  restored  peace  to 
the  church,  nor  had  he  felt  any  concern  at 
the  many  feuds  and  tumults  of  the  empire 
so  that  no  one  knew  where  to  seek  redress 
protection,  and  security.  Since,  therefore, 
all  remonstrances  had  failed,  the  princes 
could  not  do  otherwise  than  conclude  thai 
he  no  longer  cared  for  the  welfare  of  tho 
empire,  and  thence  they,  the  princes,  ne- 
cessarily  forbade  him  henceforward  to  have 


222 


RUPERT— SIGISMUND  I.— GRAND  COUNCIL  OF  CO^STANCJv 


any  share  in  the  government  of  the  Ger- 
manic nation,  and  accordingly  they  de- 
posed him,  the  said  Emperor  Wenceslas, 
as  negligent  and  unworthy."  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  they  elected  Rupert  of  the 
palatinate,  as  emperor. 

In  the  succeeding  year,  Wenceslas,  who 
still  held  possession  of  Bohemia,  was  again 
taken  prisoner  by  his  brother  Sigismund, 
and  confined  for  nineteen  months  at  Vien- 
na. 

Rupert,  an  active  and  brave  man,  en- 
deavored to  re-establish  the  imperial  dig- 
nity ;  but  the  existing  state  of  disorder  was 
already  too  great,  and  his  government  of 
too  short  a  duration  to  allow  him  to  gain 
this  object.  He  was  likewise  unsuccess- 
ful in  an  expedition  to  Italy,  and  he  died, 
without  having  effected  any  thing  of  im- 
portance, in  1410. 

The  princes  now  elected  Sigismund,  the 
brother  of  Wenceslas,  to  fill  the  imperial 
throne,  and  in  certain  respects,  this  emper- 
or was  the  most  distinguished  of  the  house 
of  Luxemburg.  His  appearance  was  ma- 
jestic and  graceful.  He  was  tall  and  well- 
formed,  and  his  manly  countenance,  shaded 
by  light  brown  ringlets,  rendered  him  one 
of  the  handsomest  princes  of  his  day.  He 
possessed  a  lively  spirit  and  an  acute  mind, 
and  being  master  of  six  languages,  may  be 
considered  altogether  as  a  monarch  of  su- 
oerior  intellectual  acquirements.  He  had 
a  degree  of  open  honesty  and  true  hearted- 
ness  in  his  disposition,  which  won  the 
hearts  of  all ;  combined  with  a  genuine 
love  for  all  that  was  good  and  meritorious. 
Nevertheless,  with  all  these  good  qualities 
and  brilliant  endowments,  his  resolution 
and  power  of  action  did  not  correspond  in 
proportion.  He  was  changeable  and  un- 
decided, and  wholly  incapable  of  realizing 
and  maintaining  the  great  designs  he  con- 
emplated.  Besides  all  this,  however,  he 
was  a  bad  economist,  always  squandering 
away  what  he  possessed,  and  consequently, 
perpetually  in  difficulties.  Sigismund  di- 
rected his  first  attention  to  the  great  schism 
existing  in  the  church  ;  there  being  one 
pope  in  Italy,  another  in  France,  and  a 
third  in  Spain,  whence  each  pronounced 
the  ban  of  excommunication  against  his 
opponent,  and  those  who  sided  with  him. 
Finally,  in  the  year  1414,  the  celebrated 
council  of  the  church  was  held  at  Con- 
stance, and  perhaps  there  never  was  a 
Council  more  numerous  and  brilliant.  Be- 


sides the  pope,  there  were  present  the 
patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Grado  and 
Antioch,  twenty-two  cardinals,  twenty 
archbishops,  ninety,  two  bishops,  one  hun- 
dred  and  twenty-four  abbots,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  of  the  lower  clergy,  numer- 
ous doctors  of  science  and  masters  of  arts  • 
as  likewise  the  graduates  of  the  universi 
ties  of  Paris,  Orleans,  Cologne,  Vienna, 
and  others ;  about  one  thousand  six  hun- 
dred princes,  nobles,  counts,  and  knights, 
with  their  retinues ;  so  that  altogether  the 
number  that  attended  this  grand  council 
exceeded  100,000. 

Of  the  three  popes,  the  only  one  present 
was  John  XXIII. ,  from  Rome,  who  had 
convoked  the  assembly  in  the  hope  that  hi* 
two  opponents  would  be  deposed,  and  he 
himself  confirmed.  The  council,  however, 
notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  Ital- 
ians, determined  at  once  to  dispense  with 
all  three,  that  the  evil  might  be  struck  at 
the  root.  It  was  agreed  that  not  only 
bishops  and  abbots  should  have  a  vote,  as 
had  been  hitherto  the  custom,  but  that  like- 
wise doctors  of  divinity,  as  well  as  of  the 
canon  and  civil  law,  together  with  the 
princes  and  their  ambassadors,  and  lastly, 
all  the  priests  present,  should  share  in  this 
privilege  ;  and  that  the  votes  should  not  be 
given  individually,  as  formerly,  but  ac- 
cording to  the  nation  ;  so  that  each  of  the 
four  principal  nations — Germany,  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Italy,  should  have  each 
one  vote ;  (the  Spaniards  had  not  yet  ar- 
rived.) For  if  the  votes  had  been  taken 
individually,  the  Italians,  whose  number 
was  by  far  the  most  considerable,  would 
have  outvoted  all  the  others.  The  Ger- 
mans, as  is  stated  by  a  contemporary  of 
that  period,  were  distinguished  on  this  im- 
portant occasion,  for  their  determination, 
vehemence,  and  persevering  remonstrances 
in  support  of  their  claims  ;  the  English  for 
their  boldness  and  acuteness  ;  the  French 
for  their  ostentation  and  self-importance ; 
and  the  Italians  for  their  finesse^  stratagem, 
and  partiality. 

But  the  English  and  the  Germans  were 
united  in  their  decision  upon  the  deposi- 
tion  of  the  popes,  and  the  French  soon  af- 
terwards joined  with  them.  John  XX1IL, 
being  present,  was  the  first  to  sign  the  ab- 
dication ;  he  tried  to  avoid  it,  but  at  length 
he  yielded,  and,  kneeling  before  .iie  altar, 
publicly  read  his  consent  ;o  abdicate.  The 
emperor  Sigismund  and  all  present  wen 


THE  THREE  POPES— DEPOSED  BY  THE  COUNCIL 


228 


filled  with  joy  ;  the  emperor  even  rose  and 
Kissed  the  feet  of  the  pope,  and  thanked 
him  in  the  name  of  the  Christian  world, 
for  setting  such  a  glorious  example  of  self- 
control.  But  John  had  only  yielded  in  ap- 
pearance; for  he  had  already  conferred 
with  his  friend,  Duke  Frederick  of  Aus- 
tria, and  concerted  with  him  the  necessary 
measures  for  his  flight.  Accordingly,  the 
duke  made  arrangements  for  a  grand  tour- 
nament, which  took  place  on  the  20th  of 
March,  1415 ;  and,  while  the  attention  of 
all  present  was  directed  to  the  festival,  the 
pope  hastened  away,  disguised  as  a  postil- 
ion, to  SchafFhausen,  which  still  belonged 
to  Austria.  The  duke  followed  him  quickly 
afterwards  ;  and,  during  the  night,  several 
hundreds  of  Italian  and  Austrian  prelates 
likewise  arrived.  The  pope  hoped  to  re- 
tain possession  of  his  authority,  even 
against  the  will  of  the  council.  But  the 
assembled  fathers  of  the  church  from  Ger- 
many, England,  and  France,  together  with 
the  emperor  Sigismund  himself,  were  too 
serious  in  their  decision.  The  council, 
under  the  presidency  of  the  emperor  Sigis- 
mund, declared :  "  That  its  power  being 
derived  immediately  from  Christ,  and  being 
superior  to  the  pope,  its  decrees,  without  the 
authority  of  the  pope,  should  reunite  and 
reform  the  church."  The  greatest  severity 
was  shown  to  all  those  who  had  taken  their 
departure  ;  Duke  Frederick  was  excom- 
municated by  the  council,  and  outlawed  by 
the  emperor  ;  and,  finally,  at  his  command, 
the  imperial  troops  under  Burgrave  Fred- 
erick of  Nuremberg,  and  the  Swiss,  seized 
the  hereditary  estates  of  the  duke,  and  de- 
prived him  of  the  chief  portion  of  them. 
Aargau,  and  the  ancient  castle  of  Haps- 
burg,  were  conquered  by  the  Bernese. 
About  ten  years  after  this,  however,  the 
emperor  again  received  the  duke  into  his 
favor,  and  returned  to  him  such  of  the  lands 
as  were  at  the  control  of  the  empire  ;  the 
Swiss,  however,  never  restored  the  terri- 
tories they  had  gained,  but  retained  pos- 
session of  Aargau  and  all  the  rest. 

The  pope,  who  had  been  deprived  of  the 
protection  of  the  emperor,  was  obliged  to 
submit  to  the  decrees  of  the  council  ;  he 
was  brought  back  from  Freiburg  in  Breis- 
gau,  whither  he  had  fled,  to  the  small  town 
of  Ratolfszell,  near  Constance,  there  to  re- 
ceive his  final  sentence,  as  follows  :  "  That 
as  he  had  publicly  and  criminally  availed 
himself  of  the  privileges  and  estates  of  the] 


Roman  church,  and  as  he  had,  moreover, 
brought  down  scandal  upon  Christianity  by 
his  immorality,  he  was  thenceforth  deposed 
from  the  papal  chair."  John  submitted  to 
his  sentence,  was  kept  in  custody  until  the 
year  1419  at  the  castle  of  Heidelberg,  and 
then  at  Mannheim,  where  he  was  liber- 
ated, and  soon  afterwards  died  as  cardinal- 
bishop  of  Frascati. 

The  second  pope,  Gregory  XII.,  who 
was  eighty-eight  years  of  age,  and  whose 
seat  was  in  France,  immediately  declared 
his  readiness  to  resign  his  office,  if  the 
peace  of  the  church  required  it ;  and  ac- 
cordingly he  voluntarily  resigned  in  that 
same  year,  1415,  and  was  made  cardinal- 
bishop  of  Porto. 

But  Benedict  XIII.  was  not  to  be  per- 
suaded ;  his  seat  was  in  Spain.  The  em- 
peror Sigismund  himself  undertook,  at  the 
request  of  the  council,  a  journey  to  Spain 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  the  old  man  to 
yield  ;  but  he  failed.  King  Ferdinand  of 
Aragon,  however,  who  had  hitherto  ad- 
hered to  him,  withdrew  his  protection,  and 
now  the  council  without  further  ceremony 
deposed  him. 

Thence  was  accomplished  the  grand  and 
principal  design  of  the  ecclesiastical  coun- 
cil, and  thus  terminated  the  ruinous  schism 
of  the  church,  which  had  lasted  during 
forty  years  ;  and  they  were  now  able  to 
proceed  to  the  election  of  a  new  pope.  But 
the  assembled  fathers  had  another  impor- 
tant object  in  view,  viz.,  the  reformation  of 
the  church  itself.  Complaints  were  made 
about  many  abuses  which  had  crept  in  : 
the  immorality  of  the  clergy,  simony,  and 
especially  the  increasing  pretensions  of  the 
papal  chair,  had  now  become  excessive. 
These  abuses  the  assembled  heads  of  the 
church  were  anxious  in  the.  name  of  their 
several  countries  to  sweep  away,  while,  at 
the  same  time,  they  were  ready  to  secure 
to  the  pope  all  due  respect,  obedience,  .and 
also  many  just  revenues  from  all  coun- 
tries. 

The  Germans,  and  at  their  head  the  cm 
peror  himself,  were  extremely  anxious  for 
a  thorough  reformation  of  the  church.  But 
the  Italians,  who  derived  the  greatest 
benefit  from  the  large  sums  of  money 
which  poured  into  Rome  from  the  other 
countries,  endeavored  to  frustrate  their  de- 
sign, and  thought  the  best  course  they 
could  adopt  for  that  purpose  would  be  to 
induce  the  council,  in  the  first  place,  to 


THE  NEW  POPE,  MARTIN  V. 


choose  a  pope  who  might  afterwards,  as  he 
thought  fit,  undertake  the  reform  of  *Jie 
church.  The  Germans,  on  the  contrary, 
who  perceived  what  was  meant  by  this  art- 
ful proposal,  very  justly  required  that  the 
new  pope  should  be  chosen  afterwards, 
and  that  the  first  condition  of  his  election 
should  be,  that  he  would  abide  by  and  con- 
firm the  new  constitution  of  the  church. 
Their  reasons  were  perfectly  just  and 
rightly  founded ;  nevertheless,  the  Italians 
succeeded  in  winning  over  to  their  party 
the  French  and  the  Spaniards,  who  had  in 
the  mean  time  arrived,  and  as  the  English 
had  received  command  from  their  king  to 
support  the  cardinals,  the  Germans  stood 
alone,  and  were  of  course  at  last  obliged 
to  yield. 

The  new  pope  was  accordingly  elected  ; 
he  was  by  birth  an  Italian,  Otho  of  Colon- 
na,  and  took  the  name  Martin  V.  He  was 
an  extremely  clever  man,  and  understood 
how  to  evade  most  ingeniously  almost  all 
the  regulations  which  the  council  had  con- 
templated for  the  curtailment  of  the  papal 
power.  The  other  powers  now  awakened 
from  their  slumber,  and  the  French,  in 
particular,  applied  to  the  emperor  Sigis- 
mund  to  take  up  the  matter.  But  he  an- 
swered them :  "  When  we  Germans  de- 
sired the  reformation  to  take  place  before 
the  pope  was  elected,  you  Frenchmen 
were  not  satisfied,  but  were  determined 
first  to  have  a  pope.  Now  you  have  one, 
as  we  have  ;  go  and  require  from  him  your 
reformation  of  the  church." 

The  pope,  who  knew  well  that  in  order 
to  be  conquered,  enemies  must  be  first  di- 
vided among  themselves,  began  to  nego- 
tiate with  the  nations  separately,  since 
each  nation  had  made  its  own  proposals  for 
the  reformation.,  and  hence  arose  the  par- 
ticular concordates. 

Thus  the  great  object  which  the  council 
had  in  view,  viz.,  to  effect  the  reformation 
of  the  entire  constitution  and  administra- 
tion of  the  church  and  its  clergy,  was  in  a 
great  measure  defeated.  How  much  more 
happy  would  have  been  the  results  if  the 
desired  reform  could  have  been  effected  ! 
People  consoled  themselves  with  the  ex- 
pectation that  henceforth  every  ten  years 
general  councils  would  be  held ;  but  what 
is  not  done  at  the  right  time  remains  for- 
ever undone — the  projected  decennial  coun- 
cils were  never  held. 

When  Pope  Martin  had  thus  obtained  all 


his  wishes,  he,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1418, 
closed  the  council,  and  on  the  16th  of  May, 
clothed  in  a  golden  papal  robe,  with  a 
white  mitre,  rode  out  of  the  city  upon  a 
horse  covered  with  scarlet,  under  a  splen- 
did canopy.  Sigismund  went  before,  lead- 
ing the  horse  by  the  bridle,  and  thre  > 
princes,  who  walked  on  either  side  of  an  1 
behind  the  horse,  bore  its  covering.  Such 
was  the  termination  of  the  great  Council  of 
Constance,  which  had  continued  nearly 
three  years  and  a  half. 

This  council  also  judged  in  another 
matter,  and  by  its  decision  produced  the 
most  important  results. 

The  emperor  Charles  IV.  had  founded 
the  University  of  Prague,  and  it  was  soon 
attended  by  students  from  all  the  neighbor- 
ing countries.  But  Charles  had  granted 
to  the  Germans  especially  many  and  great 
privileges  there,  with  which  preference  the 
Bohemians  became  dissatisfied,  and  thence 
King  Wenceslas  was  induced,  in  the  year 
1409,  (he  being  then  still  king  of  Bohemia,) 
to  deprive  the  Germans  of  those  privileges. 
Exasperated  at  this,  thousands  of  foreign 
students  with  their  teachers  abandoned 
Prague,  and  established  or  enlarged  other 
high  schools ;  among  others  Leipzig,  In- 
golstadt,  and  Cracow.  John  Huss,  the 
most  zealous  and  learned  of  the  Bohemian 
professors,  was  at  this  time  rector  of  the 
university.  He  soon  embraced  and  pro- 
mulgated principles  at  variance  with  those 
hitherto  held,  being  those  maintained  by 
the  celebrated  divine,  John  Wycliffe,  who 
lived  about  thirty  years  before  Huss.  He 
preached  against  the  corrupt  state  of  the 
morals  of  the  clergy,  and  maintained  that 
it  was  contrary  to  scripture  that  they  should 
have  temporal  riches  ;  he  also  rejected  all 
monastic  orders,  and  in  his  zeal  condemn- 
ed them  severely.  These  and  similar  doc- 
trines were  propounded  by  Huss ;  he  also 
resolutely  opposed  indulgences,  and  being 
accordingly  charged  with  heresy,  he  was 
cited  to  appear  before  the  judicial  chair  of 
the  pope  at  Rome.  He  did  not  obey  the 
summons,  and  was  excommunicated.  But 
he  had  already  gained  a  large  party  of  ad- 
herents, even  the  king,  Wenceslas  himself, 
had  for  a  time  taken  him  under  his  protec- 
tion ;  and  in  Prague,  as  in  other  parts  of 
Bohemia,  great  contention  arose,  ending  in 
scenes  of  bloodshed ;  among  others  who 
took  a  prominent  share  therein  was  Jerome, 
a  professor,  of  theology  in  Prague,  and  a 


JOHN  IIUSS  AT  CONSTANCE— THE  HUSSITE  WARS. 


strong  adherent  and  associate  of  IIuss. 
Huss  was  now  summoned  before  tho  coun- 
cil  at  Constance,  and  this  time  he  obeyed 
the  call :  the  emperor  Sigismund  having, 
at  the  request  of  his  brother  Wenceslas, 
furnished  him  with  a  safe  conduct.  But 
the  emperor  did  not  act  in  this  case  as 
Charles  V.  in  that  of  Luther  at  Worms 
did,  a  century  later ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
Mill'ered  himself  to  be  persuaded  that  there 
was  no  necessity  for  him  to  keep  his  impe- 
rial word,  being  told  that  his  word  must  not 
prejudice  the  interests  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  interrupt  the  spiritual  judge  in  the 
performance  of  his  functions;  also  that  he 
•who  opposed  that  faith  forfeited  every  claim 
to  protection.  Sigismund  accordingly  suf- 
fered Huss  to  be  arrested,  and  promised 
not  to  meddle  with  the  affair  at  all. 

They  required  Huss  to  recant  all  his 
doctrines  on  pain  of  being  condemned  to 
die  at  the  stake  as  a  heretic.  He  chose 
the  latter,  and  was,  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1415,  like  his  friend  Jerome  of  Prague, 
eleven  months  afterwards,  publicly  burnt 
at  Constance.  They  both  died  with  a  for- 
titude admired  even  by  their  enemies. 
Their  ashes  were  cast  into  the  Rhine,  in 
order  that  they  might  not  serve  as  an  ob- 
ject of  veneration  for  the  Bohemians. 

The  news  of  these  proceedings  created 
great  excitement  and  tumult  in  Prague,  for 
the  Bohemians  attributed  the  execution  of 
Huss  to  the  hatred  of  the  Germans,  and 
became  only  the  more  attached  to  his  prin- 
ciples. They  even  went  still  farther ; 
fresh  teachers  published  new  doctrines  to 
those  advanced  by  Huss,  and  a  certain 
Jacob  of  Miess,  in  particular,  who  main- 
tained that  the  sacrament  must  be  distrib- 
uted in  both  forms,  obtained  many  follow- 
ers. The  partisans  of  this  new  doctrine 
met  together  upon  a  mountain,  which  was 
afterwards  called  Mount  Tabor,  and 
whence  they  assumed  the  name  of  Tabor- 
ites.  King  Wenceslas  did  not  venture  to 
interfere  with  these  assemblies,  for  their 
members  sometimes  amounted  to  as  many 
as  40,000 ;  and,  as  usually  happens  in 
similar  cases,  their  zeal  increased  in  pro- 
portion to  their  growing  numbers,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  violence  with  which  they 
were  condemned  as  heretics  by  the  pope 
and  church.  Shortly  afterwards  they  went 
in  solemn  procession  through  Prague,  with 
the  chalice  carried  before  them,  and  Wen- 
cesias,  who  thought  himself  no  longer  safe, 
29 


abandoned  the  city,  and  dind  almost  imme- 
diately after  he  had  left,  in  1419. 

On  one  occasion,  when  the  Hussites 
were  marching  through  Prague,  and  were 
just  passing  the  senate-house,  some  one 
having  thrown  a  stone  thence  which  struck 
one  of  their  priests,  they  furiously  stormed 
the  house,  and  threw  out  of  the  window 
thirteen  of  the  senators,  who  were  received 
by  the  enraged  mob  on  their  pikes,  and 
murdered :  such  was  the  sanguinary  sig- 
nal of  the  revolt.  Under  the  guidance  of 
Ziska,  who  had  acted  as  leader  in  the 
storming  of  the  senate-house,  the  multitude 
roamed  about  the  country,  pillaging  and 
destroying  the  monasteries,  torturing  the 
priests,  and  laying  waste  the  possessions  of 
the  Catholics. 

Sigismund,  who,  after  the  death  of  Wen- 
ceslas, had  become  the  legitimate  king  of 
Bohemia,  demanded  the  assistance  of  the 
German  empire  against  the  Hussites,  and 
collected  a  considerable  army.  He  enter- 
ed Bohemia  in  1420,  and  besieged  Prague ; 
Ziska,  however,  repelled  the  attack  brave- 
ly, and  the  king  was  obliged  to  conclude 
an  armistice  and  quit  the  country.  In 
1427,  the  German  princes  made  another 
attack  with  four  bodies  of  troops ;  but  their 
dread  of  the  Hussites — rendered  by  their 
religious  enthusiasm  almost  unconquerable 
— had  become  so  great,  that  the  soldiers 
no  sooner  saw  them  than  they  fell  into 
confusion  and  retreated.  Another  army, 
which  was  estimated  at  100,000  men,  and 
advanced  upon  them  in  1431,  met  with 
the  same  fate  ;  it  was  so  completely  beaten 
at  Riesenberg,  that  10,000  men  were  killed 
upon  the  spot,  all  the  artillery  and  baggage 
lost,  and  Cardinal  Julian  himself  with  diffi- 
culty saved  his  life  ;  being  minus  his  car- 
dinal's hat,  his  insignia,  and  the  papal  bull 
against  the  Hussites.  The  Hussites,  on 
the  other  hand,  made  attacks  upon  Meis- 
sen, Saxony,  Brandenburg,  Franconia,  Ba- 
varia, and  Austria,  and  their  career  of 
desolation  became  more  and  more  fearful. 
One  of  the  dogmas  held  by  the  Taborites 
was,  viz. :  "  That  when  all  the  cities  a 
the  earth  should  be  burnt  down  and  redu- 
ced to  the  number  of  five,  then  would  come 
the  new  kingdom  of  the  Lord  ;  therefore, 
it  was  now  the  time  of  vengeance,  and  G  '4 
was  a  God  of  wrath." 

\t  length,  however,  affairs  changed  foi 
tne  better.  Great  endeavors  were  used  to 
brin£  about  an  accommodation  between  the 


226 


DEATH  OF  SIGISMUND  I. 


-ALBERT  II.  OF  AUSTRIA. 


church  and  the  Hussites,  and  this  was  at 
length  effected  at  a  council  held  at  Basle. 
The  Hussites  were  allowed  to  partake  of 
the  sacrament  in  both  kinds  of  form,  yet 
on  condition  that  the  priests  should  teach 
the  people  that  Christ  was  perfect  in  each. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Bohemian  people 
cheerfully  entered  into  this  arrangement ; 
but  two  parties,  more  exalted  and  fanatic, 
namely,  the  Taborites  and  the  Waisen, 
under  the  direction  of  Procopius  the  Great' 
and  Procopius  the  Little,  would  hear  noth- 
ing of  moderation  or  of  any  agreement.  It 
came  eventually  to  open  war  between  them 
and  the  moderate  ones,  when  the  latter 
gained  a  great  victory,  in  which  the  two 
leaders  of  the  former  perished,  and  the 
emperor  Sigismund  succeeded  at  length  in 
obtaining  his  recognition  as  king  of  Bo- 
hemia ;  an  event,  however,  accomplished 
only  a  few  months  before  his  death,  which 
took  place  in  1437,  he  being  sixty-nine 
years  of  age :  having  reigned  fifty-one 
years  as  king  of  Hungary,  and  twenty- 
eight  years  as  emperor  of  Germany. 

This  emperor,  notwithstanding  his  nu- 
merous and  wealthy  possessions,  was  often 
in  the  greatest  pecuniary  embarrassment, 
produced  chiefly  by  his  frequent  journeys, 
which  were  enormously  expensive.  On 
this  account  he  mortgaged,  in  1417,  the 
territory  of  Brandenburg,  (which,  under 
Charles  IV.,  had  fallen  to  the  house  of 
Luxemburg,)  together  with  the  elective 
franchise  and  the  office  of  archchamber- 
lain,  connected  therewith,  to  the  burgrave 
of  Nuremberg,  Frederick  of  Hohenzollern, 
for  400,000  gold  florins,  which  sum  the 
latter  had  lent  to  him  at  various  times. 
On  the  8th  of  April,  1517,  the  ceremony 
of  enfeoffment  was  performed  at  Con- 
stance ;  by  which  the  house  of  Hohenzol- 
lern became  possessed  of  that  country,  and 
included  among  the  great  electorates.  By 
similar  means,  Frederick  the  Warlike, 
margrave  of  Meissen  and  landgrave  of 
Thuringia,  obtained  from  the  emperor  Si- 
gismund, for  100,000  marks,  the  Saxon 
electoral  dignity,  and  the  circle  of  Witten- 
berg, after  that  branch  of  the  house  of  An- 
halt,  which  had  possessed  Saxony,  Witten- 
berg, and  the  electoral  crown,  had  become 
extinct. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE    HOUSE    OF  AUSTRIA. 

Albert  II.,  1438-1439— His  Death— Frederick  III.,  1441 
-1493— The  Council  of  Basle,  1448— .-Eneas  Sylvius— 
The  Turks— Belgrade— Defeat  of  the  Turks— The 
Diets— The  Emperor  besieged  in  Vienna— His  Reso- 
lution—His Brother,  Duke  Albert— The  Count  Pala- 
tine of  the  Rhine— His  Hostility— Defeats  the  Imperi- 
alists—Albert of  Brandenburg,  the  Achilles  of  Ger- 
many—Feuds  of  the  Nobles  and  Cities— Nuremberg 
—The  Nobles  Defeated— Austria  and  Burgundy- 
Charles  the  Rash— His  Ambition— Attacks  the  Swiss 
—Defeated  at  Murten— The  Battle  of  Nancy— His 
Death— Mary  of  Burgundy— Marries  Maximilian  of 
Austria— Her  Death— The  Emperor  Frederick  a  Fu- 
gitive—His Return— Maximilian,  Roman  King— The 
Laws— Their  Improvement— Frederick's  Obstinacy 
and  Refusal— Maximilian  Appealed  to— The  Swa- 
bian  League— Death  of  Frederick  III..  1493— Prussia 
—The  Teutonic  Knights— Their  Decline  and  Fall- 
Prussia  under  Polish  Sway,  1406. 

AFTER  the  death  of  Sigismund,  the 
princes,  in  1438,  elected  an  emperor  from 
the  house  of  Austria,  which,  with  scarcely 
any  intermission,  has  ever  since  occupied 
the  ancient  throne  of  Germany.  Albert  II. 
of  Austria,  who,  as  son-in-law  of  the  late 
emperor  Sigismund,  had  become  at  the 
same  time  king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 
was  a  well-meaning,  distinguished  prince, 
and  would,  without  doubt,  have  proved  of 
great  benefit  to  the  empire  ;  but  he  died 
already  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign, 
after  his  return  from  an  expedition  againsi 
the  Turks.  Perhaps  there  never  was  a  sov- 
ereign so  lamented  by  high  and  low,  rich 
and  poor,  as  was  Albert  II. 

In  the  year  1431,  during  the  reign  of 
Sigismund,  a  new  council  was  assembled  at 
Basle,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  work  of  re- 
forming the  church  as  already  commenced 
at  Constance. 

But  this  council  soon  became  engaged  in 
many  perplexing  controversies  with  Pope 
Eugene  IV.,  whom  they  even  deposed,  and 
instead  of  whom  they  appointed  Duke  Fe- 
lix of  Savoy,  under  the  title  of  pope  Felix 
V.  The  principle  that  a  general  ecclesi- 
astical convocation  was  above  the  pope,  and 
was  the  supreme  legislative  authority  in  the 
church,  was  most  solemnly  maintained  at 
Basle,  as  it  had  before  been  at  Constance. 
The  Germans,  for  a  time,  took  no  part  in 
the  dispute  ;  at  length,  however,  under  the 
emperor  Albert  II.,  they  formally  adopted 
the  chief  decrees  of  the  council  of  Basle,  at 
a  diet  held  at  Mentz  in  the  year  1439. 
From  the  imperial  states  there  were  pre- 
sent, the  three  spiritual  electors  in  person, 
with  the  ambassadors  from  the  emperor  and 
the  remaining  states  ;  besides  these  came 


FREDERICK  III.— THE  COUNCIL  OF  BASLE— THE  TURKS. 


227 


ambassadors  from  the  kings  of  France, 
Castile,  Aragon,  and  Portugal,  to  advise 
with  the  Germans  upon  the  constitution  of 
ihe  church.  The  patriarch  of  Aquileja 
appeared  as  representative  of  the  council. 

Among  the  resolutions  then  adopted  were 
such  as  materially  circumscribed  the  ex- 
isting privileges  of  the  pope.  Instead  of 
the  enormous  sums  of  money  which  were 
annually  paid  by  all  the  higher  clergy  to 
Home,*  the  pope  was  to  receive  a  fixed  in- 
come, (provisio  ;)  and  the  German  princes 
contributed,  as  voluntary  aid,  only  the 
eighth  part  of  that  which  had  hitherto  been 
piiid  into  the  papal  treasury  on  a  vacan- 
cy occurring  among  the  clergy.  In  like 
manner,  the  pope  in  future  was  not  to  make 
uny  clerical  appointments  beyond  his  own 
territory,  while  the  free  elections  were  re- 
stored to  the  chapters.  Finally,  the  coun- 
cil made  regulations  for  the  election  of  the 
pope',  fixed  the  number  of  cardinals,  and 
determined  the  qualifications  necessary. 
The  principle  laid  down  was,  that  propor- 
tionally from  every  country  in  relation 
with  Rome,  the  pope  should  be  surrounded 
by  an  equal  number  of  cardinals,  who,  be- 
ing especially  acquainted  with  the  peculi- 
arities of  each  nation,  would  be  able  to  place 
the  point  in  debate  in  its  proper  light,  "  in 
order  that,"  as  the  council  expresses  it, 
-  the  cardinals  may,  in  fact,  be,  what  their 
name  imports,  the  hinges  (cardines)  upon 
which  the  doors  of  the  church  may  rest  and 
move."  At  that  time  a  great  obstacle  was 
already  presented  against  the  establishment 
of  peace  between  the  people  and  the  church, 
'  inasmuch  as  the  cardinals,  whose  office  it 
was  to  act  as  counsellors  of  the  pope  in 
the  direction  of  the  Christian  republic,  were 
in  the  majority  chosen  from  among  the 
Italians. 

These  and  other  decisions,  calculated  to 
give  important  privileges  and  considerable 
independence  to  the  German  church,  were, 
in  a  great  measure,  annulled  by  Albert's 
cousin  and  successor,  Duke  Frederick  of 
Austria,  who  was  elected  by  the  princes 
after  him  in  the  year  1440,  as  Frederick 
III.,  and  by  the  Vienna  Concordate  (for- 
merly  falsely  called  the  Aschaffenburg 
Concordate)  with  Pope  Nicholas  V.,  in  the 
year  1448  ;  whence  the  council  of  Basle 


»  The  emperor  Maximilian  I.  maintained,  even  in 
subsequent  times,  that  the  pope  drew  from  the  German 
empire  an  income  exceeding  a  hundred-fold  that  re- 
ceived by  the  emperor  himself. 


broke  up  in  the  same  year,  after  it  had  beer- 
assembled  seventeen  years,  without  naving 
accomplished  its  original  object.  The  anti- 
pope,  Felix  V.,  voluntarily  abdicated  his 
office.  The  man  who  was  chiefly  instru- 
mental in  giving  this  turn  to  the  affairs  of  the 
church,  was  the  former  secretary  of  the  em- 
peror  Frederick,  jEneas  Sylvius,  of  the  house 
of  Piccolomini,  in  Sienna,  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  his  day.  He  had  him- 
self been  formerly  secretary  of  the  council 
of  Basle,  and  the  most  zealous  vindicator 
of  the  rights  of  the  councils ;  but  if,  when 
his  ambition  was  flattered  by  the  prospect 
of  a  more  splendid  career  in  attaching  him- 
self to  the  papal  chair,  he  asserted  its  dig- 
nity against  the  danger  which  threatened  it, 
he  showed  himself  well  able  to  induce  his 
emperor  and  several  German  princes  to  fa- 
vor the  interests  of  the  pope.  He  himself 
afterwards  became  Pope  Pius  II.,  but  soon 
after  died  in  1462. 

Frederick,  the  emperor,  was  a  prince  who 
meant  well,  but,  at  the  same  time,  was  ot 
too  quiet  and  easy  a  nature  ;  his  long  reign 
presents  but  little  that  was  calculated  to 
distinguish  Germany  or  add  to  its  renown. 
From  the  east  the  empire  was  endangered 
by  the  approach  of  an  enemy — the  Turks, 
against  whom  no  precautionary  measures 
were  adopted.  They,  on  the  29th  of  May, 
1453,  conquered  Constantinople,  and  put  an 
end  to  the  Grecian  dominion,  after  it  had 
maintained  its  sway  nearly  1000  years 
longer  than  that  of  the  Romans  had  endured 
in  the  west.  They  then  made  their  way 
towards  the  Danube,  and  very  nearly  suc- 
ceeded also  in  taking  Hungary.  Frederick, 
as  well  as  the  pope,  tried  to  raise  a  crusade 
against  them,  but  these  enthusiastic  times 
had  gone  by,  and  none  would  now  take  the 
cross. 

That  any  measures  were  at  all  taken 
against  the  enemies  of  the  Christian  name, 
was  to  be  attributed  solely  to  the  pope, 
Calixtus  III.,  who  fitted  out,  at  his  own 
expense,  a  fleet  of  16  galiots,  and  for  that 
purpose  did  not  even  spare  the  riches  of 
his  treasury  ;  while  his  legate,  John  Cap- 
istran,  a  man  who,  in  appearance  and 
glowing  eloquence,  resembled  Peter  the 
Hermit,  the  preacher  of  the  first  crusade, 
succeeded  in  inspiring  with  holy  zeal  for 
the  common  cause  of  Christendom,  at  least 
some  thousands  of  poor  citizens,  peasants, 
and  monks,  and  appeared  with  them  in 
1456,  at  that  most  critical  moment,  when 


228 


THE  CRUSADE— THE  TURKS  OVERTHROWN— HU^TGARIA. 


the  sultan  Mahomet  II.,  with  160,000 
men.  was  besieging  the  fortress  of  Belgrade. 
This  fortress,  once  taken  by  the  enemy, 
Hungary  must  be  lost,  and  the  passage  to 
Vienna  opened  for  him,  as  the  young  king, 
Wladislas  of  Hungary,  as  well  as  the 
emperor  Frederick  and  the  German  prin- 
ces, were  not  prepared  for  war,  and  instead 
of  acting  were  deliberating.  Then  it  was 
that  Capistran,  with  his  forces  very  in- 
adequately provided  with  pikes,  flails,  and 
hay  forks,  which  he  had  brought  in  boats, 
attacked  the  Turkish  fleet  on  the  Danube, 
which  surrounded  Belgrade,  and  made  his 
way  into  the  city.  The  Hungarian  com- 
mander-in-chief,  John  Hunnyades  Cor- 
vinus,  had  also  collected  some  forces,  and 
with  the  crusaders  repelled  the  furious 
attacks  of  the  Turks.  However,  he  did 
not  venture  to  touch  their  well-intrenched 
camp,  and  even  forbade  every  attack  upon 
it  under  pain  of  death  ;  but  the  ardent 
zeal  of  the  crusaders  was  not  to  be  re- 
strained, and  Capistran,  when  he  saw  this, 
placed  himself  at  their  head  with  a  staff 
in  one  hand  and  a  crucifix  in  the  other, 
and  stormed  three  Turkish  intrenchments 
one  after  the  other,  while  Hunnyades  now 
coming  up  with  the  cavalry,  fell  upon  the 
rear  of  the  enemy  who  was  completely  put 
to  rout.  Their  intrenchments  were  after 
a  severe  contest  taken,  together  with  all 
their  artillery  and  an  immense  booty,  and 
Mahomet  being  wounded,  fled  with  such  of 
his  army  as  remained .  Upwards  of  20,000 
Turks  fell  in  the  battle,  and  the  sultan's 
power  was  for  many  years  crippled. 

This  deliverance  Christendom  owed  to 
the  enthusiastic  courage  and  the  patriotic 
valor  of  a  monk  and  a  Hungarian  noble- 
man, while  the  kings  and  princes  remained 
inactive  or  engaged  in  petty  negotiations. 
If  this  victory  had  been  followed  up  by  the 
union  of  vigorous  force,  the  Turkish  power 
might,  perhaps,  have  been  wholly  de- 
stroyed ;  but  nothing  was  done,  and  even 
the  two  heroes  who  might  have  achieved 
something  more,  died  in  the  same  year, 
1456,  exhausted  by  their  super-human 
exertions. 

The  Hungarians,  on  the  death  of  Ae 
son  of  the  emperor  Albert  II.,  Wladislas 
Posthumus,  in  the  year  1457,  without  leav- 
ing an  heir  to  the  throne,  chose  Matthias, 
.he  son  of  John  Corvinus,  as  king,  being 
resolved  not  to  elect  one  from  among  the 
Austrian  princes.  The  Bohemians  like- 


wise selected  a  private  noblerr;an  for  theix 
king,  George  Padriabrad,  and  thus  the 
Austrian  house  found  itself  for  a  time 
rejected  from  holding  possession  of  either 
of  these  countries.  "  Singular  is  the 
fact,"  says  ^Eneas  Sylvius  in  his  Bohe- 
mian history,  "  that  both  those  kingdoms 
should  have  become  transferred  from  the 
most  noble  princely  houses  to  those  of  com- 
mon noblemen  ." 

In  Germany,  meantime,  there  existed 
numberless  contests  and  feuds,  each  party 
considered  only  his  own  personal  quarrels, 
or  pursued  his  own  private  interest,  and 
when  a  diet  was  resolved  upon  and  assem- 
bled for  determining  an  expedition  against 
the  Turks,  they  were  for  some  months  dis- 
cussing how  much  money  and  how  many 
troops  each  was  to  contribute,  ultimately 
postponing  the  whole  affair  until  the  next 
year.  Generally,  at  the  German  diets, 
little  was  done  of  any  importance.  Tho 
emperor  and  princes  were  seldom  person- 
ally  present,  but  sent  their  ambassadors, 
whose  chief  concern  was  not  to  forego  any 
thing  for  the  interests  of  their  masters. 
Frequently  many  of  those  were  sent  who 
were  well  versed  in  the  Roman  law,  which 
was  now  very  extensively  studied ;  these 
came  with  their  specious  speeches,  and 
already  prepared  with  a  hundred  different 
reasons,  by  which  to  prove  that  too  great 
a  portion  of  the  burden  of  the  whole  was 
laid  upon  the  particular  prince  or  im- 
perial city  they  represented.  They  were 
engaged  in  discussing  who  should  contri- 
bute least  towards  the  welfare  of  Ger- 
many; and,  therefore,  nothing  that  was 
great  or  noble  could  be  accomplished. 
Then  began,  also,  the  unhappy  practice 
of  no  longer  speaking  intelligibly,  briefly, 
and  pithily  ;  but  communicating  by  tedious 
writings  and  counter-statements.  And 
when  it  was  thought  that  an  affair  was  at 
length  settled,  perhaps  an  ambassador 
would  rise  and  say,  as  an  excuse  for  not 
concluding  the  business,  that  he  had  no 
farther  instructions,  and  thus,  until  his 
new  instructions  were  received,  a  delay  of 
many  months  might  intervene.  Thence  it 
happened,  that  from  that  time,  scarcely 
at  any  diet  a  single  valid,  conclusive  reso 
lution  was  adopted ;  they  were  always 
postponing  the  business  in  hand  for  tho 
decision  of  a  future  assembly,  and  even 
then  another  final  meeting  was  adjudged 
necessary.  How  different,  and  far  better 


FREDERICK  BESIEGED  IN  VIENNA— ALBERT  OF  BRANDENBURG.        220 


was  it,  when  the  princes  in  former  times 
were  present  in  person,  and  when  more 
was  done  in  one  hour's  cordial  conference 
;han  in  after  years  in  weeks  and  months. 
What,  however,  had  operated  much  to 
change  the  form  of  the  diets  was,  that  in- 
stead of  that  equalized  right  enjoyed  by 
those  who  formerly  attended,  there  were 
now  introduced  three  gradations  of  form  : 
that  of  the  electors,  the  princes,  and  the 
cities.  By  the  Golden  Bull,  the  first  col- 
logo  had  acquired  very  important  privi- 
leges, and  was  wholly  separated  from  that 
of  the  princes  and  cities  ;  while  the  latter, 
for  a  long  period,  commanded  only  a  vote 
in  the  council,  but  no  co-determinating 
voice. 

The  emperor  could  not  give  any  weight 
to  public  measures ;  scarcely  could  he 
maintain  his  dignity  among  his  own  sub- 
jects. The  Austrian  nobility  were  even 
bold  enough  to  send  challenges  to  their 
sovereign  ;  while  the  city  of  Vienna  re- 
volted, and  his  brother  Albert,  taking 
pleasure  in  this  disorder,  was  not  backward 
in  adding  to  it.  Things  even  went  to  such 
an  extremity,  that,  in  1462,  the  emperor 
Frederick,  together  with  his  consort  and 
son,  Maximilian,  then  four  years  of  age, 
was  besieged  by  his  subjects  in  his  own  castle 
of  Vienna.  A  plebeian  burgher,  named 
Holzer,  had  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  insurgents,  and  was  made  burgomaster, 
while  Duke  Albert  came  to  Vienna  person- 
ally to  superintend  the  siege  of  the  castle, 
which  was  intrenched  and  bombarded. 

The  emperor,  on  this  occasion,  showed 
himself  firm  and  resolute;  he  encouraged 
his  small  garrison  of  400  men  to  make  the 
bravest  resistance,  and  called  aloud  from 
the  walls,  "  This  spot  will  I  defend  until  it 
becomes  my  grave  !" 

The  German  princes,  however,  could 
not  witness  with  indifference  such  disgrace- 
fill  treatment  of  their  emperor,  and  they 
assembled  to  liberate  him.  George  Padria- 
brad,  king  of  Bohemia,  was  the  first  who 
hastened  to  the  spot  with  assistance,  set  the 
emperor  at  liberty,  and  effected  a  reconcil- 
iation between  him  and  his  brother.  The 
emperor,  however,  was  obliged  to  resign 
to  him,  for  eight  years,  Lower  Austria  and 
Vienna.  Albert  died  in  the  following  year, 
after  he  had  inflicted  the  merited  punish- 
iner.t  upon  the  burgomaster  Holzer,  who 
had  endeavored  to  betray  him  to  the  empe- 
ror ;  the  traitor  was  quartered  alive. 


In  the  Germanic  empire,  the  voice  cf  the 
emperor  was  as  little  heeded,  as  in  his  he- 
reditary lands.  Frederick  the  Conqueror, 
count  palatine  of  the  Rhine,  who,  by  suc- 
cess of  arms,  had  enlarged  the  palatinate 
by  one  third,  after  Frederick  had  pronounced 
the  ban  of  the  empire  upon  him,  was  suf- 
fered to  build  at  his  castle  at  Heidelberg,  a 
strong  tower,  which  he  called  his  "  Defi- 
ance to  the  emperor."  (Trutz  Kaiser.} 
This  very  count  palatine  ventured  publicly 
to  take  under  his  protection,  Diether,  arch- 
bishop of  Mentz,  the  head  of  the  party  in 
Germany  who  sought  to  curtail  the  privi- 
leges of  the  pontiff,  after  Pope  Pius  II.  had 
deposed  and  excommunicated  him.  The 
emperor  Federick,  on  the  contrary,  wished 
to  carry  into  effect  the  sentence  of  the  pope, 
and  committed  to  the  Margrave  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  aiK  Count  Ulric  of  Wurtem- 
berg,  as  his  generals,  the  direction  of  the 
imperial  war  against  the  count  palatine  and 
his  confederates ;  the  two  generals,  how- 
ever, failed.  The  army  of  the  Wurtem- 
bergian  chief  was  totally  routed  by  the 
count  palatine,  near  the  village  of  Secken- 
heim,  and  Ulric  himself,  with  the  margrave 
of  Baden,  taken  prisoner;  and  in  the  same 
year,  the  ally  of  the  count  palatine,  Duke 
Lewis  of  Bavaria,  attacked  Albert  of  Bran- 
denburg with  equal  success  not  far  from 
Giengen,  in  Swabia,  and  captured  the  im- 
perial banner.  The  Archbishop  Diether, 
however,  subsequently  submitted  of  his 
own  accord  to  the  sentence  of  the  pope, 
and  resigned  the  archbishopric  into  the 
hands  of  Adolphus  of  Nassau,  who  had 
been  nominated  by  the  pontiff. 

Another  memorable  feud  during  the  reign 
of  Frederick,  was  that  of  many  princes 
and  nobles,  under  the  leadership  of  the 
aforementioned  Margrave  Albert  of  Bran- 
denburg, (who  from  his  strength  and  prow- 
ess, was  called  the  German  Achilles,) 
against  the  city  of  Nuremberg  in  Franconia. 

Nuremberg  was  then  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  and  powerful  cities  of  entire 
Germany ;  the  ancient  animosity  between 
the  free  citizens  and  knights  broke  out,  in 
the  year  1449,  into  a  great  war.  Seventeen 
of  the  greatest  princes  of  the  empire,  the 
electors  of  Brandenburg  and  Mentz,  Wil- 
liam of  Saxony,  Otho  of  Bavaria,  Albert 
of  Austria,  &c.,  declared  war  against  the 
city.  On  the  other  hand,  seventy-two  im- 
perial towns  took  part  with  Nuremberg,  ana 
the  Swiss  also  sent  800  men.  This  deso 


230    CHARLES  UF  BURGUNDY— HIS  CONFERENCE  WITH  f  REDBRICK. 


lating  war — which  especially  affected  the 
rural  districts,  wherein  two  hundred  vil- 
lages were  burnt  to  the  ground — lasted 
eight  years.  Eight  times  were  the  nobility 
victorious  ;  but  in  March,  1456,  the  army 
sf  the  margrave  was  totally  beaten  near 
Pillerent ;  the  victory  being  mainly  gained 
by  the  Swiss  ;  and  the  margrave,  who  now 
saw  that  even  princely  power  availed  not 
against  the  strong  walls  and  opulence  of 
the  cities,  gladly  made  peace  with  Nurem- 
berg.* 

The  feudal  system  raged  under  Frede- 
rick's reign  to  such  an  extent,  that  it  was 
pursued  even  by  the  lower  classes.  Thus, 
in  1471,  the  shoeblacks  in  Leipsic  sent  a 
challenge  to  the  university  of  that  place  ; 
and  the  bakers  of  the  Count  Palatine 
Lewis,  and  those  of  the  margrave  of  Ba- 
den defied  several  imperial  cities  in  Swabia. 

The  most  important  transaction  in  the 
reign  of  Frederick,  was  the  union  which 
he  formed  with  the  house  of  Burgundy,  and 
which  laid  the  foundation  for  the  greatness 
of  Austria. 

Charles  the  Rash,  duke  of  Burgundy, 
was  one  of  the  richest  and  most  celebrated 
princes  of  his  time.  He  governed  the 
beautiful  countries  which  are  situated  at 
the  mouths  of  the  rivers  Rhine  and  Scheldt, 
and  which  are  known  by  the  common  name 
of  the  Netherlands ;  he  also  held  dominion 
over  the  territory  and  dukedom  of  Bur- 
gundy. This  prince  might  have  rendered 
himself  the  most  happy  of  all  his  royal 
contemporaries.  But  his  proud,  ambitious 
mind  aimed  at  greater  things,  even  the  im- 
perial crown  itself;  he  was  glad,  therefore, 
when  the  emperor  Frederick  III.  proposed 
to  give  his  own  son,  Maximilian,  in  mar- 
riage to  his  only  daughter,  Mary,  who 
afterwards  became  the  heiress  of  the  beau- 
tiful lands  of  Burgundy.  But  when  he 
perceived  that  the  emperor  did  not  intend  to 
sacrifice  to  him  the  succession  to  the  em- 
pire, he  demanded  of  him,  at  least,  the 
royal  title  ;  preceding  emperors  having  also 
made  kings  of  the  dukes  of  Bohemia,  as 
feodal-princes  of  the  empire.  For  the  pur- 

*  This  battle  is  celebrated  in  a  poem,  called  "  The 
Battle  of  Nuremberg,"  written  by  Hans  Rpsenpliit,  an 
heraldic  painter  of  Nuremberg.  The  warlike,  intrepid 
spirit  of  the  free  citizens  is  there  vividly  expressed,  and 
the  description  of  the  princes  taking  to  flight  does  not 
want  for  point  and  ridicule.  A  Low-German  poem  of 
the  time  commemorates  the  celebrated  batt?e  of  Soest, 
in  1444,  when  Dietrich,  the  archbishop  of  Cologne, 
with  70,000  men,  made  an  attack  upon  that  city  but 
was  at  last  obliged  to  retreat  in  disgrace. 


pose  of  negotiating  this  matter,  they  agreed 
upon  a  conference  at  Treves,  in  the  year 
1473.  The  rich  duke  appeared  with  more 
than  imperial  splendor,  and  Frederick,  who, 
through  the  disordered  state  of  his  finances, 
was  reduced  almost  to  penury,  met  him  in 
a  very  poor  and  mean  condition.  This 
striking  contrast  in  their  appearance  was, 
no  doubt,  mortifying  to  the  emperor  ;  and 
he,  especially,  was  displeased  with  the 
proud,  assuming  behavior  of  the  duke  ;  for 
so  certain  did  the  latter  feel  of  obtaining 
the  royal  title,  that  he  had  actually  brought 
with  him  the  jewels  for  his  coronation,  and 
had  made  great  preparations  for  the  august 
festival.  But  how  must  he  have  been  shock- 
ed, when  the  emperor  suddenly,  without 
having  crowned,  nay,  without  even  having 
taken  leave  of  him,  took  his  departure  from 
Treves,  under  the  cool  pretext  that  his 
presence  was  urgently  required  at  Cologne, 
on  account  of  the  disagreement  there  ex- 
isting between  the  archbishop  and  his  chap- 
ter. Full  of  indignation,  and  now  by  no 
means  disposed  for  the  projected  marriage 
with  the  house  of  Austria,  the  duke 
likewise  left  Treves  immediately  after- 
wards. 

Nevertheless,  this  meeting  was  not 
attended  without  its  important  effects. 
Charles  had,  on  this  occasion,  become 
much  prepossessed  in  favor  of  the  young, 
chivalrous  son  of  the  emperor ;  and  on 
his  return  he  gave  his  daughter  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  merits,  in  the  most  glowing 
colors  :  her  heart  was  so  captivated,  that 
without  having  even  seen  Maximilian,  she, 
from  this  time,  cherished  a  secret  attach- 
ment for  him,  and  soon  afterwards,  in  a  let- 
ter she  sent  direct  to  the  young  prince,  she 
betrothed  herself  to  him. 

The  dispute  between  Archbishop  Rupert 
of  Cologne,  and  his  chapter,  had  become 
so  serious,  that  the  latter  now  fixed  its  seat 
in  the  city  of  Neuss,  and  openly  opposed 
him.  The  archbishop  sought  the  assist- 
ance of  Charles  the  Rash,  and  he,  gladly 
embracing  the  opportunity,  and  no  doubt 
already  considering  himself  as  prince  of 
the  Rhine,  marched  forth  with  an  army  of 
60,000  men.  and  encamped  before  Neuss. 
The  city,  however,  defended  itself  with  the 
greatest  heroism  and  glory  :  eleven  months 
did  the  duke  remain  before  it,  during  which 
he  made  fifty-six  vain  assaults,  and  lost 
upwards  of  15,000  men ;  and,  at  last, 
when  the  emperor  Frederick  approached 


THE  SWISS-BATTLE  OF  MURTEN— CHARLES'S  DEFEAT  AND  DEATH.     231 


ivith  an  imperial  army  to  succor  the  city, 
and  Charles  was  unable  to  effect  any  thing 
Dy  nine  more  assaults,  which  lie  made  in 
one  day,  he  was  obliged  to  conclude  a 
treaty  through  the  means  of  iho  pope'; 
k'jiati1,  which,  although  unattended  with 
any  advantage,  brought  him  nevertheless 
no  disgrace.  Neuss  yielded  to  him,  but 
only  in  appearance  ;  for  he  withdrew  the 
same  day  he  entered,  and  resigned  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  legate  of  the  pope,  who 
was  to  hold  dominion  over  it  until  affairs 
were  settled  between  the  archbishop  and 
the  chapter. 

The  restless  duke  soon  afterwards  at- 
tacked Rene,  duke  of  Lorraine,  whose 
country  he  wished  to  annex  to  his  own. 
He  conquered  the  chief  city,  Nancy,  was 
there  acknowledged,  and  wished  now  to 
direct  his  arms  against  the  Swiss,  so  that 
his  dominions  might  descend  from  the 
sources  of  the  Rhine  to  its  mouth.  In 
vain  did  the  Swiss  represent  to  him  that 
their  entire  country  was  not  so  valuable  as 
the  trappings  of  his  horses  ;  regardless  of 
their  remonstrances,  he  invaded  Switzer- 
land, and  made  so  sure  of  a  victory,  that 
he  ordered  the  garrison  of  Granson,  which 
he  had  taken,  to  be  suspended  on  the  trees. 
The  Swiss  then  advanced  against  him,  and 
took  heavy  vengeance  for  this  act ;  for 
although  his  army  was  three  times  more 
numerous  than  their  own,  they  totally  de- 
feated it,  and  captured  his  entire  camp, 
filled  as  it  was  with  implements  of  war  and 
immense  treasures.*  He  fled  from  the 
field,  accompanied  by  only  five  of  his  re- 
maining attendants.  Enraged  at  this  de- 
feat, he  equipped  a  new  army  of  60,000, 

*  In  order  to  show  the  wealth  of  the  proud  duke,  we 
will  just  specify  some  of  the  principal  spoils  made  by 
the  Swiss.  In  his  tent,  which  on  the  outside  was  hung 
with  armorial  shields  of  gold  and  pearls,  they  found  the 
golden  throne  upon  which  he  sat  on  solemn  occasions ; 
liis  ducal  hat  of  yellow  velvet,  thickly  studded  with  the 
most  precious  jewels  and  pearls  ;  the  golden  fleece,  the 
order  which  his  father  had  instituted  ;  the  great  seal 
of  Burgundy,  in  gold,  weighing  a  pound ;  together 
with  the  golden  chaplet  of  his  father,  having  jewel 
drops,  cabinets  of  relics,  a  valuable  prayer-book,  &c. 
The  dining-room  was  well  stored  with  golden  and  sil- 
ver goblets,  dishes,  and  plates,  besides  four  hundred 
travelling  trunks,  containing  the  most  precious  golden 
and  silver  embroidery,  which  the  soldiers  sold  for  a  few 
pence.  The  gold  was  distributed  in  hats.  The  largest 
of  the  duke's  jewels,  equal  in  size  to  the  half  of  a  wal- 
nut, and  the  value  of  which  he  estimated  at  the  price 
of  an  entire  province,  was  picked  up  on  the  road  uy  a 
Swiss,  and  sold  by  him  for  a  florin.  Pope  Julius  IL 
purchased  it  afterwards  of  the  citizens  of  Berne  for 
20,000  ducats,  and  it  yet  shines  as  the  chief  jewel  in  the 
papal  crown.  A  second  jewel  of  the  duke,  which  was 
taken,  is  in  the  French  crown,  arid  a  third  is  in  the 
imperial  treasury  at  Vienna 


and  in  the  same  year,  1470   ho  marched  a 
second  time  against  them. 

The  armies  met  at  Murtcn.  Hans  of 
Hallwyl,  who  led  the  confederates,  ordered 
them,  before  the  battle,  to  kneel  down  and 
offer  up  their  prayer,  as  their  fathers  had 
been  accustomed  to  do  ;  and  while  they 
were  praying,  the  dense  clouds  which  haci 
hitherto  overhung  the  sky  with  blackness, 
now  parted,  and  the  sun  cast  its  brighi 
genial  beams  on  the  suppliant  multitude. 
This  luminary  appeared  to  them,  at  this 
awful  hour,  as  a  messenger  from  Heaven, 
and  a  sure  pledge  of  victory  ;  and  in  this 
assurance,  rendered  more  strong  and  in- 
trepid in  the  cause,  they  fell  so  bravely 
upon  the  enemy  that  he  was  put  to  the  rout, 
and  the  field  was  covered  with  the  bodies 
of  20,000  Burgundians,  which  were  col- 
lected and  deposited  in  the  charnel-house 
of  Murten,  with  the  superscription,  "  This 
memorial  has  been  left  behind  by  the 
martial  host  of  the  mighty  duke  of  Bur- 
gundy." 

In  the  following  year,  1477,  on  the  5th 
of  January,  a  cold  winter's  day,  there  was 
another  sanguinary  battle  at  Nancy,  in 
which  the  warlike  duke  at  last  met  with 
his  death. 

The  united  armies  of  Lorraine  and  Swit- 
zerland completely  defeated  his  troops ; 
and  he  himself,  who,  in  the  din  of  war, 
after  fighting  bravely  and  honorably  for 
his  house,  had  been  struck  down,  was  found, 
scarcely  known,  among  the  slain,  late  on 
the  following  day. 

His  death  inspired  the  crafty  French 
king,  Louis  XI.,  with  the  hope  of  acquiring 
new  and  more  glorious  countries  ;  he  em- 
ployed every  means  to  gain  for  his  eldest 
son,  Mary,  the  heiress  of  Burgundy ;  but 
the  people  of  the  Netherlands  held  in  bitter 
dislike  every  thing  French  ;  and  when  the 
ambassadors  from  the  emperor  Frederick 
arrived,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  every 
one,  presented  the  autograph  letter  and 
ring,  which  the  Princess  Mary  had  pre- 
viously sent  to  the  Archduke  Maximilian, 
the  people  were  delighted,  and  Mary  de- 
clared openly  and  freely  :  "  Him  have  I 
fixed  upon  in  my  mind,  him  will  I  have  for 
my  husband,  and  none  other."  Thereupon, 
Maximilian  went  to  the  Netherlands  and 
was  united  to  Mary  of  Burgundy.  He 
soon  found  opportunity  to  prove  to  his  new 
subjects  his  valor  and  discretion  in  their 
wars  against  the  French  king ;  for  the  lat. 


C32 


FREDERICK  A  FUGITIVE— HIS  RETURN. 


ter,  who  regarded  the  young  prince  as  an 
insignificant  adversary,  and  relied  upon  his 
own  superior  power,  had  hy  force  of  arms 
made  a  conquest  of  various  parts  of  Bur- 
gundy. Maximilian,  however,  bravely  made 
head  against  him,  and  defeated  his  avari- 
cious enemy  at  Guinegast,  in  1479,  and 
would  to  a  certainty  have  reconquered  from 
him  every  portion  of  the  estates  of  Burgundy 
still  in  his  possession,  but  for  the  sad  loss 
he  sustained  in  his  beloved  Mary,  who  died 
in  the  year  1482,  in  consequence  of  a  fall 
from  her  horse  while  chasing  herons.  The 
zeal  of  the  Nelherlanders  then  grew  cold 
in  the  protracted  war,  and  Maximilian  was 
obliged  to  leave  his  beautiful  inheritance  in 
the  hands  of  the  French. 

In  these  battles  the  emperor  Frederick 
could  afford  his  son  no  assistance  ;  he  was 
hard  pressed  in  his  own  hereditary  lands, 
partly  by  the  Turks,  who  made  their  way 
into  Carinthia  and  Carniola,  and  even  to 
Salzburg ;  and  partly  by  Matthias,  king  of 
Hungary,  who,  in  1485,  took  possession  of 
Vienna  itself;  and  all  regard  for  public 
honor  being  now  diminished,  the  Germanic 
empire  could  with  great  difficulty  be  induced 
to  make  any  exertions  on  behalf  of  its  em- 
peror. The  latter  having  made  his  escape, 
was  compelled  to  wander  a  fugitive  through 
his  land,  seeking  a  temporary  asylum  in 
some  of  the  convents  and  cities,  where  he 
was  charitably  furnished  with  the  necessi- 
ties of  life;  nay,  sometimes  he  was  glad  to 
beg  a  lift  on  the  high  road  from  some  peas- 
ant driving  his  team  of  oxen.  Nevertheless, 
even  in  this  state  of  degradation,  his  feeling 
of  dignity  never  forsook  him;  by  himself, 
and  those  few  scattered  sympathizing  sub- 
jects by  whom  his  sovereignty  was  still  ac- 
knowledged, he  was  regarded  as  the  source 
of  justice  and  authority  in  his  extensive 
empire.  This  undauntedness  of  opinion 
and  conviction  now  gradually  operated  in 
his  favor,  and  produced  once  more  a  union 
of  the  princes  of  the  empire,  while  he  suc- 
ceeded in  effecting  what  his  great  ancestor 
in  all  the  fulness  of  his  power  had  been 
unable  to  accomplish ;  inasmuch,  as  in  the 
year  1486,  the  whole  of  the  assembled 
princes,  influenced  especially  by  the  rep- 
resentations of  the  faithful  and  now  venera- 
ble Albert,  called  the  Achilles  of  Branden- 
burg, elected  Maximilian,  the  emperor's  son, 
king  of  Rome. 

Indeed,  about  this  period  a  changed  and 
improved  spirit  began  to  show  itself  in  a 


remarkable  degree  in  the  minds  of  many 
throughout  the  empire,  so  that  the  profound 
contemplator  of  coming  events  might  easily 
see  the  dawn  of  a  new  era.  Universally 
was  it  felt  that  the  time  was  come  for  the 
re-establishment  of  the  imperial  power  on 
stronger  foundations.  But  as  this  power 
could  alone  no  longer  subsist  as  a  central 
point  of  dominion  over  the  Christian  world, 
it  was  necessary  to  rest  it  upon  the  basis  of 
a  constitution,  for  which  indeed  all  the  ele- 
ments of  a  grand  system  of  community 
were  already  at  hand,  could  they  only  be 
brought  to  bear  in  happy  combination. 

The  diets  were  regarded  as  the  focus  of 
jurisdiction  and  administration ;  an  im- 
oerial  court  of  justice  was  already  estab- 
.ished  ;  a  register,  by  which  every  member 
of  the  empire  was  bound  to  give  his  name 
for  the  general  defence  of  the  empire,  had 
been  established  in  the  war  against  the 
Hussites..  Thus,  if  these  institutions  could 
only  be  brought  into  thorough  operation, 
good  order,  and  the  proper  government  of 
the  empire  would  be  secured. 

In  order  to  promote  this  grand  object 
great  activity  was  shown,  especially  towards 
the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  the  emperor 
Frederick.  In  the  year  1486,  the  decree 
of  the  Landfriede,  or  peace  of  the  country, 
was  renewed,  although  still  accompanied 
with  certain  clauses  which  in  many  cases 
sanctioned  self-defence  or  private  warfare. 
In  the  year  1489,  the  forms  of  council  at 
the  diets  were  more  firmly  regulated  and 
fixed,  according  to  the  three  colleges  in  ro- 
tation, viz.  the  electors,  princes,  and  cities. 

It  was  held  desirable  likewise,  that  to 
the  imperial  tribunal  there  should  be  added 
another  imperial  chamber,  furnished  with 
the  vigorous  power  of  the  executive,  in  or- 
der to  maintain  the  law  of  the  Landfriede, 
possessing  equally  with  the  emperor  him- 
self the  right  of  pronouncing  the  imperial 
ban  against  all  disturbers  of  the  peace  of 
the  country,  with  authority  to  adopt  and 
regulate  the  necessary  measures  for  its 
execution.  But  on  this  point  the  old  em- 
peror, who  clung  to  the  ancient  system,  re- 
mained extremely  obstinate,  being  deter- 
mined not  to  yield  any  portion  of  his  own 
power  and  authority.  The  colleges  were 
therefore  forced  for  the  present  to  wait  and 
be  satisfied  with  receiving  from  his  son 
Maximilian,  the  recently  elected  king  of 
Rome,  the  promise  that  he  would  use  every 
exertion  with  his  father  to  bring  into  op. 


THE  SWA  BUN  LEAGUE— PRUSSIA  UNDER  POLAND. 


23; 


oration  the  proposed  institution.  It  was 
well  known,  of  course,  that  he  would  not 
succeed  in  gaining  the  object  desired  ;  but 
;t  was  believed,  that  by  this  expression  of 
feeling,  he  himself  would,  when  he  came 
into  power,  feel  bound  to  bring  it  into  effect. 
Flow  he  acted  in  this  respect  we  shall  find 
in  the  history  of  his  reign  ;  all,  at  least, 
were  satisfied  in  having  only  gained  some- 
thing. 

It  was  at  this  period,  likewise,  that  in 
another  respect,  a  very  powerful  alliance 
was  formed,  by  which  in  the  municipal 
territories  of  Germany  the  preservation  of 
peace  would  be  materially  promoted.  This 
was  the  Swabian  league,  which,  in  1488, 
under  the  mediation  of  the  emperor,  was 
effected  with  the  more  immediate  object  of 
opposing  the  violent  and  overbearing  power 
of  the  dukes  of  Bavaria,  who  had  seized 
and  held  possession  of  Ratisbon,  and  by 
whom  several  other  imperial  cities  were 
now  threatened.  At  first,  a  considerable 
body  of  knights  and  many  of  the  cities 
combined  together,  under  the  direction  of 
a  select  council  of  the  confederates,  for 
common  defence  against  every  enemy,  and 
for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  the 
country.  These  were  soon  joined  and 
headed  by  the  neighboring  princes,  es- 
pecially Wurtemberg  and  Brandenburg. 
Against  this  formidable  body  Albert  of  Mu- 
nich soon  found  he  was  unable  to  contend, 
and  accordingly,  he  was  forced  to  give  up 
Ratisbon,  and,  indeed,  soon  afterwards 
joined  the  league  himself. 

These  last  years  were  the  best  in  the 
whole  life  of  the  emperor,  and  yielded  to 
him  in  return  for  his  many  sufferings,  that 
tranquillity  which  was  so  well  merited  by 
his  faithful,  generous  disposition.  He  died 
on  the  19th  of  August,  1493,  after  a  reign 
of  54  years. 

The  emperor  lived  long  enough  to  obtain, 
in  the  year  1490,  the  restoration  of  his 
hereditary  estates  by  the  death  of  King 
Matthias,  by  means  of  a  compact  made 
with  Wladislas,  his  successor. 

Frederick  was  the  last  emperor  who  was 
•n  person  invested  with  the  Roman  imperial 
crown  in  Rome;  this  took  place  on  the 
19th  of  March,  1452. 

During  the  reign  of  Frederick  III.,  a 
neighboring  country,  which  was  conquered 
and  peopled  by  the  Germans,  and  .which 
subsequently  became  more  closely  united 


with  the  German  empire ;  viz.,  Prussia, 
became  subject  to  the  sovereignty  of  Po- 
land. How,  during  the  reign  of  Frederick 
II.,  the  knights  of  the  Teutonic  order  en. 
tered  Prussia,  and  there  founded  a  govern 
ment  under  which  the  cities  and  country 
gloriously  flourished,  we  have  already  seeYj. 

This  prosperity  continued  until  the  fif- 
teenth century.  The  commercial  towns 
of  Danzig,  Thorn,  and  Elbing,  obtained 
such  greatness,  that  the  first-mentioned 
town  could  (according  to  jKneas  Sylvius) 
command  a  force  of  50,000  men,  and  the 
chronicles  also  relate  of  a  peasant,  who 
when,  about  the  year  1400,  he  entertained 
the  grand-master  of  the  order,  Conrad  of 
Jungingen,  placed  round  the  table  as  seats. 
twelve  tuns,  of  which  eleven  were  com- 
pletely, but  the  twelfth  only  half  filled  with 
gold.  He  even  offered  them  to  the  grand- 
master as  a  present,  who,  however,  ordered 
the  twelfth  to  be  quite  filled,  in  order  that 
it  might  be  said,  that  in  Prussia  there  ex- 
isted a  peasant  who  possessed  twelve  tuns 
filled  with  gold. 

But  already,  under  this  grand-master, 
the  dominion  of  the  order  began  to  fall  into 
decay.  It  had  become  too  rich — luxury 
and  vice  enervated  the  prowess  of  its  mem- 
bers ;  injustice  and  oppression  estranged 
the  people  from  their  rulers,  and  when  now 
the  rising  power  of  the  Polish  kings  was 
directed  against  the  order,  they  exhibited  a 
total  relaxation  of  their  ancient  power.  In 
a  great  battle  at  Tannenberg,  in  1410,  the 
knights  were  completely  beaten  by  King 
Wludislas  Jagello.  It  is  true  they  ob- 
tained moderate  terms  at  the  peace  ol 
Thorn,  in  1416;  yet  the  old  evils  con- 
tinued. Besides  this  there  were  internal 
broils;  the  nobility  and  cities  of  the  coun- 
try entered  into  an  alliance  against  the 
knights,  and  chose,  in  1454,  Casimir  III. 
king  of  Poland  for  their  protector.  After 
a  war  of  twelve  years,  at  the  second  peace 
of  Thorn,  in  1466,  the  order  was  obliged 
to  resign  to  Poland  part  of  the  country,  to- 
gether with  Culm,  Marienburg,  Elbing, 
and  other  places  ;  and  to  acknowledge  for 
the  portion  left  to  them  the  feodal  right  of 
the  Polish  crown.  The  country  had  suf- 
fered indescribably  from  the  desolating 
war;  of  twenty-one  thousand  large  vil- 
lages, only  three  thousand  were  left,  and  tht 
order  had  become  reduced  to  a  mere  sha> 
dow  of  its  former  greatness. 


MAXIMILIAN  I.— HIS  CHARACTER. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Maximilian  I.,  1493-1519 — His  Mental  Acquirements 
and  Chivalric  Character — His  Government — Italy — 
Charles  VIII.  and  Lewis  XII.  of  France— Switzerland 
— The  Venetian  Republic — The  League  of  Cambray 
— Maximilian's  Honorable  and  Consistent  Conduct 
•-The  Battle  of  the  Spurs— Union  of  Hungary  and 
Bohemia — Internal  Administration  of  Affairs— Per- 
petual Peace  of  the  Land— End  of  the  Faust-Recht 
—The  Imperial  Chamber  and  Aulic  Council— Oppo- 
sition of  the  States— The  Emperor  Triumphant- 
State  of  the  Country— The  Nobles,  Cities,  and 
Peasantry— Gotz  of  Berlichingen,  &c.— Death  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian,  1519— Events  of  his  Reign,  and 
End  of  the  Middle  Ages — Discovery  and  Use  of 
Gunpowder— Artillery  and  Fire-arms— Invention  of 
Printing,  1457. 

DURING  the  preceding  century  Europe 
had  become  fully  prepared  for  great 
changes,  which,  when  they  had  once  un- 
folded their  results,  would  produce  a  com- 
plete revolution  in  the  condition  of  na- 
tions. The  invention  of  gunpowder  had 
already  begun  so  to  alter  the  science  of 
war,  that  chivalry,  which  for  centuries  had 
predominated  throughout  the  middle  ages, 
was  now  approaching  its  end.  The  art 
of  printing,  in  connection  with  the  inven- 
tion of  paper,  had  created  a  new  medium 
for  the  communication  of  thought,  by 
which,  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning,  the 
human  mind  might  be  agitated  from  one 
end  of  Europe  to  the  other.  The  discovery 
of  a  new  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  a  sea 
passage  to  the  East  Indies,  altered  entirely 
the  former  course  of  commerce,  and  trans- 
ferred the  great  power  thereby  gained  to 
nations,  which,  among  the  rest,  had  hitherto 
been  but  little  mentioned  or  known.  Fi- 
nally, political  economy,  as  it  now  arose, 
and  came  especially  from  France  and 
Italy,  assumed  quite  another  form — it  made 
honor  and  good  faith  give  way  to  interest  ; 
and  this  was  now  the  principle  upon  which 
states  acted  in  their  alliances,  so  that  in  the 
conduct  of  nations  towards  each  other  there 
appeared  to  prevail  a  law  different  to  that 
which  is  recognised  by  individuals. 

During  this  period  of  fermentation,  so 
fertile  in  invention,  it  may  be  said  of  the 
emperor  Maximilian,  that  he  stood  forth 
amid  the  new  forms  as  a  dignified  image 
of  olden  time,  since  in  him  again,  and  for 
the  last  time,  was  personified"  chivalry  in 
all  its  glory.  As  this  in  its  great  features 
was  equally  elevated  and  amiable,  so  did 
Maximilian  unite  with  bravery,  dignity, 
and  decision  of  character,  the  gentleness 
of  a  child  ;  and  as  the  warm  imagination 
of  the  middle  ages  prompted  to  the  most 


j  astonishing  and  unprecedented  adventures, 
j  so  also  in  the  exploits  of  Maximilian  wn 
|  find  predominating  valor,  enthusiasm,  and 
I  sometimes  temerity. 

One  of  his  most  favorite,  because  the 
most  daring,  pastimes,  was  that  of  hunting 
the  chamois,  and  on  these  excursions  he 
often  ran  into  such  hazard  that  his  friends 
trembled  for  his  life  ;  in  like  manner  did 
he  sport  with  danger  in  wrestling-matches, 
where,  with  his  own  hand,  he  conquered 
the  very  lion  itself,  the  same  as  on  the 
field  of  battle,  where  many  an  antagonist 
was  doomed  to  lie  at  his  feet.  At  the 
same  time,  the  emperor,  amid  his  other 
avocations,  found  time  for  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  acquired  knowledge  to  a  de- 
gree which  would  excite  admiration,  even 
from  those  whose  whole  life  is  directed  to 
such  pursuits.  He  spoke  nearly  all  the 
European  languages  then  in  vogue,  and 
left  behind  him  several  works  which  he 
had  written  in  German.  He  acquired  the 
art  of  forging  armor,  which  he  did  with 
his  own  hand  ;  was  much  attached  to  all 
that  was  learned  and  scientific,  and  in  con- 
versation he  was  so  intellectual,  affable, 
and  kind,  that  every  one  recognised  in  him 
the  accomplished  man.  He  was  never 
known  to  allow  an  oath  or  a  blasphemous 
word  to  pass  his  lips,  while  his  noble  mind 
and  heart  were  constantly,  even  amid  the 
most  bitter  insults,  inclined  towards  mercy. 
His  outward  appearance  was  also  in  per- 
fect keeping  with  the  character  here  de- 
picted, being  tall  and  muscular,  and  of  a 
truly  royal  carriage.  In  his  younger  years 
his  flaxen  hair  flowed  in  ringlets  down  to 
his  shoulders,  his  blue  eyes  expressed 
glowing  ardor,  mixed  with  kindness,  and 
his  high  forehead  and  aquiline  nose  fin- 
ished the  expression  of  majesty  in  hi? 
features.  His  natural  fervor  and  vivacity 
of  character  Maximilian  derived  from  his 
mother,  Eleanor  of  Portugal,  a  princess 
endowed  with  an  amiable  and  noble  dispo- 
sition, but  who  died  unhappily  too  soon, 
being  scarcely  thirty  years  of  age.  It 
must  also  be  said  to  the  honor  of  his  father, 
that  he  bestowed  great  care  upon  the  enu- 
cation  of  his  son  from  childhood  upward, 
by  providing  for  him  excellent  n. asters,  ay 
well  as  by  his  own  personal  instructions. 

Maximilian's  first  appearance  in  public 
life  resembles  the  opening  of  a  romance 
of  chivalry.  Love  and  honor  called  him 
forth,  while  yet  a  youth,  to  the  field,  and 


DECLINE  OF  CHIVALRY— ITALY— CHARLES  VI11. 


235 


fce  then  already  gave  signs  of  his  noble 
and  courageous  disposition  in  a  contest  at 
arms  which  he  maintained  in  the  most 
honorable  manner,  with  the  artful  and 
more  experienced  king  of  France,  Lewis 
XI.  But  in  the  course  of  his  career,  all 
did  not  succeed  as  this  his  first  essay  in 
life.  The  time  was  gone  by,  when  a  bold 
chivalric  venture  brought  with  it  the  neces- 
sary successful  results.  Instead  of,  as  in 
ancient  times,  rushing  into  an  enemy's 
country,  accompanied  by  vassals,  sum- 
moned  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  after  the 
termination  of  a  short  but  glorious  cam- 
paign,  speedily  returning  home,  it  was 
necessary  now  to  keep  up  a  mercenary 
army.  It  was  no  longer  the  preponder- 
ance of  spirit  and  individual  strength, 
which  ensured  success  to  great  enterprises, 
but  all  was  decided  by  the  superior  com- 
mand  of  external  resources  ;  and  our  val- 
iant, noble-minded  emperor,  who  at  an 
earlier  epoch  would  have  governed  as 
gloriously  as  the  most  renowned  and  pow- 
erful of  his  ancestors,  now,  for  want  of 
these  advantages,  stood  far  behind  the  art- 
ful, cold-calculating  kings  of  France  and 
Spain.  He  knew  not,  as  they  did,  the 
importance  of  such  external  resources,  and 
especially  money  ;  he  wasted  large  sums 
away  without  reflection,  so  that  whenever  a 
critical  and  decisive  moment  arrived,  these 
means  were  wanting,  and  his  troops  for 
lack  of  pay  were  disbanded.* 

These  observations  explain  Maximilian's 
life,  and  his  incongruity  with  the  age  in 
which  he  lived ;  nevertheless,  mindful, 
however,  of  the  ancient  honor  of  the  im- 
perial dignity,  he  pursued  the  grand  object 
of  maintaining,  so  far  as  he  was  able, 
justice,  peace,  and  order  throughout  Eu- 
rope, and  that,  too,  less  by  force  of  arms, 
than  by  the  dictates  of  wisdom  and  reason  ; 
of  protecting  the  church,  and  finally,  di- 
recting the  united  power  of  Christendom 
against  the  universal  enemy,  the  Turks. 
.And  truly  did  he  succeed  in  adding  more 
influence  to  the  imperial  dignity  than  it 
had  possessed  for  centuries  :  he  even  con- 
templated the  bold  design  of  attaining  the 


*  While  yet  a  boy,  Maximilian  once  expressed  this 
disposition,  when  his  father  presented  him  with  a  plate 
of  fruit  and  a  purse  of  money.  Maximilian  kept  the 
fruit,  and  gave  the  money  away  to  his  servants.  "  That 
boy  will  become  a  spendthrift !"  sighed  his  father.  But 
Maximilian  replied:  "I  wish  not  to  be  a  king  over 
money,  but  over  the  people,  and  all  those  who  possess 
money." 


papal  crown,  and  thus,  by  uniting  in  big 
own  person  the  two  chief  dignities  of 
Christianity,  promote  the  peace  and  wel- 
fare of  the  world.  This  is  no  fiction,  foi 
it  is  proved  by  documents  and  the  auto- 
graph letters  of  the  emperor,  which  show 
that  in  the  year  1511  he  had  made  serious 
preparations  for  his  election  as  pope  in  the 
event  of  the  death  of  Pope  Julius  II.,  who 
was  then  dangerously  ill,  but  who  after- 
wards recovered.  And  if  we  duly  con- 
sider the  actual  state  of  the  world  at  that 
time,  the  idea  of  the  emperor  was  not  so 
chimerical  and  impossible  as  it  might  at 
first  appear ;  besides  which,  a  main  diffi- 
culty that  might  have  presented  itself  from 
the  fact  of  his  marriage,  was  obviated  by 
the  recent  death  of  his  second  consort 
Bianca.  Maximilian,  however,  in  this  case, 
as  in  fact  in  almost  all  the  other  acts  of 
his  life,  did  not  duly  estimate  the  extent  of 
his  external  resources  ;  the  idea  was  too 
grand  in  contrast  wit|i  the  limited  means 
of  accomplishment,  and  thus  his  enter- 
prises generally  did  not  succeed,  as  the 
history  of  his  life  will  now  more  particu- 
larly show. 

The  external  operations  of  Maximilian 
were  directed  almost  exclusively  to  Italy. 
Here  the  French  kings,  whose  power  had 
materially  increased  by  the  total  expulsion 
of  the  English  from  the  French  territory, 
as  well  as  by  annexing  to  the  crown  the 
great  fiefs  of  Burgundy,  Brittany,  Provence, 
and  Anjou,  persisted  in  their  efforts  to 
withdraw  that  country,  broken  up  already 
by  factions,  from  its  allegiance  to  the  em- 
peror, and,  as  much  as  possible,  to  bring  it 
under  French  subjection. 

Hence  Charles  VIII.  sought  out  and  pro- 
duced the  ancient  claims  of  the  house  oi 
Anjou  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  where  a 
collateral  lineage  of  the  Aragonian  family 
reigned.  With  an  army  which  he  had  lev- 
ied hastily  he  invaded  Ataly,  and  in  1495 
speedily  gained  possession  of  Naples.  This 
success  was  greatly  owing  to  the  use  ot 
metal  cannons,  which,  drawn  by  horses, 
followed  the  troops ;  those  hitherto  used 
being  only  of  heavy  iron,  employed  merely 
in  sieges. 

As  soon,  however,  as  the  Italians  had 
somewhat  recovered  from  their  first  alarm 
they  united  together,  friends  and  foes, 
against  the  French  ;  the  emperor,  the  pope, 
and  the  king  of  Aragon,  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  promised  also  their  aid ;  so  that 


230 


LEWIS  XII.— MILAN— THE  VENETIA1SS 


the  king  of  France  was  forced  to  abandon 
his  conquest  as  quickly  as  he  had  made  it. 
It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  emperor 
Maximilian  negotiated  and  settled  defini- 
lively  the  highly  important  marriage  of  his 
son  Philip,  who  already  possessed  the  Neth- 
erlands, with  Joanna,  the  daughter  of  the 
king  of  Spain.  This  son,  Phi'Jip,  had  been 
born  to  him  by  his  beloved  Mary  of  Bur- 
gundy, and  the  issue  of  Philip's  marriage 
with  Joanna  of  Spain,  was  the  subsequent 
emperor,  Charles  V.,  who  reunited  and 
held  the  half  of  Europe  under  his  sway. 

The  French,  however,  would  not  allow 
themselves  to  be  entirely  discomfited  by 
the  failure  of  their  first  attempt  upon  Italy. 
The  successor  of  Charles  VIII.,  Lewis 
XII.,  resolved  to  conquer  Milan,  to  make 
up  for  the  loss  of  Naples.  He  founded  his 
claims  upon  ancient  family  alliances  with 
the  house  of  Visconti,  and  made  a  hostile 
attack  upon  the  reigning  duke,  Louis  Mo- 
roni. With  the  aid  of  the  Venetians,  to 
whom  he  promised  a  portion  of  the  booty, 
he,  in  the  year  1500,  soon  made  a  con- 
quest of  the  entire  duchy,  and  the  unfor- 
tunate duke  was  obliged,  after  ten  years 
confinement,  to  end  his  days  in  a  dungeon 
in  France.  The  king  now  directed  his  at- 
tention again  to  Naples,  united  with  Fer- 
dinand of  Aragon,  and  both  shared  togeth- 
er that  kingdom,  to  which  neither  had  any 
right.  On  this  occasion,  however,  Lewis 
was  forced  to  experience  that  one  artful 
man  may  be  cheated  by  another  more  art- 
ful than  himself,  inasmuch  as  the  Spanish 
king,  by  means  of  his  general,  Gonsalvo 
of  Cordova,  soon  expelled  the  French  from 
Naples,  and  retained  the  kingdom  for  him- 
self. 

The  emperor  was  wrong  to  allow  for- 
eign nations  thus  to  run  loose  upon  Italy ; 
that  unhappy  country,  unable  to  maintain 
its  independence,  ought  at  least,  under  im- 
perial protection,  to  have  been  secured 
against  such  arbitrary  treatment.  And, 
indeed,  Maximilian  would  gladly  have  as- 
serted his  ancient  rights  of  sovereignty,  but 
unhappily  he  was  not  supported  by  the 
Germanic  empire,  and  his  power  was  too 
much  restricted.  He  was  compelled,  there- 
for, to  allow  King  Lewis  to  hold  posses- 
sion of  Milan,  whp,  however,  so  far  honored 
.he  imperial  dignity  as  to  consent  to  retain 
,he  duchy  as  a  fief  of  the  empire. 

While  the  French  established  themselves 
in  Italy,  Maximilian  made  another  attempt 


— the  last  that  was  made — to  bring  the 
Swiss  once  more  under  the  dominion  of  tha 
empire.  The  ancient  hatred  of  the  nobil- 
ity, especially  in  Swabia,  became  now 
again  manifested  against  the  Swiss  peas- 
antry.  This  time  it  was  called  forth  by 
an  insignificant  quarrel  of  the  Austrian 
government  in  Tyrol  with  the  confederates 
of  the  Grisons.  The  chief  cause,  howev- 
er, was,  viz.,  that  the  Swiss  had  become 
the  allies  of  the  French  kings,  and  gave 
them  assistance  in  their  expeditions  against 
Italy — an  act  regarded  as  a  breach  of  their 
obligations  to  the  empire,  they  having  al- 
ways been  looked  upon  as  included  in  the 
imperial  alliance.  But  the  war  which  was 
waged  against  them,  in  1499,  was  disgrace- 
ful to  Germany.  The  Swabian  nobility 
were  in  several  skirmishes  severely  beat- 
en ;  a  numerous  and  well-appointed  army, 
which  Maximilian  himself  collected  in 
Constance,  was,  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
luctance of  the  princes  to  join  in  a  battle 
among  the  dangerous  mountains  of  Swit- 
zerland, forced  to  turn  back,  retreating 
through  the  passes  on  the  confines  of  the 
country  of  Berne.  The  grand  marshal  ot 
the  emperor,  Count  von  Fiirstenberg,  who 
was  ordered  to  conduct  the  army  of  the 
princes  of  the  Rhine,  through  Alsace,  by 
Basle,  into  Switzerland,  was  surprised  and 
overthrown  by  the  Swiss  at  Dorneck,  with 
the  loss  of  3000  killed,  and  all  his  ammu- 
nition. They  were  obliged  to  make  peace 
and  Cleave  to  the  Swiss  their  independence, 
although  the  latter  did  not  as  yet  expressly 
dissolve  their  connection  with  the  empire. 
Soon  afterwards,  Basle  and  Schaffhausen, 
which  had  hitherto  remained  imperial  cit- 
ies, were  included  in  the  Swiss  confedera- 
tion. 

Maximilian  very  soon  again  found  em- 
ployment in  Italy.  Here,  at  this  time,  nc 
state  was  more  flourishing  than  that  of  the 
Venetians.  By  their  extended  commerce 
they  had  acquired  immense  wealth,  a  great 
part  of  Upper  Italy  had  by  degrees  become 
subject  to  them,  and  they  aimed  at  still 
greater  power. 

But  their  pride  and  insolence  excited  the 
hatred  of  their  powerful  neighbors,  who 
besides  laid  claim  to  various  parts  of  their 
territories ;  the  principal  portion  of  what 
they  possessed  in  Upper  Italy,  excepting 
their  old  country,  having  formerly  belong, 
ed  to  the  empire,  and  other  portions  to  the 
papal  dominions  ;  while  in  Lower  Italy 


LEAGUE  OF  CAMBRAY— BATTLE  OF  THE  SPURS. 


lliey  had  taken  places  to  which  Ferdinand 
the  Catholic,  as  king  of  Naples,  laid  just 
claims ;  and  finally,  France  wished  to  ob- 
tain those  possessions  immediately  border- 
ing upon  Milan. 

Hence  arose,  in  1508,  the  famous  league 
nt 'tween  Spain,  France,  the  warlike  Pope 
Julius  II.,  and  the  emperor,  against  the  re- 
public of  Venice,  fcnown  under  the  name 
of  the  league  of  Cambray,  threatening  in- 
stantly to  crush  that  free  state,  which  al- 
though rich,  was  still  insignificant  when 
compared  with  such  great  powers  opposed 
to  it.  But  as  this  is  the  first  great  league 
of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  the  more  mod- 
ern states  of  Europe,  it  has  also  become 
the  prefigure  of  most  of  those  which  have 
succeeded  it,  and  seems  as  a  sort  of  mirror 
in  which  is  reflected  the  instability  of  the 
political  relations  of  these  states,  which 
being  grounded  in  selfishness  and  self- 
aggrandizement,  without  having  a  hold  in 
the  moral  dignity  of  the  people,  again  dis- 
solved like  an  empty  vapor,  as  soon  as  the 
cards  of  fortune  were  reshuffled,  and  thus 
became  an  object  of  derision  for  the  whole 
.of  Europe.  For  the  artful  republicans  so 
well  knew  how  to  divide  the  allies  by  daz- 
zling before  the  eyes  of  each  the  tempting 
bait  of  self-interest,  that  those  who  were 
friends  before  became  hostile  to  each  other, 
while  they  themselves  retired  unhurt  from 
their  conflict  with  the  most  powerful  prin- 
ces. 

Of  the  emperor  Maximilian  himself  his- 
tory recoiJs,  that  he  was  most  sincere  in 
his  dealings  with  his  allies,  and  maintained 
the  honor  of  his  word.  Louis  XII.  was  the 
first  to  hasten  to  the  scene  of  action,  in  the 
year  1509,  and  in  a  few  weeks  made  a 
conquest  of  all  that  the  league  had  prom- 
ised him  as  part  of  the  booty ;  and  when 
Maximilian  also  arrived,  and  with  his  troops 
took  one  place  after  another,  the  Venetians 
bogged  from  him  peace,  offering  to  make 
over  to  him  all  that  they  had  ever  taken  from 
the  house  of  Austria  or  the  empire  ;  thus 
an  opportunity  was  presented  by  which  he 
might  have  made  a  very  advantageous 
treaty  with  them.  But  he  refused;  the 
allies  having  solemnly  agreed  only  to  grant 
peace  conjointly.  The  others,  however, 
did  not  act  equally  conscientious.  Ferdi- 
nand the  Catholic,  as  he  was  sure  of  his 
possessions  in  Lower  Italy,  took  no  farther 
part  in  the  war,  and  Pope  Julius  II.  aban- 
doned the  league  altogether,  out  of  hatred 


to  the  French,  and  joined  the  Venetians. 
Ferdinand  soon  afterwards  did  the  same, 
and  the  three  allies  called  their  union  the 
holy  league.  The  French  were  now  ex- 
pelled from  Milan.  Their  policy  then 
quickly  took  a  turn ;  the  first  calculation 
having  failed,  they  entered  into  an  alliance 
with  their  former  enemies,  the  Venetians ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Spaniards 
again  united  with  the  emperor  and  with  the 
king  of  England,  Henry  VIII.,  against 
both  the  others.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  friendship  gave  way  to  hostility, 
and  the  latter  again  yielded  to  the  former  ; 
Spain,  for  instance,  from  being  first  hostile, 
had  become  allied  with,  but  was  now  again 
hostile  to  Venice ;  and  throughout  the 
whole  of  this  game  treachery  appeared  to 
pass  for  wisdom,  while  honor  was  treated 
as  nothing. 

The  French,  however,  were  not  benefit- 
ed by  this  new  calculation ;  in  the  battle 
of  Novarre,  in  1513,  they  were  driven  com- 
pletely out  of  Italy,  in  which  affair  the 
Swiss  fought  against  them ;  as  they  were 
hard  pressed  also  in  their  own  country  by 
the  imperial  and  the  English  troops,  who  in 
the  same  year,  under  the  personal  com- 
mand of  Maximilian,  gained  the  battle  of 
Guinegate,  (which  on  account  of  the  hasty 
retreat  of  the  French  was  called  the  Battle 
of  the  Spurs,)  Louis  found  it  necessary  to 
renounce  for  a  time  his  claims  to  Milan. 
Maximilian  gave  Milan  as  a  fief  of  the  em- 
pire to  Maximilian  Sforza,  the  son  of  Louis 
Moro ;  but  he  did  not  possess  it  long. 

When  Louis  XII.  died  in  the  year  1515, 
he  was  succeeded  to  the  French  throne  by 
the  youthful,  daring,  and  ambitious  Francis 
I.,  and  in  order  that  he  might  commence  his 
reign  with  some  brilliant  act,  he  sallied 
forth,  in  the  same  year,  with  an  army  to 
Italy,  and  recaptured  Milan.  The  Swiss 
who  came  to  the  assistance  of  the  city,  and 
incautiously  attacked  the  enemy,  were  after 
a  severe  engagement,  which  lasted  two 
days,  completely  defeated  at  Marignano. 
This  was  the  first  great  battle  in  which 
they  had  lost  the  field. 

The  French  artillery  and  the  German 
lanciers,  who  served  on  French  pay,  and 
were  ever  after  considered  the  best  infan- 
try, gained  the  victory.  The  emperor, 
indeed,  made  an  expedition  once  again  in 
the  following  year  into  Italy,  and  besieged 
Milan,  but  increasing  age  and  so  many 
futile  efforts  made  him  disposed  for  peace  ; 


23S 


HUNGARY  AND  BOHEMIA  UNITED— LANDFRIEDE. 


moreover,  his  forces  soon  dwindled  away 
for  want  of  pay.  By  a  treaty  made  at 
Brussels  in  1516,  he  resigned  to  the  king 
of  France  the  duchy  of  Milan,  and,  wnat 
was  still  more  galling  to  his  feelings,  he 
gave  back  to  the  detested  republic  of  Ve- 
nice the  important  city  of  Verona. 

Thus  was  concluded,  after  a  great  varie- 
ty of  changes,  the  war  of  Italy,  in  which 
the  best  exertions  of  the  emperor  had  been 
required.  This  contest  had  withheld  him 
from  pursuing  that  object  so  important  to 
'ho  empire,  and  for  which  his  chivalric 
spirit  so  naturally  disposed  him,  namely, 
in  making  war  against  the  Turks,  and  if 
possible  banishing  them  from  Europe. 
This  wish  he  constantly  cherished,  and 
even  expressed  most  ardently  but  a  few 
months  before  his  death,  at  his  last  diet 
held  in  Augsburg,  in  a  proposition  he  made 
to  the  states  of  the  empire,  to  undertake  an 
expedition  against  the  Turks ;  but  the  pet- 
ty and  selfish  spirit  of  the  day  was  not  fa- 
vorable to  such  an  enterprise. 

Among  the  other  external  arrangements 
}f  the  emperor,  one  most  worthy  of  remark 
was  the  ratification  of  the  reunion  with 
Hungary  and  Bohemia.  Besides  the  grand- 
son, who  afterwards  became  emperor 
Charles  V.,  he  had  of  his  son  Philip,  who 
was  already  dead,  and  Joanna  of  Spain, 
another  grandson,  afterwards  Ferdinand  J. ; 
him  he  gave  in  1515  in  marriage  to  the 
daughter  of  Wladislas,  king  of  Hungary, 
and  thereby  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
direct  connection  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia 
with  the  countries  of  Austria. 

Already  during  the  last  few  years  of  the 
reign  of  the  emperor  Frederick  III.,  as 
before  mentioned,  great  efforts  had  been 
made  by  the  states  of  the  empire  to  estab- 
lish public  tranquillity,  and  to  render  it 
secure  by  a  legislative  institution.  Im- 
mediately after  the  commencement  of  the 
reign  of  the  new  emperor,  these  exertions 
were  perseveringly  continued.  The  most 
active  and  zealous  promoter  of  this  grand  ob- 
ject was  Bertold,  the  elector  of  Mentz,  and 
count  of  Hanneberg,  one  of  the  most  ex- 
traordinary men  of  his  day.  From  the 
period  when,  under  Frederick  III.,  in  1486, 
as  first  spiritual  elector,  he  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  states  of  the  empire,  down  to  the 
present  moment,  he  had  continued  to  be  the 
advocate  and  warm  supporter  of  all  the 
operations  tending  to  improve  the  institu- 
tions of  the  country  ;  indefatigable,  free 


from  all  personal  motive,  and  having  the 
cause  of  his  country  alone  in  mind  and 
heart,  he  was  continually  at  work  to  pro- 
mote its  welfare. 

At  the  first  diet  held  by  the  new  emperor 
at  Worms,  in  1495,  the  subject  of  the 
Landfriede,  or  peace  of  the  country,  and 
the  proposed  Kammergericht,  or  imperial 
chamber,  were  immediately  taken  into  dis- 
cussion. The  emperor,  who  likewise 
heartily  desired  that  peace  should  at  length 
reign  throughout  the  empire,  in  order  thai 
its  strength  might  be  more  effectually 
brought  to  bear  against  the  hostile  power 
of  France,  zealously  joined  in  the  grand 
undertaking,  and  thus  was  completed  and 
brought  into  operation  the  institution  for 
the  perpetual  peace  of  the  country — a 
work  which  gained  for  this  diet  the  great- 
est praise  and  renown.  And  although 
this  Landfriede  was  still  shackled  with 
certain  restrictive  clauses,  and  the  feudal 
system  did  not  altogether  cease  its  opera- 
tions, still  the  new  law  possessed  this  ad- 
vantage,  viz.,  that  legally  club-law  must 
henceforth  entirely  terminate,  and  the  au- 
thority of  the  law  in  its  normal  form  take 
its  place  ;  a  system  which,  in  the  course 
of  time,  after  it  had  come  more  and  more 
into  operation,  was  universally  adopted. 
When  we  consider  the  incalculably  impor- 
tant consequences  which  attended  this 
change  of  things  among  the  middle  and 
lower  classes  of  the  people,  we  must  as- 
suredly acknowledge  the  year  1495  to  be 
one  of  the  most  momentary  and  striking  in 
our  history,  while  we  must  regard  the  em- 
peror Maximilian  as  one  of  the  greatest 
benefactors  of  the  nation. 

Still  in  respect  to  the  more  enlarged 
plan  of  the  Elector  Bertold  and  the  states, 
which  embraced  the  strengthening  of  the 
imperial  government  and  the  imperial 
chamber,  Maximilian  did  not  so  easily 
yield  his  sanction  ;  like  his  father,  he  was 
very  reluctant  to  give  up  any  portion  of 
the  imperial  rights,  however  incapable  he 
might  be.  through  his  important  affairs 
abroad,  of  fulfilling  the  duties  they  im- 
posed upon  him.  He  was,  however,  at 
length  prevailed  upon  by  the  states  to  yiel(* 
in  the  main  to  the  general  desire,  espe 
cially  when  he  was  reminded  of  the  formei 
promise  he  had  partially  made  when  they 
elected  him  king  of  Rome  in  1489,  and 
which  he  could  not  retract.  The  imperial 
chamber  was  to  be  permanently  established 


THE  IMPERIAL  CHAMBER  AND  AULIC  COUNCIL. 


23'J 


for  the  purpose  of  equitably  deciding  the 
disputes  between  the  states  of  the  empire, 
which  had  hitherto  always  been  settled  by 
an  appeal  to  arms,  and  what  is  still  more 
important,  it  was  authorized  to  pronounce 
in  the  name  of  the  emperor  the  imperial 
luin  of  excommunication  against  all  who 
opposed  it.  In  its  entire  construction,  like- 
wise, it  was  no  longer  to  form  merely  an 
especial  imperial  tribunal,  but  in  reality  a 
tribunal  of  the  empire.  The  emperor  ap- 
pointed only  the  president  or  chief  judge  ; 
the  fifty  assessors  were  presented  by  the 
states,  while  the  cities,  likewise,  were 
allowed  to  nominate  a  few.  The  emperor 
opened  the  court  himself,  and  handed  to 
Count  Eitelfried  von  Zollern  the  judicial 
sceptre,  as  chief  judge  of  the  chamber. 
The  first  court  was  held  on  the  3d  of 
November,  1495,  in  Frankfort. 

The  progress,  however,  made  by  this 
institution,  was  equally  slow  with  that  of 
the  Landfriede ;  the  idea  was  good,  and 
the  plan  laid  out  with  great  wisdom ;  but 
in  respect  to  the  execution  thereof,  many 
difficulties  and  insurmountable  obstacles 
stepped  in  to  prevent  a  successful  issue. 
.Many  would  not  attend  to  the  decrees  pro- 
nounced) and  the  power  of  enforcing  them 
was  wanting,  inasmuch  as  the  emperor 
was  occupied  in  foreign  countries,  and 
besides  which  he  felt  but  little  real  desire 
to  promote  a  tribunal  rendered  independent 
of  his  own  especial  sway.  Then  followed 
the  non-payment  of  the  necessary  fees  and 
salaries,  as  the  contributions  from  the  va- 
rious members  of  the  empire  came  in  very 
irregularly  or  perhaps  not  at  all  ;  so  that 
the  court  often  sat  and  broke  up  without 
effecting  any  thing.  At  last  it  became  so 
neglected,  that  the  emperor  was  himself 
forced  to  reconstruct  it,  and  supply  the 
necessary  funds  ;  and  thus  made  it,  as  in 
former  times,  wholly  dependent  upon  him- 
self. The  discontent  thence  produced  be- 
tween the  emperor  and  the  states  increased 
more  and  more,  until  at  length  the  elector 
of  Mentz  brought  forward  twenty-two 
points  of  accusation  against  Maximilian, 
to  which  the  latter  replied  by  twenty-three 
articles  in  opposition.  A  most  angry  and 
bitter  correspondence  ensued  between  the 
emperor  and  the  elector  ;  but  the  scale  of 
balance  on  the  side  of  the  former  became 
only  m6re  and  more  on  the  ascent,  and 
turned  completely  against  him. 

But,  as  often  happened  in  Maximilian's 


varied  career,  the  scale  dropped  once  more 
in  his  favor.  He  contrived,  although  the 
body  of  electors  were  inimical  towards 
him,  to  enlist  friends  on  his  side  from 
among  the  temporal  and  spiritual  princes. 
He  filled  up  various  vacant  bishoprics, 
with  the  co-operation  of  the  then  friendly 
papal  authority,  with  his  friends.  Among 
the  temporal  princes  were  at  that  time 
many  young,  warlike  lords,  who  all  glow- 
ed with  military  ardor  under  his  command  ; 
and  the  gay,  chivalric  emperor,  continu- 
ally engaged  in  some  enterprise,  perfect 
master  in  all  military  exercises,  combining 
true  genius  with  a  generous  and  friendly 
disposition,  knew  well  how  to  enchain  them 
to  him.  We  have  already  seen  how  Duke 
Eric  of  Calenberg  fought  with  so  much 
glory  in  the  wars  of  Austria,  and  that  the 
entire  house  of  the  Guelfs  adhered  to  that 
dynasty.  So  likewise  did  the  dukes  of 
Saxony,  Mecklenburg,  Pomerania,  and 
Cleves  ;  while  the  emperor  gained  Wur- 
temberg,  by  granting  the  earl's  claims, 
and  conferring  upon  him  the  title  of  duke. 
The  margraves  of  Brandenburg  were 
secured  by  the  faithful  adherence  of  their 
ancestor  Albert,  the  German  Achilles. 
Thus  by  rewards  and  promotions  of  vari- 
ous kinds,  the  emperor,  in  order  to  aug- 
ment his  party,  availed  himself  of  the  rem- 
nant left  of  imperial  privileges.  Indeed 
he  had  become  in  the  year  1504  so  strong, 
that  he  was  enabled  to  bring  to  a  success- 
ful issue,  and  according  to  his  own  wishes, 
a  very  important  contest  originating  in  the 
inheritance  of  George,  duke  of  Bavaria- 
Landshut.  The  dukes  of  Bavaria,  Mu- 
nich, and  the  Palatine  Rupert  stood  op- 
posed to  each  other ;  and  Maximilian  him- 
self laid  claim  to  a  portion  of  the  lands. 
As  the  palatine  refused  most  obstinately  to 
submit  to  the  decree  pronounced  by  the 
imperial  chamber,  the  emperor  at  once  ad- 
judged the  ban  of  excommunication  against 
him.  With  the  aid  of  the  afore-mentioned 
allied  princes,  together  with  the  Swabiar 
league  and  his  own  immediate  adherents, 
he  executed  the  sentence  successfully  ;  the 
palatine  was  forced  to  submit,  and  Maxi- 
milian  himself  gained  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  possessions. 

His  position  in  judicial  affairs  was  ren- 
dered still  more  favorable  by  the  death  of 
the  leader  of  the  electoral  opposition  party; 
Bertold  of  Mentz,  who  died  in  the  year 
1504.  He  was  now  enabled,  in  the  two 


'240 


EMPEROR  TRIUMPHANT— STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


following  years,  at  the  diets  held  at  Co- 
logne and  Constance,  to  bring  into  effect 
the  preponderating  power  he  possessed,  in- 
asmuch as  he  substituted  the  organic  regu- 
lations of  the  empire  in  accordance  with 
his  views  for  those  which  had  previously 
existed  and  had  originated  in  the  visionary 
project  of  realizing  a  national  unity.  It 
was  not  now  simply  a  question  of  combi- 
ning the  regulation  of  the  empire  with  al- 
most imperial  power ;  but,  also,  of  restoring 
the  imperial  chamber  according  to  the  reso- 
lutions fixed  at  Worms  ;  together  with  the 
establishment  of  a  register,  by  which  the 
contributions  for  the  expenditure  of  the 
country  and  the  contingent  of  troops  in  the 
wars  of  the  empire  were  divided  among  the 
states  according  to  their  power :  these  were 
the  two  important  results  of  the  diet  of  Con- 
stance in  1507.  Both  continued  in  force 
during  a  period  of  three  centuries,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  independent  territories,  repre- 
sented the  unity  of  the  Germanic  empire. 

It  was  after  the  foundation  of  these  happy 
internal  regulations  of  the  empire,  that 
Maximilian  proceeded  into  Italy,  as  before 
mentioned,  on  his  great  campaign  against 
the  Venetians ;  and  his  hopes  were  so 
strong,  that  in  the  February  of  1508,  in 
Trieste,  he  assumed  the  title  of  Roman 
king  elect,  without  waiting  to  be  crowned 
in  Rome.  This  act  was  of  great  impor- 
tance to  future  times,  Maximilian's  suc- 
cessors having  afterwards  assumed  the  im- 
perial title,  immediately  after  their  corona- 
tion in  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  and  during  the 
whole  of  the  subsequent  periods,  only  one 
emperor  was  crowned  by  the  pope. 

At  the  diet  held  in  Cologne,  in  1512,  the 
emperor  introduced  an  important  proposi- 
tion, touching  the  internal  peace  of  the 
empire,  viz.,  that  the  decisions  of  the  im- 
perial chamber  should,  by  a  definite  author- 
ity, be  enforced  and  carried  into  effect,  in 
every  part  of  the  empire ;  without  which 
they  were  of  little  or  no  avail.  It  was 
proposed,  therefore,  that  the  division  of  the 
circles,  which  had  been  hitherto  brought 
into  operation  for  the  purpose  of  returning 
deputies  to  officiate  in  the  imperial  cham- 
ber, should  now  be  made  available  in  this 
case,  and  be  rendered  efficient  accordingly. 
At  first  they  consisted  of  six  circles — Ba- 
varia, Swabia,  Franconia,  the  Rhine,  West- 
phalia, and  Lower  Saxony  ;  now,  however, 
it  was  resolved  to  add  four  more — the  Low- 
er Rhine,  including  the  four  electorates, 


Upper  Saxony,  embracing  its  electorate  and 
Brandenburg,  Austria,  and  Burgundy. 

Each  circle  was  to  be  regarded  as  one 
distinctly  organized  and  comprehensive 
body,  and  all  matters  of  peace  and  war  to 
be  superintended  by  a,  military  chief.  Not- 
withstanding great  contention  ensued  be- 
tween the  emperor  and  the  states  upon  this 
question,  a  resolution  was  passed,  and  ac- 
cordingly a  decree  for  its  adoption  was 
agreed  to  by  the  states  of  the  empire.  Its 
execution,  however,  was  not  brought  into 
force  immediately,  for  it  was  only  after 
some  ten  years  had  elapsed,  that  this  divi- 
sion of  circles  was  at  length  effectually 
established. 

Besides  the  foundation  thus  laid  for  these 
organic  institutions,  which,  if  not  emanating 
from  Maximilian  alone,  were  at  least  pro- 
duced with  his  co-operation,  Germany  has 
to  thank  him  especially  for  the  introduction 
of  an  entire  new  system  of  discipline  in  the 
army,  which  he  remodelled  completely,  by 
dividing  it  into  regiments ;  and  finally,  it 
was  by  him  that  a  system  of  posting  was 
first  introduced. 

We  must  not,  however,  deceive  ourselves 
in  the  character  of  this  period,  which  is 
more  especially  distinguished  in  our  his- 
tory as  a  period  of  transition.  Such  epochs 
are  marked  by  the  most  contradictory  phe- 
nomena, more  especially,  however,  by  a 
universal  rupture  and  fermentation  of  ah 
relations,  calling  forth  at  every  moment  the 
feeling  that  -we  are,  as  it  were,  standing 
upon  undermined  ground,  where  are  raging 
in  all  their  unrestricted  fury  the  elements 
of  new  creations.  As  yet  the  seeds  only 
were  strewed,  the  full  growth  and  fruit  of 
which  were  reserved  for  after  times. 

At  present  on  neither  side  was  content- 
ment to  be  found ;  the  mutual  privileges 
and  duties  of  the  ruler  and  the  states  had 
become  more  than  ever  fluctuating.  In- 
numerable representations  (redamationen) 
were  made  against  the  assessments  of  the 
register ;  princes  had  been  included  who 
were  no  longer  in  existence  ;  many  states 
had  been  inscribed  as  immediate  which  had 
become  mediate,  and  were  now  claimed 
back  again  by  the  sovereign  lord,  especially 
among  cities.  Thus,  it  was  urged  by  the 
ambassador  of  Denmark  and  Holstein,  that 
among  others,  a  city  (Hamburg)  had  been 
marked  as  an  imperial  city,  but  that,  as  it 
was  situated  in  Holstein,  it  must  be  re- 
claimed by  his  sovereign  and  restored,  a«i 


THE  NOBLES,  CITIES,  AND  PEASANTRY. 


241 


Dart  of  his  patrimonial  possessions,  he  be- 
ing lord  of  the  manor  by  natural  succes- 
sion. He,  however,  did  not  succeed  in  his 
claim,  as  the  imperial  freedom  of  the  city 
was  nevertheless  acknowledged. 

The  aulic  council  of  the  imperial  cham- 
ber, with  its  decrees,  met  with  great  oppo- 
sition from  all  sides.  It  roused,  generally, 
a  desire  for  independence,  and  which,  in 
fact,  broke  forth  in  such  a  series  of  cruel 
and  barbarous  acts,  that  the  commence- 
ment of  the  fifteenth  century  again  present- 
ed scenes  of  sanguinary  contention  in  many 
parts  of  the  empire. 

1.  The  princes  resorted  to  open  war  in 
order   to   extend    their   territorial  dignity. 
The  countship  of  Hoya,  among  the  rest, 
was,  in   1511,  invaded  by  Brunswick,  Lii- 
neburg,   Bremen,  and  Minden ;  while  the 
•  emaining  body  of  free  Fresians  were,  in 
1314,  also  attacked  by  Brunswick,  Liine- 
burg,  Calenberg,  Oldenburg,  and  George, 
duke   of  Saxony ;    and    in    these,    as   in 
all    other   cases,    the   superior   power  tri- 
umphed. 

2.  The  whole  body  of  knights  in  every 
quarter    feeling    themselves,    as   it   were, 
penned  in  by  the  princes,  formed  a  close 
alliance,  and  declared  open  war.     The  dep- 
redations of  the  freebooter-knights,  on  the 
high  roads,  and  their  attacks  upon  the  mer- 
chants and  dealers  to  and  from  the  fairs, 
were  again  resumed,  and  continual  scenes 
of  robbery  and  murder,  by  day  and  night, 
occurred  throughout  the  land.    It  was  about 
this  time  that  the  celebrated  Gotz  of  Berli- 
chingen,  Franz  of  Selbitz,  but  more  espe- 
cially the  noted  Franz  of  Sickingen,  who 
was  enabled  to  collect  and  march  whole 
armies  against  the  princes,  were  actively 
engaged  in  the  cause  they  espoused. 

3.  The  cities,  although  overrun  and  op- 
pressed on  every  side,  still  retained  their 
ancient  strength  to  a  certain  extent ;  they 
now  defended  themselves  against  the  as- 
saults of  the  knights  with  the  same  success 
as  when  formerly  attacked  by  the  princes  ; 
and  wo  to  the  nobleman  or  knight  who  once 
fel>  into  their  hands  !  For  no  petition,  either 
from  his  family  or  friends,  nor  even  the  in- 
tercession or  remonstrances  of  any  of  the 
princes,  were  of  any  avail  to  save  him  from 
the  axe  of  the  executioner.     In  the  north, 
Lubeck  especially  stood  most  prominently 
at  the  head  of  the  Hanse  Towns.     In  the 
year  1509  they  attacked  John,  king  of  Den- 
mark, captured  all  his  ships  at  Elsinore, 

31 


returning  home  loaded  with  booty.  In  the 
battle  of  Bornholm  a  Lubeck  vessel  beat 
off  three  Danish  ships  by  which  she  had 
been  grappled,  and  even  made  one  of  them 
a  prize.  , 

At  the  diets  the  cities  still  maintained  a 
very  important  position.  Their  commer 
cial  associations,  by  which  they  were  ena- 
bled to  transact  the  most  extensive  business 
and  embark  in  the  most  profitable  enter- 
prises, produced  for  them  such  opulence, 
and  with  it  its  preponderating  influence, 
that  the  jealousy  and  envy  of  the  princes 
became  more  excited,  until,  at  length,  they 
combined  together  in  proposing  at  several 
diets,  held  about  this  time,  such  resolutions 
as  should,  if  not  wholly  destroy,  at  least  re- 
duce the  great  power  they  possessed  by 
taxation,  and  certainly  there  was  great 
foundation  for  these  measuies,  inasmuch  as 
the  complaints  made  against  the  enormous 
prices  demanded  by  the  merchants  for  the 
goods  supplied  became  more  and  more  gen- 
eral. 

Within  the  cities  themselves  the  turbu- 
lent spirit  of  the  times  was  not  less  conspic- 
uously shown.  The  municipal  authorities 
became  seriously  oppressed  and  overpow- 
ered by  the  communities  and  the  heads  of 
the  various  guilds  and  societies — now  con- 
siderably augmented  in  number  and  influ- 
ence— who  would  no  longer  submit  either 
to  be  governed  by  a  select  and  limited  body 
of  patricians,  or  to  be  taxed  at  the  high  rate 
hitherto  levied.  The  records  of  many  of 
these  cities,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  are  filled  with  the  most 
sanguinary  scenes  of  discord  and  civil  war. 

4.  But  the  state  of  the  peasantry  and  the 
rural  districts  presented  at  this  period  a  far 
more  melancholy  and  serious  spectacle  than 
that  of  either  of  the  classes  mentioned1. 
With  them  reigned  universal  fermentation 
throughout  the  whole  empire.  The  de- 
mands of  the  territorial  lord,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  lord  of  the  manor,  were  ilk- 
creased,  because  each  sought  to  transfer 
the  burdens  of  the  empire  to  the  shoulders 
of  the  lower  orders.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  latter  had  now  learned  to  know  their 
strength  in  the  use  of  arms,  and  soon  from 
among  them  issued  the  formidable  bodies 
of  the  Landsknechte,  or  foot-soldiers.  The 
example  presented  by  the  Swiss  peasants, 
who  had  now  almost  entirely  thrown  off 
the  yoke  of  the  empire,  and  made  them- 
selves independent,  produced  its  exciting 

-      '    •  " 


242    THE  SHOE-LEAGUE—POOR  CONRAD  LEAGUE— DEATH  OF  MAXIMILIAN 


effects  among  the  German  peasantry,  and 
more  especially  in  Upper  Germany. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
in  1493,  there  was  formed  in  Alsace,  near 
Selestadt,  a  secret  union  of  discontented 
peasantry,  who,  in  the  depth  of  night, 
journeying  along  almost  impassable  roads 
among  the  mountains,  assembled  together 
in  a  retired  spot,  and  there,  by  a  solemn 
vow,  swore,  under  heavy  threats  to  him 
who  proved  a  traitor,  as  follows :  "  That  they 
would  be  taxed  only  according  to  their  own 
free  will  and  consent ;  that  the  imposts 
should  be  removed  altogether,  as  likewise 
all  spiritual  jurisdiction  ;  that  no  ecclesias- 
tic should  receive  a  higher  salary  than  for- 
ty florins;  that  the  Jews  should  be  put  to 
death,  and  their  possessions  divided  equally 
among  the  confederates,"  &c.  &c.  This 
confederacy,  which  adopted  the  sign  of  the 
shoe  (the  shoe  of  the  common  German 
peasant),  upon  their  banner,  extended  its 
operations  very  considerably. 

A  similar  union  arose  in  Wurtemberg  in 
1514,  under  the  name  of  the  Poor  Conrad 
league.  Both  originated  in  a  hatred  to- 
wards the  nobility  and  clergy,  and  which, 
in  fact,  appeared  to  be  the  principle  upon 
which  they  acted,  n  is  true,  the  Shoe-league 
was,  by  force  of  arms,  eventually  destroyed 
in  1502,  as  was  likewise  the  Poor  Conrad 
league  soon  after  its  formation  ;  but  the 
seeds  of  revolt  were  left  behind,  and  at  the 
diets  the  subject  of  a  revolution  among  the 
peasantry  was  often  discussed  with  some 
anxiety  and  dread.  At  the  diet  of  Mentz, 
in  1517,  in  which  several  of  the  members 
advised,  on  account  of  the  disordered  state 
of  the  empire,  that  a  summons  should  be 
issued  for  every  fiftieth  man  to  take  up 
arms  in  its  defence,  the  states  would  not 
venture  to  adopt  a  measure  which  must  be 
so  generally  felt  as  tyrannical :  "  The 
common  peasant,  already  sufficiently  suf- 
fering from  dearth  and  hunger,  would,  in 
his  present  discontent,  only  be  still  farther 
excited  to  the  most  desperate  acts,  and 
thence  the  glimmering  sparks  of  private  in- 
dignation would  burst  forth  into  one  uni- 
versal flame  throughout  the  whole  coun- 
try." Such  was  the  opinion  expressed  by 
the  states,  and  the  general  feeling  was  in 
favor  of  rather  quelling  by  mild  means  the 
turbulence  which  already  began  to  agitate 
the  empire.  Nevertheless,  we  shall  short- 
ly read  in  the  history  of  the  Reformation, 
how,  after  the  lapse  of  another  year,  the 


destructive  elements  did  break  forth  in  al 
their  fury. 

The  emperor,  however,  was  not  doomed 
to  witness  or  share  in  these  revolutions ; 
the  course  of  his  career  was  nearly  ended, 
and  his  powers  of  mind  and  body,  exercised 
in  so  many  toilsome  and,  to  a  certain  ex 
tent,  fruitless  struggles,  became  now  gradu- 
ally exhausted  and  consumed. 

At  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  in  1518,  he 
used  every  endeavor  to  prevail  upon  the 
states  to  elect,  as  king  of  Rome,  his  son 
Charles,  already  seated  on  the  Spanish 
throne  ;  his  anxious  wish,  however,  was 
not  fulfilled,  inasmuch  as  the  pope,  and  a 
portion  of  the  electoral  princes,  in  their 
fear  to  bestow  too  great  a  power  upon  his 
son,  hesitated  and  refused  to  yield  to  his 
wishes.  Indignant  and  mortified,  Maxi- 
milian quitted  Augsburg,  and  died  oh  his 
journey  at  Wels,  in  Upper  Austria,  on 
the  12th  of  January,  1519,  in  the  59th 
year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried,  accord- 
ing to  his  wish,  beneath  the  altar-stone  of 
the  church  at  Neustadt,  by  the  side  of  his 
beloved  mother,  Eleanora. 

It  is  said,  that  he  had  for  several  jears 
carried  about  with  him  his  coffin.  Thus, 
as  in  his  earlier  life,  when  in  all  his  vigor, 
he  had  often  bid  defiance  to  death,  so  now 
in  the  latter  years  of  his  existence,  did  he 
hold  familiar  counsel  with  it,  and  view  its 
approach  with  religious  confidence  and 
resignation. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  con- 
sider, in  the  preceding  chapters,  various 
important  changes,  for  which  Germany 
had  been  ripening  during  the  last  century. 
With  Maximilian,  as  their  last  representa- 
tive, the  middle  ages  had  passed  away  ;  a 
new  period,  of  which  the  germ  had  long 
been  sown,  now  gradually  developed  itself 
and  became  established.  We  will  just 
glance  at  the  signs  which  characterized 
this  new  age,  and  at  those  great  discov- 
eries  which  contributed  chiefly  in  pro 
ducing  it. 

Where  and  when  gunpowder  was  first 
invented  cannot  be  positively  ascertained  , 
it  appears  probable  that  the  Chinese  were 
very  early  acquainted  with  it,  and  that  it 
came  from  them  to  the  Arabians,  and 
thence  to  Europe.  But  it  was  not  as  yeJ 
employed  in  war,  and  could  not,  therefore 
with  strictness  be  called  gM?i-powder.  l\  \ 
is  not  found  to  have  been  used  for  that 
purpose  earlier  than  in  1350,  and  tho  dis- 


DISCOVERY  OF  GUNPOWDER— ARTILLERY— END  OF  CHIVALRY.        243 


covery  of  this  application  of  it  is  ascribed 
to  a  German  monk,  Bcrtold  Schwarz.  He 
had,  it  is  said,  pounded  a  mixture  of  salt- 
petre, sulphur,  and  coals,  in  a  mortar, 
when  by  accident  a  spark  dropped  into  it, 
the  mass  ignited,  and  forced  with  great 
violence  the  pestle  into  the  air.  This  ac- 
cident led  to  the  thought  of  making  great 
il  mortars  for  the  purpose  of  war,  from 
which  stones  and  balls  might  be  thrown 
against  a  hostile  city,  and  thus  was  pro- 
duced the  heavy  artillery,  which  about 
.lie  year  1400  was  pretty  generally  used. 
The  first  time  we  hear  of  its  being  prac- 
tised, is  at  the  battle  of  Crecy,  between 
the  French  and  English,  in  1346.  The 
smaller  fire-arm,  or  arquebus,  was  invent- 
ed somewhat  later  ;  this  weapon,  however, 
is  mentioned  in  a  record  of  1381,  when 
the  city  of  Augsburg  undertook  to  send 
thirty  men  armed  with  guns  to  the  war 
which  the  cities  then  waged  against  the 
nobility.* 

By  these  newly-discovered  instruments 
of  destruction  the  whole  system  of  war 
and  military  tactics  became  changed.  In 
ancient  times  the  hostile  encounter  was 
almost  always  maintained  man  to  man, 
and  hand  to  hand,  with  lance  and  sword  ; 
whence  individual  force,  dexterity,  and 
prowess  decided  the  victory.  In  case 
either  one  of  the  armies  did  not  at  an  early 
stage  cowardly  turn  round  and  flee,  the 
battle  was  never  decided  before  the  field 
was  strewed  with  the  bodies  of  the  greater 
portion  of  the  combatants.  The  contests 
were  sanguinary  and  decisive.  But  since 
the  new  plan  now  adopted  was  to  fight  at 
a  distance,  and  the  individual  no  longer 
had  his  antagonist  face  to  face — leaving  it 
to  chance  to  decide  whether  his  ball  should 
contribute  towards  the  success  of  the  ac- 
tion, or  waste  itself  in  the  air — and  as  the 
warrior  had  thus  become  more  and  more 
the  mere  simple  machine  employed  by  the 
calculations  of  the  general,  whose  genius 
and  judgment  were  now  rendered  sufficient 
to  decide  the  battle — accordingly,  by  this 
new  method  of  war  the  spirit  of  chivalry 
became  gradually  annihilated.  The  lat- 

*  These  guns,  however,  were  merely  simple  tubes, 
which,  like  the  camions,  were  ignited  by  a  match. 
But  as  this  was  tedious  and  troublesome,  and  impeded 
the  power  of  taking  aim,  German  ingenuity  discovered, 
in  1551,  at  Nuremberg,  the  improved  arquebus,  in 
which  the  spark  was  produced  by  a  steel  wheel  being 
made  to  strike  in  its  revolution  the  flint ;  and  after- 
wards, in  France,  this  invention  was  brought  to  the 
perfection  of  the  present  musket 


ter,  in  fact,  was  based  upon  the  greatest 
development  of  personal  strength,  which 
gave  to  the  individual  such  a  superiority 
that  a  whole  troop  of  common  foot-soldiers 
were  not  able  to  resist  the  attack  of  the 
knight  when,  mounted  on  his  barbed  steed, 
and  armed  at  all  points,  he  dashed  among 
them  ;  while  now  the  most  cowardly  dis- 
posed man  might,  with  his  firelock,  bring 
down  the  bravest  warrior  at  a  distance. 
The  nobility  for  a  length  of  time  continued 
to  oppose  and  contend  against  the  use  of 
this  new  arm  of  war,  which  they  charac- 
terized as  dishonorable,  degrading,  and 
perfidious  to  employ  ;  \  i *  when  it  finally 
obtained  the  superiority,  the  cavalier  of 
the  martial  field  of  olden  times  was  forced 
to  succumb,  and  resign  his  battle-axe  and 
lance. 

This  change,  however,  did  not  come  into 
operation  all  at  once  ;  for  long  after  the 
invention  of  fire-arms,  while  those  who 
bore  them  formed  but  a  small  part  of  the 
army,  and  heavy  cannon  was  only  em- 
ployed in  sieges,  the  mailed  cavalry  con- 
tinued to  compose  the  'elite  of  the  troops, 
and  the  nobility  still  preserved  and  main- 
tained their  military  discipline.  The  tour- 
naments still  continued  to  form  their  prin- 
cipal festivals,  where  the  youth  of  the 
nobility  learned  at  an  early  age  to  play 
with  danger ;  and  all  the  prohibitions  of 
the  popes  and  ecclesiastical  councils  issued 
against  those  who  took  part  in  them,  on 
account  of  the  danger  attending  them,  (for 
they  frequently  ran  with  pointed  lances,) 
and  all  the  punishments  which  the  Church 
inflicted  upon  those  who  engaged  therein — 
as,  viz.,  that  none  who  died  in  a  tourna- 
ment should  receive  Christian  burial — 
were  not  sufficient  to  eradicate  the  enthu- 
siastic attachment  to  these  festivals.  And 
even  down  to  the  fifteenth  century,  there 
was  scarcely  a  single  princely  family  ir. 
Germany  which  had  not  lost  some  of  its 
members  in  these  essays  at  arms.  Of 
Albert,  margrave  of  Brandenburg,  the 
German  Achilles,  it  is  related  that  he  had 
thus  tilted  at  more  than  seventeen  tourna- 
ments with  the  pointed  lance,  and  even  the 
emperor  Maximilian  had  entered  the  arena 
several  times.  Thus  the  historian  of  the 
house  of  Austria,  Fugger,  relates,  that  at 
a  diet  at  Worms,  in  1495,  a  French 
knight,  Claudius  Barre,  appeared  and  chal- 
lenged the  whole  German  nation  to  a  trial 
of  arms  at  single  combat.  The  emperoi 


244 


BRUTAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  LANZKNECHTE. 


Maximilian  on  this  occasion  took  upon 
himself  the  right  to  fight  for  the  honor  of 
his  people,  and  which  he  maintained  by 
eventually  overcoming  the  foreign  knight 
with  the  sword,  after  their  lances  had  left 
the  combat  undecided.  While  this  empe- 
ror is,  properly  so  called,  the  last  of  the 
chivalric  emperors,  and  as  the  period  of 
his  reign  concludes  the  middle  ages,  we 
find  in  some  of  his  contemporaries,  such 
as  Gotz  of  Berlichingen,  Franz  of  Sickin- 
gen,  and  Ulric  of  Hutten,  the  contest  for 
the  ancient  splendor  of  their  order  against 
the  mighty  revolutions  of  time,  again 
maintained,  until  their  death.  Even 
among  the  clergy  of  these  chivalric  times 
the  warlike  disposition  of  knighthood  is 
occasionally  apparent.  When  Frederick 
III.  went  forth  against  Charles  the  Rash, 
to  deliver  Neuss,  the  valiant  bishop  of 
Miinster,  Count  Henry  of  Schwarzburg, 
was  the  first  to  land  an  army,  consisting* 
of  Westphalians,  Netherlander,  and  Low- 
er Saxons,  and  exhibited  a  greater  degree 
of  warlike  zeal  than  even  was  shown  by 
the  imperial  general,  the  margrave  Albert 
(or  Achilles)  of  Brandenburg  himself; 
nay,  he  even  cherished  the  hope  of  meet- 
ing the  proud  duke  of  Burgundy  in  battle, 
and  engaging  with  him  hand  to  hand  in 
mortal  combat.  But  as  no  battle  took 
place,  a  truce  having  been  determined 
upon,  during  which  the  Miinsterians  had  a 
hot  engagement  with  the  duke's  Picardi- 
ans,  the  bishop,  who  could  obtain  no  satis- 
faction for  the  insult  offered  to  his  army, 
challenged  Duke  Charles  to  fight  a  duel, 
but  which  the  emperor  Frederick  prohibit- 
ed. The  army,  however,  adjudged  that 
in  this  expedition  it  was  not  the  margrave 
of  Brandenburg,  but  the  bishop  of  Miin- 
ster, who  had  merited  the  title  of  the  Ger- 
man Achilles. 

Meantime  the  whole  system  of  military 
tactics  underwent  the  most  important  chan- 
ges. Instead  of  the  ancient  levies  of  the 
ban,  there  were  now  introduced  Lanz- 
knechte,or  mercenary  troops,  and  thus,  with 
this  change  arose  the  entire  distinction 
made  between  the  martial  and  the  civil 
order.  In  former  times  the  imperial  vogt, 
or  intendant,  who  administered  the  judicial 
and  civil  affairs  of  a  district,  was,  at  the 
same  time,  the  military  chief  or  command- 
ant of  the  city  and  burgh,  and  the  leader 
in  the  field,  as  were  all  the  counsellors  and 
officials  of  the  princes.  All  the  depart- 


ments so  administered  throughout  the  land 
harmonized  and  were  conducted  with  equal 
energy  in  every  part.  Now,  however,  the) 

were  separated,  and  war  became  a  distinc 
mercenary  profession. 

But  the  worst  part  of  this  change  was, 
that  when  the  princes  could  not  maintain 
their  mercenaries  in  times  of  peace,  the 
latter  then,  having  neither  the  disposition 
nor  ability  to  return  to  the  employments  oi 
civil  life,  became  a  pest  to  society.  The 
chronicle  of  Sebastian  Frank  complains 
bitterly  against  this :  •''  The  destructive 
lanciers,"  he  says,  "  are  a  shameless  race, 
and  of  use  to  nobody  ;  when  they  are  not 
in  pay  or  enrolled  they  run  loose  upon  so- 
ciety, demanding  war  and  misery.  An 
unchristian  and  lost  set,  whose  employment 
is  murder,  rapine,  incendiarism,  gaming, 
drinking,  blaspheming,  wantonly  making 
widows  and  orphans,  yea,  whose  only  de- 
light is  in  the  calamities  of  the  people,  feed- 
ing upon  the  vitals  of  mankind,  and  whether 
in  or  out  of  war,  tormenting  the  peasantry. 
The  state  of  matters,  alas!  is  come  to  this, 
that  as  soon  as  a  man  becomes  a  lancier, 
and  from  the  moment  he  has"  taken  the 
oath,  and  places  a  lance  on  his  shoulder, 
henceforth  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  abandons 
all  other  work.  Formerly,  when  a  prince 
carried  on  a  war,  he  fought  with  his  own 
people ;  now,  that  these  worthless  fellows 
are  employed,  each  adversary  strives  to 
outdo  the  other  in  the  number  of  his  soldiers 
and  extent  of  his  preparations  for  the  war, 
so  that  it  now  costs  more  before  it  is  begun 
and  these  hirelings  are  equipped,  than  for- 
merly it  cost  to  commence  and  finish  it  alto- 
gether. Were  it  not  for  these  mercenary 
troops,  there  would  be  much  less  war,  and 
although  a  prince  might  be  forced  to  fight 
with  but  as  many  hundreds  as  there  are 
now  thousands  employed,  he  would  still 
effect  more  glorious  results  ;  for  these  ras- 

als  do  all  in  their  power  to  protract. the 
war,  and  sorry  would  they  be,  indeed,  if 
they  beheld  it  terminate  and  peace  restored. 
Thus  the  country  is  exhausted  to  an  extent 
that  there  is  scarcely  a  prince  or  peasant 
who  has  any  more  money." 

The  same  chronicle  makes  honorable  and 
clear  distinction  between  these  mercenary 
troops  who  served  anybody  that  would  give 
them  pay,  and  those  warriors  who  fought 
only  for  their  country.  "  Those  subjects," 
he  says,  "  who  in  obedience  to  their  princes 
enlist  at  their  summons,  and  when  the  bat- 


INVENTION  OF  PRINTING—  THE  FIRST  BIBLE. 


245 


tie  is  over  return  to  their  work,  I  do  not 
call  mercenary  Lanzknechte,  but  brave 
and  faithful  warriors."  Meantime,  how- 
ever, these  lanciers,  whose  insubordination 
has  called  forth  such  complaints,  were  ex- 
cellent soldiers  in  battle.  Armed  with 
lances  eighteen  feet  in  length,  and  pro- 
tected by  a  helmet  and  cuirass,  they  stood 
like  a  firm  wall,  and  their  presented  lances 
resembled  an  impassable  forest,  whence 
their  battle  array  was  called  by  the  French 
the  Herisson,  or  porcupine-phalanx.  The 
emperor  Maximilian  greatly  improved  their 
discipline.  They  eclipsed  even  the  glory 
acquired  by  the  Swiss,  and  now  completely 
destroyed  the  superiority  hitherto  com- 
manded by  the  chivalric  cavalry,  whose 
importance  had  already  been  diminished 
by  the  Hussite  and  Swiss  infantry. 

Equally  as  important  as  the  invention 
of  gunpowder  was  for  war,  was  also  the 
discovery  of  the  art  of  printing  for  the  ob- 
jects of  peace.  This  also  is  the  work  of 
German  ingenuity ;  not,  however,  origi- 
nating in  accident,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
found  out  by  a  process  of  profound  study, 
and  became  perfected  by  degrees. 

There  had  been  in  use  long  previously, 
after  the  manner  of  the  little  figures  which 
were  carved  in  wood,  and  printed,  a  cer- 
tain description  of  wooden  boards,  upon 
which  were  cut  all  the  letters  necessary 
for  the  page  of  a  book,  there  being  as  many 
such  boards  as  pages  in  the  books  from 
which  impressions  were  taken,  whence  the 
entire  book  was  completed.  Although  this 
operation  was  much  more  troublesome  than 
copying,  yet  with  these  boards  they  were 
enabled  to  print  a  book  many  hundred 
times,  which  repaid  their  labor.  Great 
improvements,  however,  could  yet  be 
made  ;  and  thus  thought  John  Guttenberg. 
Born  in  1401,  at  Mentz,  of  an  ancient  no- 
ble family,  he,  with  all  the  powers  of  his 
mind,  prosecuted  the  idea  of  cutting  out 
the  letters  singly,  of  an  equal  size,  on  the 
end  of  small  wooden  sticks  ;  and  after  com- 
posing these  into  words,  taking  therefrom 
an  impression,  when  he  again  took  them 
t )  pieces,  and  used  them  for  composing  the 
next  page.  After  many  experiments,  he 
succeeded.  He  entered  into  partnership 
with  his  townsmen,  John  Faust  and  Peter 
Schoffer,  of  Gernsheim  ;*  and  this  associa- 
tion enlarged  the  discovery  by  composing 

*  The  prevailing  opinion  that  Schoffor  was  a  clersy- 
man  is  incorrect.  The  name  of  Clericus,  which  he 


the  letters  of  a  mixture  of  metals,  invent- 
ing the  press,  and  preparing  printers'  ink. 
Thus  they  were  prepared  to  print.  Theii 
first  attempt  was  the  Bible ;  but  the  real 
inventor,  Guttenberg,  did  not  enjoy  that 
fruit  of  his  labors  which  he  so  richly  de- 
served, inasmuch  as  Faust,  the  goldsmith, 
who  had  advanced  him  money,  after  he 
had  spent  his  fortune  in  making  the  neces- 
sary experiments,  deprived  him,  by  legal 
process,  of  all  his  instruments  and  proper- 
ty, and  excluded  him  from  the  concern. 
Thus  the  inventor  of  the  most  important 
and  valuable  art  of  ancient  and  modern 
times,  was  obliged  to  spend  the  remainder 
of  his  days  dependent  upon  the  bounty  of 
the  elector  of  Mentz,  and  died  in  1468. 

In  the  year  1457,  the  first  book,  the 
Latin  Psalms,  was  completed  by  Faust 
and  his  associates,  and  in  1462  the  entire 
Bible.  So  great  a  difference  was  even 
then  perceptible  between  the  price  of  such 
a  work  and  the  expense  of  transcribing, 
that  a  Bible,  which,  when  transcribed,  cost 
from  400  to  500  florins,  was  to  be  had  for 
30  florins.  And  thus  did  these  men  lay 
the  foundation  for  the  immense  advantages 
subsequently  derived  by  this  great  dis- 
covery, and  by  which  every  degree  of 
knowledge  which  raises  the  intellectual 
character  of  man  is  no  longer  the  pecu- 
liar privilege  of  the  few,  but  may  become 
not  only  the  possession  of  whole  nations, 
but  of  the  entire  world.  Thence  it  is  that 
the  art  of  printing  exerts  a  most  wonder- 
ful influence  in  the  development  of  man- 
kind. The  law  of  this  development,  as  is 
most  evident  from  the  observation  deduced 
from  all  history,  down  to  the  present  day, 
is,  that  the  cultivation  and  intelligence  of 
the  human  mind  progressively  enlarges  its 
boundaries,  and  in  its  widening  circle  em- 
braces an  increasing  number  of  our  fel- 
low-creatures. Although  it  may  admit  of 
dispute  whether,  upon  the  whole,  Ave  are 
further  advanced  in  the  arts  and  sciences 
than  many  nations  of  antiquity  and  the 
middle  ages,  the  progress  in  the  more  uni- 
versal spread  of  knowledge  can  admit  of 
no  question,  and  it  is  the  noble  art  of  print- 
ing, which,  as  the  great  lever,  has  effected 
this  glorious  object. 

Of  great  importance  to  the  extraordi- 
nary results  of  the  art  of  printing  was 
also  the  previous  discovery  of  linen-paper. 

took,  signifies  also  c  alii  graph  ist,  or  one  who  devotee' 
himself  to  the  copying  of  books. 


246 


AMERICA— EAST  INDIES— CHARLES  V. 


Formerly,  parchment  was  used,  which, 
however,  was  too  expensive  and  too  thick  ; 
then  cotton-paper,  which  was  not  suffi- 
ciently durable.  Paper  made  of  linen, 
which  is  also  probably  a  German  discov- 
ery, first  appears  in  a  document  of  the 
year  1318,  at  KaufFbeuren. 

We  close  our  general  reflections  upon 
the  age  just  passed,  with  a  few  words  upon 
the  results  produced  by  the  discovery  of 
America  and  a  sea  passage  to  the  East 
Indies. 

They  did  not  indeed  originate  in  Ger- 
many, but  they  exerted  a  great  influence 
upon  that  country ;  not  only  by  enlarging 
the  empire  of  the  mind,  which  must  be  one 
result,  but  also  more  particularly  in  pro- 
ducing a  change  in  commerce.  Until  that 
time  East  Indian  produce,  of  which  Eu- 
rope required  annually  a  vast  supply,  had 
been  brought  by  various  channels  through 
Asia  to  the  Mediterranean  sea,  and  thence 


taken  especially  by  the  maritime  states  of 
Italy  and  conveyed  farther.  The  transit 
by  land  to  the  north  was  made,  as  has  been 
before  stated,  through  Germany.  But  now 
that  the  Portuguese,  in  1498,  had  found  a 
passage  by  sea  round  Africa,  they  were 
able,  from  the  great  profits  of  freightage 
soon  to  monopolize  the  whole  East  Indian 
trade  ;  Venice  and  the  other  Italian  mari- 
time states  declined,  and  Germany  also 
very  soon  indirectly  felt  the  effects.  Its 
trade  became  depressed  in  proportion  as 
that  of  Portugal  and  Spain  rose ;  and,  in 
consequence  of  this  great  reverse,  the 
Hanseatic  League  was  dissolved,  although 
their  commerce  extended  to  many  other 
wares.  The  German  cities  were  from  the 
sixteenth  century  no  longer  able  to  main- 
tain their  ancient  elevation  in  wealth  and 
power,  and  thus  also  in  this  respect  the 
way  was  paved  for  the  rising  power  of  th« 
princes. 


SIXTH  PERIOD. 


FROM   CHARLES   V.    TO    THE    PEACE    OF   WESTPHALIA. 


1520—1648. 


AMONG  the  MS.  documents  relating  to  this  period, 
the  "  Transactions  of  the  Imperial  Diets."  as  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  various  individual  states, 
are  the  most  important,  inasmuch  as  the  diets  never 
exercised  so  much  influence  at  any  period  of  our  his- 
tory as  from  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury until  the  war  of  thirty  years.  Meantime,  the 
newly  discovered  art  of  printing  promoted  especially 
the  composition  and  circulation  of  historical  works,  and 
we  find  that,  with  every  ten  years,  their  number  in- 
creased accordingly  to  a  considerable  extent.  At  the 
same  time,  the  awakened  desire  for  scientific  research, 
and  the  taste  for  the  study  of  ancient  authors,  became 
more  and  more  generally  diffused  and  appreciated. 

Among  the  writers,  who  treat  upon  the  general  his- 
tory of  this  period,  are  included : 

1.  Paul  Jovius,  (born  at  Como,  1482,  died  as  bishop 
of  Nucerie,  1552,)  Historia  sui  Temporis,  from  1494  to 
1546. 

2.  J.  A.  Thuames,  or  de  Thou,  (born  in  Paris,  1553, 
died  1617,  as  president  of  the  parliament  and  chief 
librarian  to  Henry  IV.;  very  learned  and  esteemed,) 
wrote  likewise  a  Historia  sui  Temporis,  1543  to  1607. 

3.  John  Genesius  de  Sepulveda,  (a  Spaniard,  born 
1491,  died  1572,  historian  of  Charles  V.,)  De  rebus 
gestisCaroli  V.,  Colon,  1657. 

4.  Among  the  Spanish  historians  may  be  added : 
Petrus  Salazar,  Prudentius  de  Sandoyal,  Alphonso  de 
Ultoa,  and  Antonius  de  Vera  et  Zunniga. 

5.  Among  the  Italians :  Louis  Dolce,  Gianbattista 
Adriani,  and  Gregorius  Leti.  Adriani  is  especially  im- 
portant. 

6.  Several  separate  and,  in  part,  important  writings, 
referring  to  the  time  of  Charles  V.,  in  number  about 


sixty-two,  have  been  collected  together  by  Simon 
Schard,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Script,  rer.  Germ., 
and  by  Freher,  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Script. 
For  the  History  of  the  Reformation  we  have : 

7.  The  writings  of  the  reformers  themselves  and  of 
their  partisans,  which  are  of  the  highest  importance  ; 
containing,  at  the  same  time,  much  in  explanation  of 
the  political  history  of  their  time.    The  works  of  Lu- 
ther, Melanchthon,  Zwingli,  and  Calvin,  need  not  be 
here  especially  enumerated. 

8.  The  works  of  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam,  (born  in 
1467,  died  in  1536,)  partly  in  accordance  with,  partly 
against  the  sense  of  the  Reformation,  are  likewise  im- 
portant; also— 

9.  The  writings  of  Ulric  of  Hutten,  (born  in  1480. 
died  in  1523,)  who  came  forth  with  glowing  zeal  and 
acute  mind  in  the  cause  of  the  new  ideas  advanced. 

10.  John  Sleidanus,  (born  in  1506  at  Sleida,  died  in 
1556 ;  professor  of  laws  at  Strasburg,  and  historian  ot 
the  league  of  Schmalkald,)  Commentarius  de  Statu 
Religionis  et  Reipublicse  Carolo  V.,  Caesare.    An  im- 
portant work ;  continued  by  Londorp  from  1555-64. 

11.  George  Spalatin,   (born  in  1482,  died  in   1545, 
court-chaplain  and  secretary  to  the  Elector  Frederick 
the  Wise,  who  took  a  great  share  in  the  diet  at  Augs- 
burg in  1530,)  A nnales  Relbrmationis,  besides  his  Lives 
of  the  various  Popes  of  his  times,  and  some  minor 
works,  collected  together  in   Menken's   Script,   rer. 
Germ. 

12.  Veit  Lewis  of  Seckendorf,  (born  in  1626,  died  in 
1692  ;  who,  although  not  a  contemporary,  is,  neverthe- 
less, a  source  of  good  authority,  inasmuch  as  in  his 
office  as  minister  of  Saxe-Gotha,  he  collected  largely 
from  the  documents  in  the  archives  of  Gotha, )  Con 


STATE  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


24T 


ment,  Hist,  et  Apologeticus  de  Lutheranismo,  in  reply 
Jo  tlie  Hist.  Lutneranisrai  of  the  Jesuit  Lewis  [tfaim- 
burg,  (bora  at  iS'ancy  in  K31U,  died  in  1080,)  which 
turrits  observation  also. 

13.  The  acts  relating  to  the  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion were  completed  subsequently,  at  the  commence- 
ment of    the   eighteenth  century,   from   manuscripts 
preserved   in  the  archives,  by  J.  J.  Muller,  Valentin 
Loscher,  ( '.  Lehmann.  Arc.,  &c. 

The  History  of  the  Confession  of  Augsburg  is  espe- 
cially treated  upon  by— 

14.  David  Chitriius,  (boni  in  1530,  died  in  1600,  pro- 
fessor at  Wittenberg,  Rostock,  and  Helmstadt,  who 
was  commissioned  by  Maximilian  II.  to  establish  a 
plan  of  discipline  for  the  Protestant  church  in  Austria, 
and  contributed  towards  the  Formula  Concord!®,)  in 
his  Hist.  Confess.  Augustaiue.     He  wrote,  likewise, 
Lectures  upon  Charles  V.,  Ferdinand  I.,  and  Maximil- 
ian II. 

15.  George  Gcelestin  (senior  com*  chaplain  to  the 
elector  of  Brandenburg,  died  1576)  wrole  Hist.  Comitior 
August®,  1530,  celebratorum. 

I  'i>on  the  War  of  Schmalkald  : 

16.  Louis  d'Avila,  a  Spaniard,  and  general  oi  Charles 
V.,  wrote  his  Comment,  de  Bello  Germanico  a  Carolo 
V.  «esto,  -,!  vols.    Antwerp,  1550.    He  writes  very  much 
in  favor  of  Charles  V.    On  the  other  hand— 

17.  Fred.  Hartleder  (born  in  1579,  died  in  1640,  a 
privy  counsellor  of  Weimar)  in  his  Transactions  and 
Development  of  the  Causes  of  the  War  against  the 
League  of  Schmalkald,  Frankfort,  1617,  and  Gotha, 
1645,  embraces  warmly  the  Protestant  cause.      His 
work  is  based  upon  the  documents  contained  in  the 
archives  of  Weimar. 

Upon  the  Council  of  Trent : 

18.  Paul  Sarpi,  (born  at  Venice  1552,  died  in  1626,  a 
monk  and  counsellor  of  that  city,)  History  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent,  written  in  Italian,  and  published  in  Lon- 
don in  1619,  under  the  title  of  Petrus  Suavis;  trans- 
lated into  German  by  Rambach,  Halle,  1761. 

19.  In  reply  to  Sarpi,  whose  writing  is  too  free,  ap- 
peared another  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  by  the 
Jesuit  Sfortia  Pallavicini,  (born  at  Rome  in  1607,  died 
in  1667.) 

Biographies  of  celebrated  men  of  that  period  : 

20.  Adami    Reisneri  Comm.  de  vita  et  reb.  gest. 
Georgii  et  Gasp.  Frundsbergiorum.    Frankfort,  1568. 

21.  Joach.  Camerarius,  (born  in  1500,  died  in  1547,  a 
friend  of  Melanchthon,  and  professor  of  Tubingen  and 
Leipsic,)  Vita  Melanchthoms  and  Vita  Mauritii  Elec- 
toris. 

22.  Gotz  of  Berlichingen,  (died  in  1562,)  Memoirs  by 
himself;  edited  by  Pistorius,  Nuremberg,  1731 ;  and  by 
Biischingand  Van  der  Hagen,  1813. 

23.  Sebast.  Schartlin  of  Burtenbach,  (general  of  the 
cities  in  the  war  of  Schmalkald,)  Memoirs  by  himself. 

Original  sources  for  the  History  of  the  Reigns  of  Fer- 
dinand I.  and  Maximilian  II.  may  be  found  in  : 

24.  Script,  rer.  Germ,  by  Schard ;  vols.  3  and  4. 

In  reference  to  the  period  continued  beyond  the 
reign  of  Ferdinand  II.,  and  especially  the  Thirty  Years' 
War  : 

25.  F.  C.  Count  Khevenhiiller,  (imperial  counsellor 
and  grand  master  of  the  court,  died  in  1650,)  Annales 
Ferdinandei,  from  1578  to  1637. 

26.  N.  Bellus,  Affairs  of  Germany  in  peace  and  war, 
under  Matthias  and  Ferdinand  II.,  from  1617-40. 

27.  W.  Lamormain,  (a  Jesuit  and  confessor  of  Fer- 
linand  II.,  died  1648,)  Virtutes  Ferdhiandei ;  Vienna, 
1637. 

2S.  P.  B.  Burgup,  (of  Genoa,  and  a  witness  of  the 
deeds  of  Gnstavus  Adolphus.  accordingly  in  his  favor,) 
Comment  de  Hello  Snecico,  from  1618-32. 

29.  Eberh.  Wassenberg,  (of  Emmerich,  Historian  of 
Wladislas,  king  of  Poland,)  Florus  Germanicus  de 
Bello  inter  Ferd.  II.  et  III.,  et  eorum  hostes  ab  ann. 
1618-40  gesto  ;  very  zealous  against  the  Protestants ;  as 
likewisi — 

30.  The  Italian  Historians  of  the  War  of  Thirty 
\ears:  viz.,  J.  Ricci,  J.  Damiani,  Galeazzo  Gualdo, 
Hnd  Others. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  favor  of  the  Protestant  party,are : 
31  P.  von  Chemnitz,  (Swedish  counsellor  and  histo- 
rian, died  1H7H,)  who  wrote  the  Swedish-German  war, 
in  nine  parts,  but  of  which  only  two  were  printed.  The 
o».hers,  preserved  in  the  royal  archives  of  Stockholm, 
have,  no  doubt,  been  used  by : 


:)-2.  The  celebrated  Samuel  Puffendorf,  (counselloi 
and  historian  at  Stockholm,  sul>se<juently  privy  coun- 
sellor, died  in  1094,)  in  his  work  De  rebus  Suecicis  sub 
(Just.  Adolpho  usque  ad  abdicationem  Christina. 

:t:{.  Tobias  Planner,  (counsellor  of  Saxony,  born  in 
1640,)  in  his  Hist.  Pacis  Westph. 

34.  And,  commencing  with  the  year  16J7,  the  volu- 
minous work,  Theatrum  Europeum,  in  19  vols.,  by 
various  authors,  and  of  very  unequal,  sometimes  infe- 
rior, merit. 

Finally,  in  reference  to  the  lives  of  two  other  distin- 
guished men  of  this  period,  Bernhard,  duke  of  Wei- 
mar, and  Wallenstein,  duke  of  Friedland,  we  have  : 

35.  The  Achievements  of  Bernhard,  duke  of  Wei- 
mar, collected  from  the  archives  by  E.  S.  Cyprian. 
Gotha,  17-J't. 

:«i.  The  Life  of  Wallenstein,  by  G.  Gualdo.  Lyori, 
1643,  and 

37.  The  Original  Letters  of  Wallenstein,  from  the 
year  1627  to  1634,  throwing  a  new  light  upon  his  life 
and  character.  Edited  by  Fr.  Fbrster ;  Berlin  1828 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

State  of  the  Empire— Internal  Anarchy— Charles  V. 
of  Spain,  and  Francis  I.  of  France— Frederick  the 
Wise,  elector  of  Saxony— Charles  V.  elected  empe- 
ror of  Germany— His  Character— Jealousy  and  Dis- 
content of  the  Spaniards — Try  to  dissuade  Charles 
from  accepting  the  Imperial  Crown — New  Spain — 
Discovery  of  Mexico— Arrival  of  Charles  in  Germa- 
ny—His Coronation,  1520— Schism  in  the  Church- 
Causes  which  produced  it— Ignorance  of  the  Clergy 
— Their  Vices — Murmurs  and  Discontent  of  the  Peo- 
ple— A  Reformation  in  the  Church  universally  de- 

.  manded— Scholastic  Wisdom— Theology— Enlight- 
enment of  Science— John  Reuchlin. 

THE  imperial  throne,  now  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Maximilian,  required  a  successor. 
The  general  agitation  throughout  Europe, 
as  well  as  the  confusion  prevalent  in  Ger- 
many itself,  where  the  Faustrecht  ap. 
peared  immediately  after  the  death  of  the 
emperor  to  resume  its  sway,  demanded  a 
monarch,  endowed  with  energy  and  con- 
sequent power,  in  order  to  maintain  the 
necessary  equilibrium  between  the  internal 
and  external  government.  The  war  still 
continued  between  Spain  and  France  upon 
the  subject  of  Italy,  although  neither  of 
these  powers  possessed  the  right  of  de- 
cision in  the  cause  of  a  country  which 
knew  not  how  to  govern  or  even  help  it- 
self, such  decision  being  vested  in  the 
hands  of  the  emperor  alone.  In  the  east 
the  Turks  again  threatened  to  devastate 
the  country ;  and  Hungary,  reduced  by 
maladministration  as  well  as  by  the  luxu- 
ry and  effeminacy  of  the  people,  was  no 
longer  able  to  serve  as  a  bulwark  against 
this  formidable  enemy ;  hence  from  this 
quarter  likewise  the  emperor  was  called 
upon  to  come  forth  as  the  protector  of  Eu- 
rope.  In  Germany  itself,  and  in  the  ven 


INTERNAL  ANARCHY— FRANCIS  I.  OF  FRANCE. 


heart  Df  the  empire,  two  grand  contentions 
arose  at  this  moment,  and  raged  with  all 
their  ungovernable  fury.  Duke  Ulric  of 
Wurtemberg,  having  cause  to  revenge 
himself  upon  the  free  town  of  Reutlingen 
for  some  offence,  fell  suddenly  upon  that 
place,  in  the  winter  of  1519,  and  having 
made  himself  master  of  it,  he  continued  to 
hold  it  in  possession  as  his  own.  The 
Swabian  league,  however,  which  had  been 
established  by  the  emperor  Maximilian, 
in  order  to  maintain  the  tranquillity  of  the 
land,  finding  the  duke  paid  no  respect  or 
attention  to  their  repeated  summons  to  sur- 
render the  town,  advanced  at  once  against 
him,  and  by  their  superior  force  not  only 
regained  possession  of  the  place,  but  pur- 
sued the  duke  throughout  his  own  terri- 
tories so  closely  that  he  was  compelled  to 
quit  them  for  safety. 

In  Lower  Saxony  again  another  still 
more  sanguinary  struggle  raged — the  so- 
called  bishop's  feud  of  Hildesheim.  Two 
noblemen,  lords  of  Saldern,  but  vassals  to 
John,  bishop  of  Hildesheim,  proclaimed 
war  against  him,  in  which  they  were  sup- 
ported by  the  dukes  of  Wolfenbiittel  and 
Calenberg ;  while,  on  his  side,  the  bishop 
found  assistance  from  the  duke  of  Liine- 
bu:g;  and  the  counts  of  Lippe,  Hoya,  and 
Diepholtz.  On  the  28th  of  January,  1519, 
both  parties  met  on  the  plain  of  Soltau  in 
Liineburg,  and  after  a  most  obstinate  and 
sanguinary  battle,  the  victory  was  gained 
by  the  bishop,  although  severely  purchased, 
while  on  the  other  side  the  valiant  duke 
of  Calenberg  with  other  nobles  were  taken 
prisoners,  and  four  thousand  of  their  men 
were  left  dead  on  the  field  of  battle.  The 
continued  repetition  of  such  scenes  could 
not  but  produce  the  most  dangerous  conse- 
quences, since,  although  the  Landfriede 
had  happily  succeeded  in  putting  an  end 
to  the  feuds  and  robberies  of  the  lesser  no- 
bility and  freebooter  knights,  it  became 
more  and  more  evident  that  in  order  to 
prevent  the  princes  from  following  in  the 
same  steps,  and  thus  by  force  of  arms 
seeking  to  add  by  conquest  to  their  pos- 
sessions, it  was  rendered  necessary  to  elect 
an  active  and  strong-minded  emperor,  who 
should  maintain  and  protect  the  authority 
of  the  laws. 

Maximilian  had,  in  the  course  of  his 
reign,  gained  several  voices  in  favor  of  his 
grandson  Charles,  already  king  of  Spain  ; 
many  princes,  however,  still  thought  con- 


sideration requisite  before  they  could  under 
take  to  place  the  imperial  power  in  the  hand? 
of  a  sovereign  who  already  reigned  over  the 
half  of  Europe  ;  for,  as  inheritor  of  the 
houses  of  Spain  and  Austria,  Charles  pos- 
sessed, besides  Spain  and  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  and  Sicily,  the  beautiful  Austrian 
provinces,  and  all  the  patrimonial  territories 
of  Burgundy  in  the  Low  Countries.  If  to 
so  much  splendid  power  the  additional  lus- 
tre acquired  by  the  possession  of  the  impe- 
rial crown  were  to  be  added,  it  was  to  be 
feared — thus  the  princes  thought — that  his 
house  might  become  too  powerful,  and 
thence  conceive  the  proud  and  ambitious 
project  of  invading  and  destroying  the  liber- 
ty of  the  German  princes,  and  seek  accord- 
ingly to  render  the  empire,  without  limita- 
tion, hereditary  and  independent. 

From  another  side  again,  as  his  competi 
tor  for  the  imperial  crown,  came  forth  to 
oppose  him  the  king  of  France,  Francis  I. 
The  pope  was  in  favor  of  his  election,  at 
least  he  appeared  to  be  so  ;  in  addition  to 
which,  this  young  sovereign  had  gained  a 
great  reputation  by  his  first  expedition  'to 
Italy,  where,  for  his  valiant  and  chivalric 
bearing,  especially  in  the  victorious  battle 
of  Marengo,  he  was  extolled — particularly 
by  his  own  nation — to  the  very  skies.  The 
ambassadors  from  France  presented  to  the 
assembled  princes  at  Frankfort  a  document 
laudatory  of  their  royal  master,  in  which 
they  thus  alluded  to  the  danger  threatened 
by  the  incursions  of  the  Turks  : — "  He  must 
indeed  be  wanting  in  understanding  who,  at 
a  time  when  the  storm  has  broken  forth, 
should  still  hesitate  to  confide  the  steerage 
of  the  vessel  to  the  most  skilful  helmsman." 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  the  confidence 
with  which  the  envoys  spoke,  the  princes  felt 
the  danger  of  electing  a  French  king  to  be 
ernperor  of  Germany ;  and  as  the  elector 
of  Saxony,  Frederick  the  Wise,  to  whom 
they  had  offered  the  crown,  declined  it  with 
the  magnanimous  observation  in  excuse — 
"  That  the  inferior  power  of  his  house  was 
not  equal  to  contend  with  the  difficulties  of 
the  times,"  adding  even  his  recommenda- 
tion to  them  to  elect  the  young  Spanish 
king  instead,  the  princes,  after  fujtser  con- 
sideration, remembered  and  admitied  that 
at  least  he  was  a  German  prince,  and  the 
grandson  of  their  late  revered  emperor 
Maximilian  ;  they  decided  accordingly  in 
his  favor,  and  elected  him  to  the  imperial 
throne  on  the  28th  of  June,  1519.  Before 


CHARACTER  OF  CHARLES  V.— JEALOUSY  OF  THE  SPANIARDS.          '-249 


rhe  election,  however,  his  ambassadors  were 
obliged  by  the  princes  to  sign  the  following 
conditions,  viz.  :  "  That  the  emperor  shall 
not  make  any  alliance,  nor  carry  on  any 
war  with  a  foreign  nation,  without  the  ap- 
probation of  the  princes,  neither  shall  he 
introduce  any  foreign  troops  whatever  into 
the  empire ;  that  he  shall  hold  no  diets  be- 
yond Germany  ;  that  all  offices  at  the  impe- 
rial  court  and  throughout  the  empire  shall 
be  conferred  upon  native  Germans  ;  that  in 
all  the  affairs  of  the  empire  no  other  lan- 
guage but  German  or  Latin  shall  be  em- 
ployed ;  that  in  conjunction  with  the  estates, 
he  shall  put  an  end  to  all  the  commercial 
leagues  which,  by  means  of  their  capital, 
have  hitherto  held  so  much  sway,  and  main- 
tained so  much  independence  ;  that  he  shall 
not  pronounce  the  imperial  ban  against  any 
state  of  the  empire  without  urgent  reasons, 
nor  without  a  proper  form  of  judgment ; 
and,  finally,  that  he  shall  come  to  Germa- 
ny as  speedily  as  possible,  and  make  that 
country  his  principal  residence." 

These  and  other  articles  being  sworn  to 
by  the  ambassadors  in  the  name  of  their 
royal  master,  they  proceeded  at  once  to 
hasten  his  arrival  in  the  Germanic  empire. 

The  youthful  monarch  had  occupied  the 
Spanish  throne  about  two  years  ;  but  as  yet 
he  was  unknown  to  the  world.  Hitherto 
the  majority  hoped  but  little  from  him. 
The  premature  death  of  his  noble  and  chiv- 
alric  father,  Philip  the  Handsome,  the  in- 
sanity of  his  mother  Joanna,  his  separation 
from  his  brother  Ferdinand,  who  had  been 
educated  in  Spain,  while  he  himself  had 
been  brought  up  entirely  among  strangers 
in  the  Netherlands — all  these  circumstan- 
ces acted  unfavorably  upon  his  mind,  and 
produced  that  retiring,  exclusive  disposition 
which  made  him  shrink  from  the  world  and 
live  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  mind.  Added 
to  this,  it  was  but  slowly  that  he  arrived  at 
that  clearsightedness  and  independence  of 
action  which  subsequently  produced  his 
grratness  ;  it  appeared  indeed,  as  if  he  were 
to  be  guided  and  ruled  entirely  by  his  coun- 
sellors. Those  alone  who  commanded  a 
profound  knowledge  of  human  nature  were 
capable  of  observing  and  interpreting  the 
movements  by  which  his  soul  was  actuated. 
At  a  grand  tournament  in  Valladolid,  the 
voung  king,  who  from  his  childhood  was 
warmly  attached  to  chivalric  exercises,  en- 
tered the  lists  completely  equipped,  and  ex- 
thanged  a  few  courses  at  arms  with  his 


chief  master  of  the  horse.  He  broke  three 
lances  with  him,  and  each  time  the  air  was 
filled  with  shouts  of  applause  from  the  as- 
sembled multitude ;  for  the  youth,  who  had 
not  attained  his  eighteenth  year,  and  had 
always  been  considered  as  weak,  both  in 
body  and  mind,  and  of  easy  persuasion,  ap- 
peared here  in  the  most  undaunted  and  no- 
ble character,  and  with  all  the  vigor  of  a 
knight,  while  on  his  shield  he  bore  the 
motto  :  "  Nondum  !"  (not  yet.)  Those  who 
knew  and  understood  the  meaning  of  the 
word,  awaited  with  impatience  the  moment 
when  he  would  be  enabled  to  come  forth 
before  the  world  uncontrolled  and  inde- 
pendent. 

That  moment  had  now  arrived.  He 
was  chosen  emperor  of  Germany,  and  it 
was  for  him  now  to  decide  promptly 
whether  or  not  he  would  abandon  Spain  in 
order  to  seize  the  reins  of  government  in 
his  new  empire.  The  important  announce- 
ment appeared  to  produce  no  change  what- 
ever in  our  young  prince  of  twenty  years  : 
"  Our  king,  who  is  now  emperor,"  says  an 
eye-witness,  "  seems  to  regard  this,  the 
greatest  fortune  that  can  happen  to  mortal, 
as  nothing ;  his  greatness  of  mind  and 
gravity  of  expression  are  so  extraordinary, 
that  any  one  would  suppose  from  his  ap- 
pearance, that  he  was  playing  at  football 
with  the  universal  globe."  The  resolu- 
tion he  was  called  upon  to  adopt  would 
have  proved  to  any  ordinary  mind  a  mat- 
ter of  extreme  difficulty.  Spain  at  that 
time  was  in  a  state  of  great  fermentation, 
and  almost  ready  to  burst  into  full  flame ; 
for  strong  and  influential  parties  stood  op- 
posed to  each  other  face  to  face  :  the  royal 
authority,  a  powerful  nobility,  and  proud 
and  wealthy  cities.  In  Germany  again  he 
would  find  an  agitated  empire  in  complete 
anarchy,  and  above  all,  the  grand  contest 
which  raged  upon  the  subject  of  religion, 
and  to  which  all  eyes  were  at  present  di- 
rected. The  Spaniards  themselves  were 
discontented  at  beholding  their  sovereign 
invested  with  the  imperial  dignity ;  they 
feared  they  might  in  consequence  be  re- 
duced to  the  form  of  a  secondary  kingdom, 
subject  to  the  rule  of  arbitrary  governors. 
"  What  els*j  had  the  empire  now  become," 
they  said,  "  but  the  mere  shadow  of  an  im- 
mensely overgrown  tree  ?"  In  such  poor 
estimation  was  the  ancient  and,  formerly 
so  venerated  imperial  crown  now  held  in 
foreign  countries. 


250 


MEXICO  DISCOVERED— SCHISM  IN  THE  CHURCH 


The  majority  of  his  counsellors  advised 
and  warned  Charles  not  to  abandon  his 
hereditary  kingdom  for  the  sake  of  a  pos- 
session so  uncertain,  and  at  least  difficult 
to  maintain ;  but  his  genius  saw  and  ac- 
knowledged that  this  very  circumstance 
paved  the  way  for  bold  and  independent 
action  ;  he  found  himself  sumnloned  as  it 
were  to  a  career  of  glory,  and  he  followed 
his  destiny  without  fear  or  hesitation.  It 
was  at  this  time,  while  he  was  on  his  jour- 
ney to  Germany,  there  to  take  possession 
of  the  crown  offered  to  him,  that  the  im- 
portant news  arrived  announcing  the  ac- 
quisition made  in  his  name'of  a  second  em- 
pire, that  of  Mexico,  then  just  discovered 
in  the  new  world.  A  more  common  mind 
would  have  been  overcome  with  the  weight 
of  such  great  events  ;  but  the  effect  they 
produced  upon  the  young  and  mighty  em- 
peror was  only  such  as  to  accelerate  the 
maturing  of  his  mind.  His  care  and  soli- 
citude were  now  claimed  by  one  entire 
moiety  of  the  universe,  and  from  that  mo- 
ment he  showed  in  all  his  actions  the  cha- 
racter of  a  clear-sighted,  truly  energetic, 
and  comprehensive-minded  ruler. 

Charles  landed  in  the  Netherlands  and 
continued  his  journey  on  to  Germany.  He 
was  crowned  on  the  22d  of  October,  1520, 
at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  with  great  pornp  and 
magnificence,  and  he  then  appointed  the 
17th  of  April  of  the  following  year  as  the 
day  for  holding  the  first  imperial  diet  at 
Worms.  This  diet  was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  that  had  ever  been  held ;  it  was 
attended  by  six  electors  and  a  numerous 
body  of  spiritual  and  temporal  princes. 
The  most  important  transaction  that  occur- 
red on  this  occasion  was  the  trial  of  Martin 
Luther. 

The  church  had  for  centuries  been  sub- 
ject to  violent  agitation  and  disorder  in 
every  shape,  and  the  reckless  abandon- 
ment of  all  external  discipline  had  operated 
materially  to  shake  the  faith  of  numerous 
Christians,  as  well  as  to  corrupt  the  morals 
of  the  people  generally.  Complaints  of 
the  decline  of  the  church,  and  the  desire 
for  its  general  reform,  had  long  been  grow- 
ing loud  and  more  urgent  in  expression. 
There  are  none,  let  them  belong  to  what- 
ever doctrine  or  sect  they  may,  who,  know- 
ing the  history  of  those  times,  will  not  ad- 
mit that  these  complaints  were  at  that  pe- 
riod too  well  founded.  They  were  raised 
in  the  name  of  entire  nations,  and  proceed- 


ed more  especially  from  the  mouths  of  the 
faithful  adherents  of  the  ancient  church, 
as  well  as  the  venerable  bishops  them- 
selves,  together  with  the  most  learned  and 
profoundly-minded  men  of  the  church  ana 
state. 

At  the  time  of  the  great  schism,  from 
the  year  1378  to  1414,  when  several  popes 
disputed  the  possession  of  the  holy  chair  ol 
St.  Peter,  each  rival  claimant  excommuni. 
cated  the  other  in  turn,  together  with  all 
his  partisans ;  so  that  all  the  countries  ot 
Christendom  found  themselves  subject  to 
the  ban  of  the  church,  either  by  the  one 
pope  or  the  other,  and  all  religious  and 
pacific  minds  were  at  a  loss  to  know  where 
in  reality  they  should  seek  and  find  the 
true  peace  of  God.  At  such  a  period,  and 
under  the  influence  of  such  violent  and  fu- 
rious passions,  it  was  to  be  expected  that 
that  veneration  hitherto  felt  for  the  name 
of  the  pope  would  be  sensibly  weakened, 
and  the  invisible  and  sacred  bonds  grad- 
ually loosened. 

To  this  was  added  a  state  of  ignorance 
which  prevailed  throughout  the  spiritual 
body,  or  at  least  among  the  majority  of  its 
members  ;  for  it  was  not  possible  fora  few 
individual  men  of  learning  to  succeed  in 
dissipating  the  darkness  that  overspread 
the  mass.  And  as  darkness  of  the  mind 
always  brings  with  it  its  consequent  vices, 
which  can  alone  be  extirpated  by  divine 
light,  a  number  of  the  clergy  were  at  that 
time  clothed  in  sin,  an  abomination  in  the 
eyes  of  the  good,  and  a  scandal  to  the  people 
generally.  In  the  year  1503,  accordingly, 
some  time  before  the  appearance  of  Luther 
in  the  field,  one  of  the  first  theologians  ot 
Germany  represented  this  degenerated, 
fallen  state  of  the  church  in  strong  terms  : 

"  The  study  of  theology,"  he  says,  "  is 
despised  among  us,  and  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  as  well  as  the  excellent  writings  of 
the  holy  fathers,  are  completely  neglected  ; 
faith,  piety,  moderation,  and  all  the  other 
virtues,  so  much  praised  and  valued  by 
even  the  pagans  themselves,  the  wonders 
of  God's  grace  and  the  merits  of  Jesus,  all 
these  are  doctrines  upon  which  the  most 
profound  silence  is  maintained  by  them. 
And  such  people  too,  who  understand  noth- 
ing of  either  theology  or  philosophy,  are 
elevated  to  the  highest  dignities  of  the 
church,  and  become  the  guardians  of  our 
souls  !  Thence  the  melancholy  decline  ol 
the  Christian  church,  the  hatred  towards 


IGNORANCE  AND  VICES  OF   THE  CLERGY. 


251 


[he  clergy,  and  tho  total  absence  of  all 
good  and  salutary  instruction  !  The  prof- 
ligate  life  led  by  tho  ecclesiastics,  shocks 
the  feelings  of  well-minded  parents,  and 
prevents  them  from  allowing  their  sons  to 
devote  their  lives  to  that  once  holy  service. 
They  omit  entirely  all  search  into  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  they  corrupt  their 
taste  to  such  an  extent,  that  they  no  longer 
feel  their  beauty  and  force  ;  they  become 
lukewarm  and  lazy  in  their  duty,  and  are 
only  too  glad  when  the  service  is  speedily 
at  an  end,  the  chant  and  sermon  hurriedly 
concluded,  and  their  presence  no  longer 
required !  They  discourse  more  gravely 
and  impressively  with  the  mortal  upon 
whom  they  may  have  a  claim  for  money, 
than  with  their  divine  Master  and  Creator. 
Instead  of  devoting  their  leisure  time  to 
study,  they  pass  it  in  gambling,  debauche- 
ry, and  licentiousness,  without  caring  in 
the  least,  or  having  any  consideration  for 
the  disgust  their  conduct  everywhere  pro- 
duces.  How  then  is  it  possible  that  in  this 
shameful  state  of  things,  the  laity  can  feel 
respect  for  them  or  religion  itself?  The 
gospel  tells  us  that  the  path  to  Heaven  is 
narrow  and  difficult,  but  they  only  strive 
to  make  it  broad  and  easy." 

That  this  description  is  not  too  strongly 
colored,  is  proved  by  a  hundred  other  un- 
doubted witnesses  ;  and  although  the  monks 
accused  the  learned  professor,  who,  as  we 
have  just  seen,  reprimanded  them  so  se- 
verely before  the  pope,  Julius  II.,  still  he 
had  truth  so  much  on  his  side,  that  the 
papal  commissioners  themselves  pronounced 
in  his  favor.  The  pious  bishop  of  Augs- 
burg, Christopher  of  Stadion,  in  a  synodal 
charge  to  his  clergy,  coincides  exactly  in 
all  these  complaints,  and  reproaches  them 
bitterly  for  their  vices,  which,  he  says, 
could  not  fail  to  produce  the  most  corrupt 
and  destructive  effects  upon  the  church  and 
-.he  public ;  and  Hugo,  bishop  of  Con- 
stance,  although  inimical  to  the  doctrine  of 
Martin  Luther,  complains  equally  in  the 
same  strain,  together  with  many  others  of 
the  chief  members  of  the  Catholic  church 
of  that  time. 

But  how  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  the 
investiture  of  the  spiritual  offices  was  regu- 
'ated  by  the  amount  of  purchase-money, 
without  any  regard  to  the  qualifications  and 
real  character  of  the  individual  chosen, 
and  when,  as  has  already  been  shown,  only 
the  smallest  portion  of  the  clergy  in  reality 


possessed  any  knowledge  of  the  word  of 
God  ?  To  such  a  degraded  state  indeed 
had  the  church  become  reduced,  that  ac- 
cording to  well-authenticated  evidence,  we 
are  assured  that  out  of  all  the  principal 
leading  members  of  the  clerical  bod} 
throughout  the  Swiss  confederation,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
there  were  not  three  who  had  ever  read  the 
Bible  ;  and  when  the  people  of  Valais  re 
ceived  about  this  time  a  letter  from  Zurich, 
in  which  was  quoted  a  sentence  from  the 
sacred  volume,  only  one  man  was  to  be 
found  who  knew  the  book,  and  even  what  he 
knew  was  by  hearsay  ! 

How  deplorably  great  and  universal 
must  have  been  the  ignorance  existing  at 
this  period  through  the  negligence  of  the 
clergy,  when  we  find  not  only  that  men  were 
unacquainted  with  the  source  itself  of  reli- 
gious devotion  and  Christian  virtue,  but  that 
its  very  name  was  scarcely  known  to  them  ! 

In  Italy,  and  especially  in  Rome,  this 
want  of  faith  and  knowledge  in  divine 
matters  was  still  more  strikingly  evident 
and  notorious.  Under  the  pontificate  of  the 
accomplished  Leo  X.,  from  1513  to  1521, 
the  arts  certainly  flourished  in  the  capital 
to  a  remarkable  degree ;  but  while  these 
ripened  forth  from  their  rich  and  fertile 
soil,  they  smothered  the  simple  germs  of 
the  true  religion  of  God.  The  enjoyment 
of  the  senses  was  valued  above  every  thing 
as  the  greatest  treasure  ;  the  belief  placed 
in  the  existence  of  a  higher  invisible  world, 
could  not  coexist  with  such  principles,  and 
the  calm  and  silent  piety  of  the  heart  be- 
came in  the  eyes  of  the  world  a  subject  of 
ridicule  and  contempt.  The  usages  and 
forms  of  divine  worship  appeared  to  be  re- 
tained and  practised  in  order  to  serve  rather 
as  a  check  upon  the  mass  of  the  people, 
whence  they  soon  became  regarded  in  the 
character  of  purely  external  ceremonies. 

In  proof  of  this  we  will  refer  to  the 
opinion  expressed  by  the  pious  Pope  A- 
drian  VI.,  in  his  letter  addressed  to  his 
nuncio  at  the  diet  held  at  Nuremberg,  in 
1522 :  "  We  know,"  says  he,  "  that  in  this 
holy  see  much  corruption  has  continued  to 
abound  during  many  years,  great  abuse  in 
all  ecclesiastical  affairs,  as  likewise  in  all 
that  has  emanated  from  our  chair,  and  in  one 
word,  a  depravation  in  every  thing.  Thence 
it  is  no  wonder  if  the  disease  has  trans- 
ferred itself  from  the  head  to  the  other 
members — from  the  pope  to  the  priests  j 


252        REFORMATION  DEMANDED— PERVERTED  SYSTEM  OF  DOCTRINK. 


therefore,  \ve  promise,  as  far  as  lies  in  us, 
to  devote  all  our  attention  and  care  towards 
reforming  first  of  all  our  chair,  whence 
perhaps  all  this  evil  has  originated,  in  order 
that  as  the  destruction  has  issued  thence  to 
descend  to  the  inferior  grades,  the  cure  and 
renewed  enjoyment  of  health  may  likewise 
find  their  source  there." 

The  feeling  of  the  necessity  existing  for 
a  thorough  reform  in  the  church,  had  long 
since  become  so  generally  acknowledged 
throughout  all  ranks  of  society,  that  "the 
lower  orders  had  continued,  even  from  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  to  the 
present  time,  to  nourish  the  false  hope  of 
the  return  of  the  emperor  Frederick  II., 
(then  dead  since  more  than  a  hundred 
years,)  assured  that  he  would  come  forth  as 
the  desired  reformer.  We  have  also  ob- 
served what  urgent  representations  were 
made  by  the  Germans,  the  English,  and 
French,  when  assembled  at  the  councils  of 
Constance  and  Basle ;  and  in  the  year 
1510,  the  diet  at  Augsburg  raised  once 
more  its  voice  against  the  state  of  the 
church,  having  drawn  up  and  established 
ten  heavy  charges,  in  reply  to  the  pretended 
and  assumed  rights  of  the  popes,  and  by 
which  the  schism  of  the  church  was  al- 
ready proclaimed  :  "  For  if  the  causes  for 
triese  complaints,"  said  the  diet,  "  are  not 
removed  or  remedied,  there  is  good  reason 
to  believe  that  a  general  persecution  against 
the  priests  must  shortly  arise,  or,  according 
to  the  example  already  set  by  the  Bohe- 
mians, one  universal  abandonment  of  the 
Roman  church  will,  perhaps,  inevitably 
take  place." 

Thence  we  perceive  that,  at  this  time, 
the  ancient  sacred  edifice  of  the  hierarchy, 
which  had  existed  during  so  many  cen- 
turies, and  which,  according  to. its  funda- 
mental object,  was  well  and  indispensably 
calculated  for  the  unity  of  the  Christian 
nations,  was  now  undermining  itself,  and 
produced,  by  its  own  means,  its  tottering 
jondition  ;  inasmuch  as  it  had  lost  all 
respect  and  consideration  among  the  peo- 
ple, because  its  leading  members,  living  in 
proud  and  haughty  security,  paid  no  regard 
to  the  spirit  of  the  times. 

However  evident  all  we  have  just  re- 
lated must  appear  to  the  minds  of  all  men, 
we  must,  nevertheless,  once  more  strictly 
examine  the  operating  causes  of  the  mighty 
change  produced  in  the  world,  in  order  to 
perfectly  comprehend  it. 


A  little  good-will  and  gradual  ameliora 
tion  would  have  sufficed  to  satisfy  and  rt. 
move  all  the  charges  referred  to — inas- 
much as  they  related  chiefly  to  the  exter. 
nal  forms  and  administration  of  the  church 
— had  there  only  been,  at  the  head  of  reli- 
gion itself,  a  genius  in  possession  of  clear, 
minded  views,  an  active  spirit,  and  ener- 
getic powers.  But  such  a  leading  genius 
was  no  longer  to  be  found  in  the  clerical 
body ;  religion  itself  no  longer  maintain- 
ing its  pure  spirit.  Not  only  the  ignorance 
of  which  we  have  before  spoken,  but  a 
completely  perverted  system  prevailed  in 
almost  all  the  doctrines  of  religion.  They 
set  a  great  value  upon  a  certain  class  ol 
school  wisdom,  which  they  styled  scholas- 
tic science,  and  which,  in  ancient  times, 
had  originated  in  the  mixture  of  philosophic 
principles  with  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 
The  plain  and  simple  truths  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  so  intelligible  and  clear,  even 
to  the  mind  of  the  most  ignorant  and 
juvenile  reader,  were  clothed  in  obscure 
and  erudite  words,  and  these  words  were 
regarded  as  the  principal  object  ;  they 
soon  proceeded  to  discuss  their  interpreta- 
tion, and  of  the  disputants  he  who  carried 
on  the  contest  in  the  mnst  sharp  and  refined 
style  of  language  was  held  to  be  the  most 
learned.  Thence,  as  it  often  happens, 
that  both  spirit  and  truth  become  lost  in  the 
crowd  of  many  words,  so  likewise  the  gen- 
tle, simple,  and  beneficent  light  of  Chris- 
tian faith  vanished  more  and  more  from  the 
science  which  they  called  their  theology. 
With  the  fifteenth  century,  however,  a  new 
epoch  opened  upon  the  sciences,  and  the 
human  mind  became  increasingly  enlight- 
ened ;  the  darkness  in  which  it  had  hitherto 
been  enveloped,  now  yielded 'before  the 
divine  light  of  knowledge.  Before  its 
overpowering  rays,  the  scholastic  sophism, 
with  all  its  shallow  pretensions  to  its  im- 
portant interpretation  of  words,  could  no 
longer  maintain  its  ground  ;  a  few  select 
and  distinguished  men  of  the  day  now  carne 
forth  and  attacked  it  with  the  irresistible 
weapons  of  reast>n  and  sarcasm,  exposing 
it  to  the  world  in  all  its  bareness.  Its 
disciples,  however,  on  .the  other  hand, 
while  thus  overwhelmed  by  the  force  of 
their  adversaries,  would  not  in  their  retreat 
endeavor  to  redeem  their  character,  by 
seeking  to  find  the  necessary  light  even  in 
their  own  doctrine — which  might  have 
operated  in  their  favor  and  have  served  a.* 


JOHN  REUCHLIN— OUTBREAK  OF  THE  REFORMATION. 


253 


heir  only  protection — but  with  blind  zeal 
and  defiance  they  sought  to  extinguish  and 
destroy  at  once  the  dawning  rays  which 
announced  the  coming  of  the  glorious  day 
— a  vain  and  futile  effort,  which  has,  at  all 
times,  only  been  attended  with  disgraceful 
defeat,  and  ever  fallen  powerless  to  the 
ground. 

In  Germany  this  new  light  in  the  sciences 
was  more  especially  promulgated  by  John 
Reuchlin,  (born  at  Pforzheim  in  the  year 
1455,)  one  of  the  first  and  most  distin- 
guished men  of  learning  that  our  country 
ever  produced,  possessing  the  most  erudite 
knowledge  of  the  Latin,  together  with  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  languages — a  man  en- 
dowed with  a  mind  so  vast  and  comprehen- 
sive, that  it  was  said  of  him,  that  in  his 
mind  was  combined  all  the  scholarship,  all 
'.he  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  to- 
gether with  all  the  learning  then  to  be 
found  in  the  Christian  world.  Many  of  the 
theologians  vented  all  their  rancorous  pas- 
sions against  him,  although  he  lived  be- 
fore the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  ac- 
cordingly took  no  share  in  it.  We  must 
not,  however,  include  all  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  clergy  among  those  so  plunged 
in  darkness,  for  the  before-mentioned  Chris* 
topher  of  Stadion,  bishop  of  Augsburg,  did 
not  think  it  beneath  his  dignity  to  under- 
take a  journey  of  seven  days  to  Freiburg, 
in  order  there  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  celebrated  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam, 
while  John  of  Dalberg,  bishop  of  Worms, 
formed  a  library  containing  the  works  of 
the  most  distinguished  writers,  and  was  so 
attached  to  the  sciences,  that  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Rhenish  society  of  learned 
men,  founded  by  the  poet  Conrad  Celtes. 
But  the  number  of  these  better-minded 
men  was  too  limited  to  cope  with  those 
whose  blind  and  furious  zeal,  in  their 
hatred  to  all  enlightenment,  confounded 
together  the  good  with  the  bad,  and  pro- 
duced, accordingly,  the  destruction  of  their 
own  empire. 


CHAPT 


Outbreak  of  the  Reformation,  1517— Abuses  m  the 
Church— Letters  of  Indulgence— Martin  Luther  the 
Reformer— His  exposure  and  condemnation  of  these 
proceedings—  Is  summoned  to  appear  in  Rome— With- 
held from  going  by  the  Electorof  Saxony— The  Pope's 


Nuncio,  Cardinal  Cajetan,  and  Luther  at  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg,  1518—  Refusal  of  Luther  to  retract— Lu- 
ther's Appeal  to  the  Pope  for  a  fair  hearing— Contro- 
versial Discussion  between  Luther  and  Dr.  Eck— Lu- 
ther maintains  his  ground — The  Pope's  Bull  against 
Luther— The  Reformer  burns  the  Bull  with  tho 
Canon  Law  and  Eck's  Writings— Propagation  of  the 
New  Doctrine— Luther  addresses  the  People— Ulrick 
of  Ilutten  and  Francis  of  Sickingen — Frederick  the 
Wise  of  Saxony  and  the  Princes  in  favor  of  Reform— 
The  Grand  Diet  at  Worms.  1521— Charles  V.— Tho 
Pope's  Legate,  Cardinal  Alexander— Lull icr's  ap- 
pearance and  Examination  there — Solemn  KH'us- 
al  to -Retract — The  Emperor's  Declaration — Luthe. 
Excommunicated  and  his  Writings  burnt — Conveye«. 
by  the  Elector  of  Saxony  for  Satety  to  the  Castle  ot 
Wartburg— His  translation  of  the  New  Testament- 
Tumults  and  Revolutions  of  the  Peasantry— Miiiizei 
the  Fanatic— Battle  of  frankenhausen— Miinzer's 
Death— Tranquillity  restored. 

WE  have  in  the  preceding  chapter  en- 
deavored to  develop  the  causes  which 
during  several  centuries  had  prepared  the 
way  for  the  schism  of  the  church ;  but 
that  which  more  immediately  hastened  its 
accomplishment,  was  the  abuse  so  univer- 
sally practised,  in  the  declaration  and  dis- 
tribution of  indulgences. 

The  agents  of  the  papal  court  were 
authorized  to  offer  letters  of  the  indulgence 
in  every  country  that  recognised  the  pope, 
by  which  those  who  obtained  them  received 
from  the  church  remission  of  the  punish- 
ment they  had  merited  by  their  sins.  Such 
letters  of  indulgence,  however,  were  not  of 
recent  origin,  inasmuch  as  in  the  early  ages 
of  the  church,  when  it  punished  public 
crime  by  severe  and  public  penitence,  by 
exclusion  from  divine  worship,  often  for  the 
space  of  years,  &c.,  there  were  many  pen- 
itents, especially  those  who  distinguished 
themselves  by  their  zeal  in  the  practice 
of  repentance,  whose  term  of  trial  was 
abridged  by  the  bishop,  or  the  punishment 
altogether  remitted,  and  the  performance 
of  pious  acts  of  gifts  or  endowments  substi- 
tuted. At  the  time  of  the  crusades,  the 
popes  accorded  to  all  who  undertook  to  en- 
counter the  dangers  and  fatigues  of  these 
expeditions,  the  remission  from  all  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  church  to  which  they  would 
otherwise  have  been  obliged  to  submit. 
Subsequently,  the  same  indulgence  was 
granted  to  all  those  who,  in  lieu  of  taking 
part  in  these  holy  wars  personally,  con- 
tributed their  aid  in  money  instead.  Afte- 
this  period,  the  object  of  these  expiaton 
acknowledgments  was  extended  to  othe 
pious  works,  such  as  the  building  of 
churches,  schools,  &c.  ;  and  when  Europe 
was  threatened  by  the  Turks,  the  expedi- 
tions against  their  armies  presented  nu- 
merous  opportunities  to  the  popes  to  distri- 


254 


ABUSES  IN  THE  CHURCH— MARTIN  LUTHER. 


bute  their  letters  of  indulgence.  Very 
soon,  however,  the  belief  that  these  letters  of 
indulgence  absolved  their  possessors  from 
sin  itself — an  error  quite  in  keeping  with 
the  coarse  and  depraved  state  of  feeling  in 
those  times — became  more  and  more  pro- 
mulgated among  the  people,  and  was  sup- 
ported generally  by  the  prelates  themselves ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  suspicions  were 
increasingly  nourished  and  murmurs  loudly 
expressed,  with  respect  to  the  employment 
of  the  sums  professedly  collected  for  the 
exclusive  object  of  works  of  piety.  Thence, 
at  length,  both  the  princes  and  the  people 
united  their  voices  in  complaint  against  the 
existing  abuse  of  indulgences,  and  subse- 
quently the  council  of  Trent  issued  a  de- 
cree against  the  criminal  agents  of  the 
church,  "  who  availed  themselves  of  the 
word  of  God  in  order  to  fill  their  own 
pockets  with  lucre." 

In  order  to  draw  from  these  indulgences 
as  much  profit  as  possible,  the  sale  thereof 
in  entire  provinces  was  let  out  to  the  high- 
est bidders  or  farmers-general,  and  these 
again  appointed  several  sub-farmers,  who, 
for  the  sake  of  gain,  committed  the  most 
shameful  abuses.  To  promote  the  sale  of 
these  letters  of  indulgence,  they  selected 
men  who,  possessing  eloquence  and  impu- 
dence, might  succeed  in  exciting  the  minds 
of  the  people  and  induce  them  to  purchase 
them  by  wholesale  ;  and  truly,  the  shame- 
less proceedings  of  some  of  these  men  ex- 
ceed all  belief.  They  sold  indulgences 
for  the  most  heavy  crimes  committed  :  for 
pillage  of  churches,  perjury,  and  murder ; 
nay,  the  promise  of  indulgence  could  even 
be  obtained  before  the  commission  of  the 
contemplated  crime. 

But  additional  evidence  to  prove  the 
destructive  influence  with  which  such  an 
abuse  of  religion  must  operate  upon  the 
morality  of  mankind,  is  superfluous.  Suf- 
fice it,  that  the  long-nourished  feeling  of 
discontent  at  length  burst  forth.  Leo  X. 
having,  in  the  year  1516,  announced  fresh 
indulgences  in  order  to  complete  the  build- 
fng  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter  in  Rome, 
commenced  by  his  predecessor,  Julius  II., 
it  was  generally  believed  that  an  important 
Bhareof  the  money  collected,  viz.,  that  con- 
tributed in  Saxony  and  the  countries  as  far 
as  the  Baltic,  was  not  to  be  devoted  to  the 
building  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  but 
was  intended  for  the  pope's  sister.  In  ad- 
dition to  which,  the  clerical  agents  employed 


on  this  occasion,  especially  a  certain  Ber< 
nard  Samson,  and  John  Tetzel,  the  formei 
in  Switzerland,  and  the  latter  in  Saxony, 
excited  by  their  shameful  conduct  thn 
greatest  indignation. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  Martin  Lu- 
ther, born  in  1483,  at  Eisleben  in  Thurin. 
gia,  an  Augustinian  friar,  and  professor  of 
theology  in  the  university  of  Wittenberg, 
came  forth  and  publicly  condemned  these 
indulgences  ;  and  on  the  eve  of  All  Saints' 
day,  (the  31st  of  October,  1517r)  in  the 
church  of  the  palace  of  Wittenberg,  hr 
read  ninety-five  theses  in  which  he  bitterl) 
inveighed  against  the  traffic  of  indulgences, 
and  challenged  all  the  most  learned  men  of 
the  day  to  contest  them  with  him  in  a  pub- 
lic examination.  Similar  public  assertions 
on  certain  articles  of  faith  were  not  of  un- 
usual occurrence,  but  those  expressed  by 
Luther  were  conveyed  in  a  language  so 
bold,  and  in  a  spirit  of  such  independence, 
that  they  excited  forthwith  the  greatest 
sensation,  and  were  read  throughout  Ger- 
many with  the  most  eager  curiosity  and 
interest.  Therein  he  maintained,  "  that 
the  pope  possessed  no  power  to  remit  sins 
himself,  but  only  to  pronounce  their  remis- 
sion by  God  ;  that  whatever  power  herein 
the  pope  might  possess  was  equally  shared 
by  every  bishop  and  prelate  ;  that  whoever 
sincerely  repented  of  his  sins  would  receive 
remission  from  punishment  without  the  in- 
dulgences ;  that  the  treasures  of  the  Sa- 
viour and  the  church  were  so  equally 
distributed  and  shared  in  by  the  faithful, 
that  the  pope  could  not  impart  to  them  any 
fresh  claim,"  &c.  At  the  same  time  he 
did  not  at  all  contemplate  attacking  either 
the  authority  of  the  pope  or  that  of  the 
ancient  church.  The  doctrine,  however, 
which  he  published  upon  the  indulgences 
could  not  but  excite  the  most  violent  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  Tetzel  and  his  friends, 
especially  the  Dominicans,  who  for  a  long 
time  had  been  opposed  to  the  order  of  the 
Augustinians  ;  they  denounced  him  as  £ 
heretic,  and  they  already  threatened  bin* 
with  the  sword  and  burning  pile. 

Meantime  in  Rome  itself  the  most  stria 
silence  was  maintained,  although  the  dis 
putes  had  now  continued  for  nearly  nine 
months.  The  whole  matter,  however,  was 
not  the  less  known  there,  but  the  pope  per- 
haps regarded  it  merely  in  the  light  of  a 
monkish  dispute  ;  besides  which,  in  Rome 
they  were  totally  unacquainted  with  GQI 


DIET  OF  AUGSBURG— LUTHER  AND  DR.  ECK. 


255 


many.  They  considered  it  to  be  still  a 
half-savage  country,  its  population  patient, 
accustomed  to  obedience,  and  slow  in  form- 
ing a  resolution.  But  this  ignorance  and 
depreciation  of  our  nation  proved  fatal  to 
the  pontifical  chair,  and  brought  down  like- 
wise upon  ourselves  the  most  disastrous 
consequences. 

At  length,  in  the  month  of  August,  1518, 
Luther  was  summoned  to  appear  at  Rome, 
there  to  justify  himself  before  the  tribunal 
of  the  Holy  See.  But  the  elector  of  Sax- 
ony, as  well  as  the  University  of  Witten- 
berg, which,  but  recently  founded,  owed  its 
rapidly  flourishing  state  entirely  to  Luther, 
»vould  not  suffer  him  to  make  the  danger- 
ous journey.  By  their  mediation  he  re- 
ceived permission  to  adjust  the  affair  in 
Germany,  and  with  this  object  to  present 
himself  at  the  end  of  October,  1518,  before 
the  pope's  nuncio,  Cardinal  Thomas  de  Vio 
of  Gaeta,  (usually  known  under  the  name 
of  Cajetan,)  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg.  The 
tatter,  who,  as  a  Dominican  friar,  had  al- 
ready been  an  opponent  of  the  theological 
views  and  opinions  of  Luther,  demanded 
from  him  a  retraction  of  his  sentiments.  Lu- 
ther declared  his  willingness  to  make  it, 
provided  what  he  had  advanced  could  be 
refuted  by  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  car- 
dinal, however,  who  considered  it  beneath 
his  dignity  to  hold  argument  or  dispute 
with  a  monk,  abruptly  dismissed  him  with 
the  words  :  "  Retire  hence,  nor  come  again 
before  us,  unless  it  be  that  thou  wilt  re- 
tract." 

Luther  now  composed  and  handed  in  to 
the  nuncio  a  letter  of  justification,  in  which 
he  acknowledged  he  had  acted  too  impetu- 
ously, and  had  not  spoken  of  the  pope  with 
sufficient  respect,  promising  henceforth  to 
maintain  complete  silence,  if  on  their  side 
his  opponents  were  subjected  to  the  same 
restraint  towards  him.  As,  however,  he 
received  no  reply  to  this  document,  he  held 
himself  bound  to  address  the  pope  person- 
ally, and  with  the  aid  of  a  notary,  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses,  drew  up  in  Latin  an 
appeal  against  the  unjust  judgment  pro- 
nounced, requiring  that  a  more  fair  and 
iust  inquiry  and  decision  should  take  place 
before  the  pope  himself;  this  paper  he 
caused  to  be  affixed  publicly  on  the  gate  of 
the  cathedral  church  in  Augsburg,  and  im- 
mediately afterwards  quitted  that  city. 
This  document  proves,  that  Luther  at  that 
time  had  not  yet  formed  the  resolution  to 


separate  himself  from  the  Romish  church  ; 
but  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  and  the 
warmth  of  controversy  with  his  adversaries, 
impelled  him  from  one  step  to  the  other. 

A  professor  of  theology  at  Ingolstadt,  in 
Bavaria,  Dr.  John  Mayer  of  Eck,  usually 
called  Dr.  Eck,  one  of  the  most  zealous 
and  talented  partisans  of  his  church,  a  maf. 
of  comprehensive  scientific  knowledge,  the 
exercise  of  which  he  always  had  at  com- 
mand, and  to  which  he  added  an  imposing 
figure  and  a  powerful,  penetrating  voice, 
challenged  Luther  and  another  professor 
of  Wittenberg,  Andrew  Carlstadt,  in  the 
year  1519,  to  meet  him  at  a  public  disser. 
tation  upon  subjects  of  faith  in  Leipsic, 
which  formed  part  of  the  territory  of 
George,  duke  of  Saxony.  They  both  ap- 
peared there,  accompanied  by  a  pupil  of 
Reuchlin,  Philip  Melanchthon,  afterwards 
so  celebrated,  and  at  that  time  professor  of 
Greek  at  Wittenberg ;  the  meeting  was 
likewise  honored  with  the  presence  of  the 
duke  of  Saxony  himself.  The  controver- 
sial trial  lasted  from  the  27th  of  June  to 
the  13th  of  July,  1519.  They  discussed  at 
great  length  the  subjects  of  the  principal 
articles  of  faith  and  the  respect  due  to  the 
pope  ;  but  as  always  happens  in  all  dis- 
putes, when  carried  on  with  zealous  spirit, 
words  of  bitter  and  acrimonious  import 
were  exchanged  between  the  two  parties, 
while,  however,  it  became  more  and  more 
evident  in  the  course  of  the  contest  that 
Luther  successfully  maintained  his  position, 
in  not  only  rejecting  the  infallible  authority 
of  the  pope,  but  likewise  that  of  the  coun- 
cils, until  at  length  Eck  exclaimed  :  "  Rev- 
erend father,  if  you  then  really  do  believe 
that  a  lawfully-assembled  council  can  err, 
then  must  I  regard  you  as  a  gentile  and 
publican."*  Saying  which  he  quitted  the 
assembly,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  Rome, 
and  demanded  that  the  heretic  should  be 


*  In  this  celebrated  controversy  at  Leipsic,  which 
forms  a  critical  point  in  the  great  development  of  the 
history  of  those  times— Duke  George  of  Saxony  himself 
regarding  it  as  such,  he  having  proposed  that  the  de- 
cision of  the  dispute  should  be  transferred  to  the  con- 
sideration of  other  universities— two  peasants'  sons 
represented  the  conflicting  ideas  that  characterized  the 
present  and  future  times,  and  their  unity  or  still  greater 
division  could  not  but  produce  the  most  important  con- 
sequences. While  Luther  on  the  one  hand  was  the 
descendant  of  a  peasant  family,  living  at  the  foot  of 
the  Thuringian  forest  in  Moravia,  Eck,  on  the  other 
was  the  son  of  Michael  Mayer  of  Eck,  a  peasant,  anc 
afterwards  mayor  of  that  place,  (similar  to  Luther's 
father,  who  became  a  counsellorof  Mansfeld,)  whither 
he  had  wandered  to  work  in  the  mines— he,  as  youngoi 
son,  not  having  any  patrimonial  claim  to  the  farm. 


256 


THE  POPE'S  BULL  BURNED— THE  NEW  DOCTRINE. 


visited  with  the  utmost  rigor  of  the  apos- 
tolic power. 

Accordingly,  he  soon  reappeared  in 
Germany  armed  with  a  bull  from  the  pope, 
in  which  forty-one  propositions  selected 
from  Luther's  writings  were  designated 
as  heretical,  while  he  himself,  unless  he 
publicly  retracted  them  within  sixty  days, 
was  declared  under  the  ban  of  the  church; 
and  which  the  zealous  agent  endeavored  to 
circulate  throughout  all  the  cities  of  Ger 
many.  But  it  found  admission  only  in  a 
very  few  places  ;  the  magistrates  gener- 
ally forbidding  it  to  be  made  public,  and 
where  the  document  did  find  a  place  upon 
the  walls  of  any  town,  it  was  immediately 
torn  down  by  the  people — such  was  the  re- 
spect in  which  the  principles  of  the  new 
doctrine  were  already  held.  Luther  now 
proceeded  without  farther  hesitation  to  per- 
form an  act  which  rent  asunder  forever 
the  ties  which  bound  him  to  the  ancient 
church.  He  convoked  by  public  summons 
the  whole  of  the  members  of  the  University 
of  Wittenberg,  to  meet  on  the  10th  of  De- 
cember, 1520,  before  the  Elster  gate  of  the 
town,  when  all  the  students  having  erected 
a  funeral  pile,  one  of  the  magistrates  set 
fire  to  it,  and  Luther,  amid  the  loud  accla- 
mations of  the  assembly,  cast  into  the  burn- 
ing mass  the  popish  bull,  together  with  the 
canon  law  and  Eck's  writings. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  new  doctrine  spread  from 
one  end  of  Germany  to  the  other,  extend- 
ing even  far  beyond  the  frontiers  of  the 
empire.*  Such  celerity  cannot  be  con- 
ceived by  those  who  form  their  calculation 
by  the  scale  of  sensuality  ;  for  it  is  only 
the  vivid  flash  communicated  by  the  light- 
ning of  the  mind  which  ignites  in  millions 
the  inflammable  materials  already  pre- 
pared, that  can  produce  such  mighty  results. 

When  an  age  is  ripe  for  great  changes, 
the  signal  alone  is  wanted  to  rouse  the 

*  The  ninety-five  propositions  of  Luther  against  the 
indulgences  were  distributed  throughout  Germany 
within  a  fortnight,  in  the  course  of  from  four  to  six 
weeks  they  were  known  by  the  whole  of  Europe,  and 
the  universal  excitement  they  must  have  produced  may 
be  easily  conceived.  In  1520?  Luther's  writings  were 
translated  in  the  Netherlands  into  Spanish,  and  in  1521, 
a  traveller  found  and  purchased  them  in  Jerusalem. 
When  Herr  von  Miltitz,  a  distinguished  Saxon,  travel- 
led, in  1519,  from  Italy  to  Wittenberg,  deputed  by  the 
pope  to  prevail  upon  Luther  to  make  concession  and 
to  promise  to  maintain  silence,  he  himself  acknow- 
ledged to  the  great  reformer  that  throughout  his  jour- 
ney in  Germany  he  had  found  on  the  average  three 
voices  to  one  in  his  favor,  and  at  this  time  Luther  had 
only  been  two  years  upon  the  scene. 


whole  community  into  action,  as  if  struck 
by  the  wand  of  magic  ;  and  he  who  has 
thus  supplied  that  want,  and  proclaimed  it 
aloud,  is  appreciated  by  all  as  the  great 
author,  although  he  has  only  pronounced 
with  his  voice  that  which  has  long  since 
existed  in  the  lap  of  time,  and  has  become 
already  matured  within  the  souls  of  all. 
Meantime  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  how  the  progress  that  science  had 
already  made,  together  with  the  great  in- 
ventions of  the  preceding  century,  more 
especially  the  art  of  printing,  now  the 
'means  of  at  once  communicating  to  thou- 
sands information  that  otherwise  had  re- 
mained limited  to  the  possession  of  a  few 
— perhaps  locked  up-  within  the  walls  of 
the  monasteries — how,  we  say,  all  this  com 
bined  to  prepare  the  world  for  the  coming 
changes  we  have  already  seen.  On  the 
other  hand  again,  this  very  rapidity  shown 
in  the  propagation  of  the  new  doctrine  is 
an  irrefragable  proof  of  the  great  fall  of  the 
religious  and  moral  spirit  of  that  epoch. 
For  attachment  to  th^  customs,  more  espe- 
cially to  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  is-  so 
powerfully  and  deeply  rooted  in  the  heart 
of  man,  that  to  separate  himself  from  this 
as  long  as  he  at  all  sincerely  feels  its  in- 
spiration, is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  human 
nature  ;  it  can  only  occur  when  that  which 
should  constitute  the  most  ardent  and  fer- 
vent feeling  of  the  heart  has  become  cold 
and  torpid,  and  reduced  to  a  state  of  mere 
external  display. 

.x^Many  other  causes  existed  among  the 
citizens  and  the  people  generally,  which 
throughout  the  empire  operated  materially 
to  hasten  the  crisis.  Up  to  the  present  mo- 
ment the  great  majority  of  the  common  free 
people  had  been  completely  neglected  and 
despised ;  nothing  had  been  done  to  raise 
them  from  their  state  of  ignorance,  and  thus 
all  their  mental  energy  was  left  to  perish 
in  uninterrupted  barbarism.  Luther  now 
came  among  them  as  their  great  national 
te-acher ;  promising  them  instruction,  nay, 
making  them  his  arbitrator  in  his  dispute. 
And  this  he  undertook  and  performed  in  a 
language  so  energetic  and  penetrating,  that 
it  struck  upon  the  ears  of  the  people  in  tones 
hitherto  unknown  to  them. 

The  external  condition  of  the  people  like- 
wise promoted  Luther's  exertions.  The 
peasantry,  it  is  truer  had  gradually  ac- 
quired a  state  of  greater  freedom  than  had 
existed  in  former  tiroes ;  but  the  services 


THE  NOBILITY— FRANCIS  OF  SICKINGEN. 


257 


Jiey  were  condemned  to  perform  were 
nevertheless  even  now  very  oppressive. 
They  were  still  forced  to  bend  under  the 
weight  of  burdens  inflicted  upon  them  by 
all  the  other  states,  and  hitherto  their  rights 
as  men  continued,  generally  speaking,  un- 
recognised by  knights,  lords,  and  princes, 
and  by  many  of  these  they  were  over- 
whelmed with  the  most  unjust  seventy. 
Now,  however,  the  word — "Christian  lib- 
erty !"  resounded  and  was  echoed  forth 
even  to  the  huts  of  these  oppressed  peas- 
ants. This  magic  word,  which  was  not  in- 
terpreted by  them  in  its  spiritual  and  moral 
sense,  but  in  that  of  its  action  upon  their 
external  condition,  excited  within  them  new 
and  great  hopes,  producing,  unhappily  at 
first,  as  we  shall  learn,  the  most  calamitous 
disorders  and  turbulence.  For,  in  the  uni- 
versal commotion  of  one  entire  generation, 
as  is  demonstrated  in  the  history  of  all  na- 
tions, it  is  difficult  to  preserve  the  just  lim- 
its of  moderation. 

Equally  prompt  with  the  people,  the  no- 
bility of  Germany  were  soon  forced  to  join 
in  the  newly-created  excitement.  They 
were  still  animated  with  enthusiasm  for  the 
liberty  and  honor  of  their  country  ;  and  as 
Germany  was  now  regarded  and  treated 
with  open  contempt  by  Rome,  this  was 
cause  sufficient  to  enlist  them  on  the  side  of 
him  who  came  forth  to  attack  the  power  of 
the  Romish  see.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
revived  love  for  science  had  also  made  con- 
siderable progress  among  the  greater  and 
better  portion  of  the  nobility ;  and  since  the 
invention  and  introduction  of  gunpowder 
had  given  a  death-blow  to  chivalry,  the 
practice  of  the  sword  was  no  longer  the 
only  occupation  of  the  young  nobleman  ; 
the  more  noble  exercise  of  the  mind  en- 
larged his  views,  and  prepared  him  for  new 
and  more  elevated  thoughts ;  and,  finally, 
Luther  in  his  celebrated  work,  addressed 
"  To  the  Nobility  of  Germany,"  had  more 
especially  made  an  appeal  to  them,  and  called 
upon  them  to  devote  themselves  to  his  cause. 

Among  the  most  zealous  of  his  prose- 
lytes was  included  Ulric  of  Hutten,  a 
leader  of  the  people,  such  as  are  ever  pro- 
duced in  an  age  of  excitement  and  revolu- 
tion ;  keen  and  energetic  either  with  the 
sword  or  pen,  at  once  a  warrior  and  a 
scholar,  full  of  wit  and  persuasive  elo- 
quence, he  was  ever  ready  for  the  most 
perilous  enterprise.  Once  when  in  his 
presence  he  heard  four  Frenchmen  speak 
33 


in  dishonorable  terms  of  the  emperor,  he 
forthwith  threw  down  his  gauntlet  at  their 
feet,  and  challenged  them  in  the  name  of 
German  chivalry  to  mortal  combat ;  he 
fought  and  overthrew  them  all.  He  was 
equally  successful  with  his  pen  as  with 
his  sword,  when  he  employed  it  in  con- 
demnation of  the  monks,  the  abuses  of  re- 
ligion, and  against  all  those  who  opposed 
enlightenment  and  civilization.  A  satire* 
which  he  wrote  in  the  Latin  tongue,  now 
more  and  more  generally  cultivated,  cre- 
ated so  much  interest  that  it  was  soon  cir- 
culated  throughout  the  principal  cities  of 
Europe.  This  extraordinary  man,  possess- 
ing a  soul  of  fire,  joined  Luther's  party, 
less  perhaps  from  a  zeal  for  religion  than 
from  an  interest  excited  by  the  bold  and 
dangerous  character  of  the  reformer's 
cause  ;  he  wrote  upon,  and  devoted  all  his 
eloquence  to  the  subject,  and  would  have 
gladly  promoted  it  with  his  sword  as  well, 
had  he  been  permitted. 

Another  man  of  rank,  and  equally  im- 
portant, Francis  of  Sickingen,  in  Franco- 
nia,  warmly  espoused  the  principles  of 
Luther.  His  character  was  so  highly  es- 
timated, and  he  was  so  much  distinguished 
for  his  valor  and  noble  qualities,  that  he 
was  at  one  time  considered  by  many  of  the 
princes  and  nobles,  even  worthy  to  wear 
the  imperial  crown  itself.  He  generously 
offered  his  friend  Luther  an  asylum  in  his 
castle,  and  the  protection  of  himself  and 
friends  against  any  persecution  he  might 
experience.  Luther,  however,  gratefully 
declined  his  proffered  aid ;  and  when  the 
ambitious  nobleman — whose  active  mind 
would  not  allow  him  to  remain  quiet, 
but  urged  him  continually  to  carry  out 
some  great  project — commenced  hostilities 
against  Richard,  archbishop  of  Treves,  and 
declared  open  war  against  that  prelate, 
Luther  in  vain  endeavored  formally  to  op- 
pose it.  This  enterprise  was  one  of  the 
last  demonstrations  made  of  the  effects  pro- 
duced by  the  Faustrecht  in  Germany,  in- 
asmuch as,  on  this  special  occasion,  this 
single  knight,  with  his  friends,  raised  an 
army  of  twelve  thousand  men,  and,  in  de- 
fiance of  the  interdictions  of  the  imperial 
diet,  marched  forth  against  a  powerful 
prince  of  the  empire,  fell  upon  his  territo- 
ries, devastating  with  fire  and  sword  the 
entire  land,  and  only  withdrew  therefrom, 
and  slowly  marched  back  to  his  own  strong 
castle,  after  two  other  princes,  Lewis 


FREDERICK  OF  SAXONY  AND  THE  PROTESTANT  PRINCES. 


elector  of  the  Palatinate,  and  Philip,  land- 
grave of  Hesse,  having  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  archbishop,  were  seen  advancing  with 
their  united  forces  against  him. 

In  the  following  year,  however,  the  val- 
iant knight  was  himself  closely  besieged 
by  these  same  troops  in  his  fortress  of 
Landshut,  and,  after  defending  himself 
bravely  for  a  considerable  time,  he  was 
mortally  wounded  and  taken  prisoner. 
He  died  a  few  days  afterwards,  and  even 
his  enemies  could  not  withhold  from  him 
their  admiration,  while  they  joined  in  the 
regret  so  universally  felt,  that  such  great 
powers  of  mind  and  body  as  those  possessed 
by  the  fallen  hero,  should  thus  have  sunk 
without  having  been  able  to  develop  them- 
selves in  a  more  extensive  sphere  of  action. 

The  death  of  Sickingen,  however,  pro- 
duced nothing  unfavorable  to  the  cause  of 
Luther,  inasmuch  as  he  was  strictly  care- 
ful in  maintaining  it  exclusively  indepen- 
dent, and  free  of  all  those  external  political 
demonstrations  with  which  that  knight  and 
others  were  so  desirous  to  invest  it.  And 
this,  indeed,  was  the  principal  reason  for 
the  duration  of  its  institutions ;  for  had  it 
been  abandoned  to  the  chances  of  this 
outward  struggle,  all  the  active,  zealous 
strength  of  the  nation  would  have  con- 
surr.ed  itself,  and  the  whole  excitement  of 
the  times  would  have  passed  away,  and 
left  but  little  or  no  trace  of  the  contest. 

Among  the  princes  of  Germany,  Fred- 
erick the  Wise,  elector  of  Saxony,  took 
the  most  active  part  in,  and  supported  with 
great  zeal  the  cause  of  Luther.  He  did 
not  at  first  advance  to  his  aid,  neither  did 
he  defend  him;  nevertheless,  he  would  not 
let  him  be  delivered  up  to  his  enemies  be- 
fore he  had  been  brought  to  a  conviction 
of  his  error.  After  the  diet  of  Worms, 
however,  he  decided  at  once  in  his  favor : 
"  The  affairs  of  Germany,"  said  he,  in 
1523,  in  Nuremberg,  "have  advanced  so 
far,  that  it  is  no  longer  in  the  power  of 
man  to  lead  them  in  a  good  direction ; 
God  is  alone  capable  of  performing  this, 
and  to  Him  we  must  commit  this  impor- 
tant controversy,  which  is  beyond  our 
strength." 

By  degrees  several  of  the  other  princes 
declared  in  favor  of  the  new  doctrine ; 
some  no  doubt  from  sincere  conviction, 
while  others  were  charged  by  their  adver- 
saries with  being  allured  to  their  conver- 
sion by  the  spoil  they  obtained  from  the 


ecclesiastical  territories.  Still,  even  such 
inducements  would  not  have  sufficed  to  ex- 
plain  such  great  and  important  results. 
The  principal  motive  which  operated  so 
powerfully  in  the  cause  of  reform,  origi- 
nated in  the  spirit  now  roused  throughout 
the  German  nation,  which  sought  to  strike 
out  a  new  and  more  level  course  in  each 
of  the  three  principal  elements  of  life — the 
state,  the  sciences,  and  in  religion,  in  sub- 
stitution for  that  which  had  grown  old  and 
obsolete.  The  leaders  and  promoters  oi* 
this  new  epoch  felt  conscious  that  in  it  was 
involved  the  commencement  of  a  grand 
change  in  the  world.  On  the  other  hand, 
however,  the  friends  of  the  old  system 
armed  themselves  more  and  more  zeal- 
ously to  battle  for  its  protection  and  pres- 
ervation. 

It  was  resolved  that  at  the  grand  diet  of 
Worms  these  religious  disputes,  which  at 
this  moment  kept  the  minds  of  all  through- 
out the  empire  in  great  suspense,  should  be 
brought  to  a  termination.  There  the  pope 
had  now  sent  his  legate,  Cardinal  Alexander, 
in  order  to  prevail  upon  the  emperor  and 
the  princes  to  employ  the  arm  of  temporal 
authority  against  Luther.  To  his  great 
astonishment,  however,  the  nuncio  on  his 
arrival  discovered  that  all  classes  of  the 
people  were  universal  in  their  declarations 
of  antipathy  against  the  pope.  Every- 
where he  found  distributed,  writings,  songs, 
and  pictures,  in  mockery  and  contempt  of 
the  pope ;  and  he  himself,  although  in  the 
suite  of  the  emperor,  was  compelled  to 
witness  his  appearance  greeted  with  every 
mark  of  derision,  and  at  times  even  his  own 
life  endangered.  At  the  diet  he  demanded, 
in  accordance  with  his  instructions,  the 
adoption  of  the  most  severe  measures  against 
the  man  who  was  already  condemned  as  a 
heretic,  laying,  at  the  same  time,  before  the 
princes,  a  long  list  of  propositions  selected 
from  Luther's  works,  in  order  to  prove  how 
much  he  really  deviated  in  the  articles  of 
faith  from  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  and 
especially  in  those  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance. The  elector  of  Saxony  now,  how- 
ever, rose  in  opposition  to  the  legate,  and 
insisted  that  Luther  himself  should  be  heard, 
in  order  to  learn  from  his  own  lips  wheth- 
er these  propositions  were  or  were  not 
correctly  and  faithfully  copied  from  his 
writings,  and  whether  he  acknowledged 
them  as  such.  In  this  opinion  he  was  sup- 
ported  by  the  emperor  and  all  the  princes: 


THE  GRAND  DIET  AT  WORMS—  LUTHER'S  EXAMINATION. 


Ihe  cardinal,  however,  opposed  it,  saying, 
"  that  what  had  been  already  decided  by  the 
pope,  could  not  be  subjected  to  examination 
before  a  diet  composed  of  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral members.5'  In  reply  it  was  stated  to 
him,  that  they  did  not  desire  to  examine  the 
faith  of  Luther,  but  merely  to  hear  from  his 
own  mouth  whether  or  not  he  had  actually 
written  and  taughtthat  for  which  he  wascon- 
•irnmed ;  therefore,  for  this  reason,  it  was 
necessary  he  should  be  summoned  before 
the  diet.  This,  in  fact,  was  one  of  the  most 
important  acts  in  the  history  of  the  Refor- 
mation ;  for  thence  the  cause  of  Luther 
had  become  an  open  and  national  affair. 

His  friends,  and  especially  the  elector 
of  Saxony,  now  demanded  for  him  the  im- 
perial and  inviolable  safe-conduct ;  this 
was  granted,  and  Luther  immediately  set 
out  from  Wittenberg  on  his  journey  to 
Worms.  As  he  proceeded  on  his  route, 
he  soon  learned  to  know  the  strength  of  his 
party  ;  for  the  people  flocked  in  thousands 
from  every  quarter  to  behold  and  welcome 
him ;  and  when,  on  the  day  after  his  arri- 
val at  Worms,  (the  17th  of  April,)  he  was 
conducted  to  the  diet,  the  grand-marshal  of 
the  empire  was  obliged  to  lead  him  a  by- 
way, across  gardens  and  obscure*  parts ; 
so  numerously  thronged  was  the  whole 
town.  His  appearance,  on  entering  the 
hall  in  which  the  diet  was  held,  produced 
no  great  effect ;  the  emperor  himself  is  re- 
corded to  have  said,  as  he  turned  to  his 
neighbor  :  "  This  man  would  never  succeed 
in  making  a  heretic  of  me."  And  truly, 
Luther  was  at  this  moment  very  pale,  and, 
as  he  was  only  just  recovering  from  a  se- 
vere fever,  presented  a  rather  emaciated  and 
feeble  appearance.  In  this  weak  state,  his 
feelings  were  at  first  not  a  little  affected 
when  he  found  himself  unsupported  oy  a 
single  friend,  standing  alone  in  the  august 
presence  of  the  emperor  himself,  and  so 
numerous  a  body  of  the  princes  and  nobles 
of  the  empire. 

A  vicar  of  the  archbishop  of  Treves  now 
put  to  him  the  question  in  the  name  of  the 
emperor  and  the  diet  there  assembled, 
whether  he  acknowledged  as  his  own  the 
writings  then  shown  to  him,  and  if  he  per- 
sisted in  maintaining  the  propositions  therein 
contained  ?  To  the  first  part  he  replied, 
yes  ;  but  with  respect  to  the  latter,  he  beg- 
ged to  have  a  short  time  granted  him  for 
consideration  before  he  returned  an  answer. 
Accordingly  he  was  allowed  until  the  fol- 


lowing day.  He  then  reappeared  before 
the  assembly,  and  publicly  declared  :  "  That 
his  writings  were  of  three  kinds ;  some 
treated  upon  the  subject  of  articles  of  faith 
and  good  works,  which  his  enemies  did  not 
in  any  respect  find  offensive — he  could  not, 
therefore,  retract  them  without  injury  tc 
his  conscience  ;  that  others  attacked  the 
power  of  the  popes  and  their  decrees,  and 
if  he  retracted  them  he  should  only  thereby 
confirm  their  tyranny  in  the  face  of  the 
whole  world  ;  the  rest  were  directed  against 
those  who  defended  papacy,  and  had  at- 
tacfted  him  in  their  writings  ;  he  confessed 
that  therein  he  had  used  severe  and  bitter 
language,  but  which  must  be  ascribed  alone 
to  the  treatment  he  himself  had  received 
from  his  adversaries.'"'  He  then  concluded, 
saying  :  "  If  they  could  convince  him  from 
the  Holy  Scriptures  that  he  was  in  error, 
he  was  ready  forthwith  with  his  own  hands 
to  cast  the  whole  of  his  writings  into  the 
flames." 

The  chancellor  replied,  that  they  were 
not  there  to  dispute  with  him,  but  to  hear 
from  his  own  lips  whether  or  not  he  would  re- 
tract.  Upon  which  Luther  declared  with 
the  most  solemn  determination,  that  his 
conscience  forbade  him  doing  so ;  where- 
upon he  was  dismissed. 

On  the  following  day  an  especial  confer- 
ence took  place  with  Luther,  in  which  the 
elector  of  Treves  himself  took  a  very  ac- 
tive share  ;  but  all  attempts  to  bring  him 
to  a  retraction  were  in  vain  ;  and  when 
eventually  the  elector  demanded  of  him 
whether  he  knew  of  any  means  by  which 
all  might  be  restored  to  order  and  tranquilli- 
ty, his  last  words  in  reply  were :  "  If  this 
work  is  a  human  work,  then  it  will  disap 
pear  of  itself;  but  if  it  comes  from  God, 
then  you  cannot  disturb  or  arrest  its  prog- 
ress." 

The  emperor,  on  the  other  hand,  declarec 
to  the  princes  in  decided  and  serious  terms  . 
"  That  he  was  resolved  to  consecrate  all  he 
possessed,  his  empires,  kingdoms,  states 
friends,  his  body  and  blood,  nay,  life  itself, 
to  check  at  once  all  farther  progress  of  that 
impious  and  ungodly  spirit,  which  other- 
wise must  involve  himself  and  the  whole 
German  nation  in  eternal  shame  and  dis- 
grace ;  that  his  ancestors,  the  Christian 
German  emperors,  the  Catholic  kings  of 
Spain,  and  the  dukes  of  Austria  and  Bur- 
gundy, continued,  to  the  latest  period  of 
their  lives,  faithfully  attached  to  the  Romar 

^•MWi 

-:  \»  R  A 
Of  THI 

UNIVERSITY 


2GU 


LUTHER  EXCOMMUNICATED 


church  ;  that  he  had  received  from  them  as 
an  inheritance  the  Catholic  doctrine  and 
discipline  of  the  church,  in  the  faith  of 
which  he  would  live  and  die ;  that,  conse- 
quently, he  would  no  longer  listen  to  Lu- 
ther, but  dismiss  him  at  once  from  his  pres- 
ence, and  treat  him  as  he  would  a  heretic." 

This  declaration  of  the  emperor  was  of 
grave  and  serious  import.  If  the  question 
had  been  limited  to  the  mere  curtailment  of 
the  pontifical  power,  he  might  not,  perhaps, 
have  beheld  this  generally  increasing  agi- 
tation without  some  degree  of  pleasure; 
but  when  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  it 
involved  the  apostacy  of  the  ancient  and 
eternal  faith,  to  which  he  was  so  much  and 
so  sincerely  attached,  and  that  thence  the 
unity  of  the  church  was  menaced,  he  felt 
himself  justified  in  expressing,  in  the  strong- 
est terms,  his  fixed  determination  to  oppose 
it.  His  penetrating,  comprehensive  glance, 
which  embraced  and  recognised  acutely 
the  great  relations  of  the  world,  quickly 
beheld  and  measured  in  advance  the 
mighty  consequences  of  these  changes  :  he 
foresaw  the  dissension  and  irritation  that 
must  be  produced  in  all  minds,  and  the 
contest  of  opinion  which,  so  soon  and  so 
easily  converted  into  a  contest  of  arms, 
would  terminate  in  the  dreadful  realities 
of  a  religious  war.  All  this  danger  it  was 
Charles's  firm  opinion  he  could  smother  in 
its  birth,  and  he  felt  that  his  dignity  of  em- 
peror and  protector  of  the  church  imposed 
upon  him  this  duty.  And,  assuredly,  had 
he  been  supported  everywhere  by  the  same 
invariable  and  firm  will,  had  not  so  many 
impure,  worldly  views  been  brought  into 
operation  against  it,  and  produced  their 
baneful  influence ;  but  more  especially, 
had  the  truly  honest  and  sincerely  disposed 
Pope  Adrian  VI. — who  reigned  in  the  years 
1522  and  1523,  and  whose  serious  wish  and 
intention  it  was  to  reform  the  church — lived 
but  a  short  time  longer,  then,  perhaps,  our 
country  would  have  been  spared  the  inflic- 
tion of  the  dreadful  scenes  it  was  doomed 
to  endure. 

In  his  hereditary  lands,  where  he  was 
sole  master,  Charles  certainly  did  endeavor 
1.0  extirpate  with  great  rigor  the  new  doc- 
trine ;  he  considered  it  was  here  especially 
his  right  and  duty  to  do  so;  and  the  de- 
crees of  his  council,  the  voice  of  his  peo- 
ole,  and  particularly  of  the  Spanish  nation, 
.ogether  with  the  Neapolitans,  all  combined 
o  demand  this  severity  from  him.  But  in 


Germany,  on  the  other  hand,  where  he  had 
to  treat  with  a  number  of  independent 
princes  and  a  nation  in  a  state  of  genera' 
excitement,  where  he  was  bound  by  the 
stipulations  of  his  election,  and  where  every 
violent  act  was  regarded  as  an  attempt  to 
acquire  the  independence  of  the  imperial 
power,  he  proceeded  for  a  considerable  time 
to  act  with  the  greatest  moderation.  The 
preservation  of  peace  appeared  to  him  of 
paramount  importance,  and  he  was  very 
desirous  to  bring  the  parties  to  mutual  con- 
cessions. For  this  very  reason  he  was 
closely  watched  by  the  Spaniards  through- 
out his  whole  existence,  from  a  fear  that  he 
might  be  infused  with  heretical  principles 
by  his  connection  with  the  Germans. 

Several  of  Luther's  bitterest  enemies 
sought  to  persuade  the  emperor  to  the 
adoption  of  violent  measures  against  him, 
grounding  their  arguments  upon  the  same 
principles  which  had  operated  in  bringing 
Huss  to  the  stake ;  but  Charles  replied, 
that  his  imperial  word  was  inviolable,  and 
he  granted  Luther  an  extension  of  his  safe 
conduct  for  twenty-one  days,  during  the  pe- 
riod of  his  return  home.  Nevertheless, 
many  of  his  friends  still  trembled  for  his 
life,  dreading  some  secret  treachery ;  and 
on  his  arrival  in  Thuringia,  his  royal  pro- 
tector, the  elector  of  Saxony,  caused  him 
to  be  removed  from  his  carriage,  as  if  by 
violence,  by  several  disguised  knights,  and 
conveyed  at  night,  through  a  deep  wood,  to 
the  strong  castle  of  Wartburg,  near  Eisen 
ach.  There  it  was  arranged  he  should  re 
main  concealed,  until  the  fury  of  his  ene- 
mies became  appeased. 

Meantime,  in  Worms,  the  imperial  ban  of 
excommunication  was  pronounced  against 
him,  as  well  as  against  his  adherents  and 
protectors.  His  books  were  condemned  to 
be  burned  wherever  they  were  found,  and 
he  himself  was  adjudged  to  be  taken  pris- 
oner, and  delivered  up  to  the  emperor; 
such  was  the  edict  of  Worms,  dated  the 
8th  (26th)  of  May,  1521.  In  Rome,  great 
rejoicings  took  place  ;  and  even  in  Germany 
itself  it  was  generally  believed  that  the 
whole  affair  was  now  settled  and  at  an  end. 
But  a  Spaniard,  Valdez,  wrote  from  the  diet 
itself  to  one  of  his  friends  thus  :  "  Far  from 
beholding  the  termination  of  this  tragedy,  I 
only  see  its  commencement ;  for  I  find  that 
the  minds  of  the  Germans  are  especially 
excited  against  the  pontifical  chair."  And 
even  while  the  emperor  was  still  in  Worms* 


LUTHER  AT  WARTBURG— FIRST  GERMAN  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


261 


after  the  writings  of  Luther  had  been  pub- 
licly  burned,  some  copies  which  had  es- 
caped that  fate  were  openly  offered  for  sale. 

Luther  himself  continued  solitary  and  un- 
interrupted in  his  isolated,  but  secure  asy- 
lum in  the  castle  of  Wartburg,  and  devoted 
{hose  tranquil  moments  to  translating  the 
New  Testament  into  German,  so  that  it 
rni^ht  be  read  and  understood  by  everyone 
throughout  the  empire.  While  thus  em- 
ployed, he  was  informed  that,  through  mis- 
:ukon  zeal,  serious  riots  had  broken  out  in 
Wittenberg,  where  the  people  had  forced 
open  the  churches,  committing  the  most 
serious  injury  by  destroying  all  the  holy 
figures  and  pictures  contained  therein,  to- 
gether with  their  altars  and  confessionals  ; 
and  he  was  grieved  to  find  that  these  furious 
and  blindly  zealous  rioters  were  led  on  by 
his  friend,  but  violent  enthusiast,  Carlstadt. 
Casting  aside  all  fear,  Luther  at  once  aban- 
doned his  place  of  refuge,  and,  without  hav- 
ing waited  until  he  received  the  permission 
of  the  elector,  he  appeared  in  Wittenberg, 
in  March,  1522,  where  he  preached  to,  and 
remonstrated  in  severe  terms  with  the  peo- 
ple, upon  their  outrageous  conduct,  and 
succeeded  in  again  restoring  peace  and 
order. 

Shortly  afterwards,  however,  events  of  a 
far  more  serious  nature  occurred,  which 
threatened  to  destroy  all  order  in  the  civil 
state  of  Germany.  We  have  already 
shown,  at  the  close  of  the  government  of 
Maximilian  I.,  what  discontent  existed 
among  the  peasantry  throughout  the  em- 
pire, and  that  the  leagues  formed  in  Alsace 
and  Swabia  were  only  put  down  by  force 
3f  arms.  Some  sparks,  however,  still  glim- 
mered amid  the  ashes,  and,  in  the  course 
of  a  short  time,  combining  their  whole  force, 
burst  forth  once  more  into  one  universal 
flame.  The  rural  population  considered 
themselves  entitled  to  an  equality  of  rights 
with  those  hitherto  their  lords  and  masters, 
and  in  south  Germany  especially,  where 
the  sight  of  the  prosperity  and  indepen- 
dence enjoyed  by  their  neighbors,  the 
Swiss — strikingly  contrasting  with  their 
own  condition — acted  powerfully  upon  the 
mind,  the  indignation  of  the  people  was  first 
roused,  and  the  flame  of  discord  and  revolt 
again  produced  its  devastating  effects. 

The  first  that  rebelled  were  the  peas- 
antry of  the  abbot  of  Kempten  and  those 
of  the  archbishop  of  Augsburg.  Twelve 
articles,  containing  all  the  rights  and  de- 


mands made  by  the  whole  body,  were 
drawn  up  in  Swabia,  and  distributed  and 
made  known  throughout  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many with  astonishing  and  almost  incredi- 
ble rapidity,  viz.  :  "  That  the  peasants 
should  be  allowed  to  choose  for  themselves1 
the  ministers  who  were  to  preach  to  them 
the  word  of  God,  pure  and  without  the  in 
troduction  of  any  worldly  matter  ;  that  in 
future  they  should  not  pay  any  other 
tithes  but  that  of  corn  ;  that  they  had 
hitherto  been  treated  as  slaves,  although 
by  the  blood  of  our  Saviour  all  men  had 
been  made  free,  and,  although  they  desired 
not  to  live  independent  of  all  superior  au- 
thority, they  were,  nevertheless,  resolved 
no  longer  to  continue  in  this  state  of  slave 
ry,  unless  it  could  be  proved  to  them  b) 
the  Holy  Scriptures  that  they  were  in 
error.  That,  finally,  they  had  to  complain 
of  many  things,  but  that  they  would  ob- 
serve silence  in  the  hope  that  what  they 
claimed  would  be  yielded,  and  that  their 
lords  would  treat  them  in  accordance  with 
the  counsel  and  precepts  of  the  gospel, 
and  while  they  moderated  the  oppression 
they  had  exercised  from  the  earliest  times 
down  to  the  present  moment,  they,  their 
lords,  should  likewise  abstain  from  adding 
thereto  daily  fresh  burdens." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  these  de- 
mands were  just,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
moderate  ;  but  when  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object  demanded  was  left  to  the 
charge  of  the  brutal  mass,  then  the  pas- 
sions soon  overcame  the  weak  and  sub- 
dued voice  of  moderation,  and  bursting 
through  every  barrier,  became  deaf  to 
reason,  and  their  fury  knew  no  bounds. 
As  is  the  case  in  all  such  riotous  pro- 
ceedings, the  complainant  became  the 
judge  in  his  own  cause,  and  exercised  the 
very  same  injustice  by  which  he  himself 
had  been  previously  oppressed.  The  peas- 
antry, collected  together  in  various  strong 
bodies,  commenced  with  attacking  tho 
castles  of  the  nobles  and  the  rich  posses- 
sions of  the  clergy,  burning  and  destroy- 
ing every  thing,  and  often  putting  to  death 
the  owners.  These  troops  soon  increased 
to  armies,  of  which  Swabia  alone  supplied 
three.  In  Franconia  the  riots  grew  more 
and  more  serious,  extending  even  to 
Wiirtzburg,  which  city  combined  with  the 
peasantry  against  its  bishop  and  the  rest 
of  the  Franconian  nobility.  Already,  in- 
deed, a  great  number  of  the  cities  through- 


MUNZER  THE  FANATIC— LUTHER  AND  THE  PE^S. \NTRV. 


Dut  Upper  Germany  liad  joined  in  league 
with  the  peasants,  while  several  princes 
and  nobles,  such  as  the  elector  palatine, 
Hie  counts  of  Hohenlohe,  the  bishops  of 
Bamberg  and  Spires,  &c.,  had  entered  in- 
to negotiation  with  the  rioters,  and  had 
been  forced  to  promise  a  removal  of  their 
burdens  based  upon  the  twelve  articles 
aforesaid. 

In  Thuringia  the  hallucination  of  this 
excited  period  was  shown  in  another  form, 
although  not  altogether  dissimilar  in  spirit, 
inasmuch  as  it  was  founded  upon  religious 
enthusiasm.  A  secular  preacher,  Thomas 
Miinzer,  formerly  one  of  Luther's  first  ad- 
herents, pretended  that  he  was  gifted  with 
especial  divine  visions  from  God,  by  which 
he  was  enabled  to  reveal  the  essence  of 
Christian  liberty  with  much  more  clear- 
ness than  Luther.  "  God,"  he  said,  "  had 
created  the 'earth  as  an  inheritance  of  the 
believers,  and  all  government  must  be 
regulated  only  by  the  Bible  and  divine 
revelations.  There  was  no  necessity  what- 
ever for  the  princes,  superior  authorities, 
the  nobility,  or  the  priests,  and  the  distinc- 
tion which  existed  between  the  rich  and 
the  poor  was  altogether  unchristian  ;  inas- 
much, as  in  the  kingdom  of  God  all  men 
must  be  equal."  Such  doctrine,  however, 
caused  Miinzer  to  be  banished  from  Saxo- 
ny, and  he  repaired  to  Miihlhausen  in 
Thuringia,  where  he  gained  over  the  peo- 
ple, and  caused  them  to  upset  all  authority, 
and  make  him  their  preacher  and  governor 
of  the  town.  His  principles  of  the  equal- 
ity of  all  men,  and  of  the  community  of 
possessions,  which  he  introduced  after  he 
had  driven  all  the  more  wealthy  inhabitants 
from  the  town,  augmented  the  number  of 
his  partisans  considerably,  and  extended 
his  influence  to  a  great  distance  beyond  his 
seat  of  government. 

The  whole  of  Thuringia,  Hesse,  and 
Lower  Saxony,  were  in  danger,  and  as 
now  the  war  of  the  peasantry  raged  like- 
wise in  the  south  of  Germany,  there  was 
too  much  reason  to  fear  that  the  fanatics  of 
every  part  would  combine  their  forces,  and 
thus,  like  a  rushing  torrent,  march  through 
the  whole  empire,  destroying  and  sweeping 
all  before  them.  In  this  state  of  peril  into 
which  the  whole  community  was  about  to 
be  ingulfed,  a  deputation  from  the  peasant- 
ry waited  upon  Luther,  and  submitted  to 
him  the  twelve  articles  for  his  approbation ; 
at  first  he  agreed  that  several  of  their  de- 


mands were  just,  and  condemned  the  op 
pression  of  the  princes  and  nobility ;  HP 
then,  however,  reproached  the  people  fol 
their  violent  and  riotous  proceedings,  repre- 
senting to  them  that  Christian  liberty  was 
a  spiritual  liberty ;  and  when  now  the 
Miinzer  revolution  arose,  he  himself,  in 
order  to  remove  at  once  every  impression 
that  such  outrages  were  at  all  connected 
with  his  doctrine,  called  upon  the  princes 
to  draw  the  sword  against  the  revolters. 
And  truly  it  was  high  time  to  make  this 
appeal ;  inasmuch  as  the  castles  of  the 
nobles,  and  the  monasteries  in  Thuringia, 
Franconia,  Swabia,  and  along  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine  as  far  as  Lorraine  itself,  were 
now  already  demolished,  and  presented 
one  universal  mass  of  smoking  ruins. 

Accordingly  the  princes,  at  Luther's 
urgent  exhortation,  united  their  forces 
against  the  rebels  in  Thuringia,  led  on  by 
the  Elector  John  of  Saxony — Frederick 
the  Wise  having  recently  died,  after  hav- 
ing beheld  with  sorrow  the  commencement 
of  these  sad  scenes — George,  duke  of  Sax- 
ony, the  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  and 
Henry,  duke  of  Brunswick.  A  division 
of  their  army,  under  Philip  of  Hesse, 
marched  at  once  against  a  body  of  the 
peasantry  near  Frankenhausen  in  Thu- 
ringia, on  the  15th  of  May>  1525. 

The  princes,  in  order  to  bring  the  riot- 
ers to  terms  by  lenient  measures,  promised 
them  pardon  if  they  would  retire  peaceably 
and  give  up  their  leaders.  Miinzer.  how- 
ever, in  order  to  avert  the  danger  from 
his  own  person,  took  advantage  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  rainbow  which  at  the  mo- 
ment presented  itself  in  the  heavens,  in 
order  to  excite  anew  the  mad  enthusiasm 
of  his  partisans,  declaring  to  them  tfiat  it 
came  as  a  messenger  to  him  from  God. 
For  the  moment  he  succeeded  in  his  object, 
for,  roused  by  his  inflammatory  language, 
the  fanatics  rushed  upon  the  ambassadors 
of  the  elector  and  stabbed  them  with  their 
daggers;  and  fortifying  themselves  in  their 
intrenchments,  they  prepared  for  a  vigorous 
defence.  In  a  very  short  time,  however, 
their  blind  and  desperate  courage  sunk, 
and  they  looked  in  vain  for  the  appearance 
of  the  troops  of  angels  which  had  been 
promised  to  them  by  Miinzer ;  he  himself 
was  one  of  the  first  who  fled,  while  the 
greater  part  of  his  army  was  put  to  the 
sword.  The  fugitive  leader  took  refuge 
in  the  loft  of  a  house  in  Frankenhausen 


BATTLE  OF  FRANKENHAUSEX— CHARLES  V.— FRANCIS  I. 


26? 


nut  was  soon  afterwards  discovered,  drag- 
ged forth  and  beheaded,  dying  without 
evincing  the  slightest  courage  or  fortitude. 

Just  about  the  same  time,  the  wars  of 
the  peasantry  in  the  south  of  Germany  were 
like  wise  brought  to  an  end.  The  Swabian 
..ue,  which  had  been  renewed,  collected 
an  army,  and  under  the  leadership  of 
dVorge  Truchsess  of  Waldburg,  attacked 
and  destroyed  the  various  troops  of  peasants 
in  Swabia  and  Franconia  with  the  same 
success  as  in  Thuringia.  Everywhere  the 
most  dreadful  retribution  was  now  inflicted 
by  the  conquerors  upon  all  those  who  had 
taken  a  share  in  the  revolutionary  scenes, 
and  the  most  revolting  cruelties  were  per- 
petrated. 

Thus  these  terrible  and  sanguinary  com- 
motions, which  might  have  produced  the 
complete  overthrow  and  destruction  of  the 
institutions  of  Germany,  had  these  excited 
powers  been  brought  into  effect  by  the  in- 
fluential direction  of  skilful  men,  were 
once  again  promptly  subdued.  As  it  was, 
however,  they  occasioned  a  sacrifice  of 
much  blood  ;  it  being  calculated  that  more 
than  100,000  of  the  peasantry  perished  in 
these  contentions. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Foreign  Relations  of  Charles  V.— Francis  I.  of  France 
—War  between  these  two  rival  Monarchs— Italy— 
Milan— The  Duke  of  Bourbon— The  Chevalier  Bayard 
—The  Battle  of  Pavia,  1525— Defeat  of  the  French- 
Francis  I.  taken  Prisoner — Madrid — The  King  of 
France  liberated — His  dishonorable  Breach  of  Stipu- 
lation— The  Imperialists  in  Rome — The  Pope  a  Pris- 
oner—His Ransom— War  with  France  resumed— 
Andrew  Doria— Peace  of  Cambray,  1529— Charles  V. 
crowned  Emperor  and  Kins  of  Lombardv  in  Bologna 
—His  Generosity— Return  to  Germany— First  League 
of  the  Protestant  Princes,  15-2(r— The  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, 1530 — Melanchthon — His  Character  of  Charles 
V. — John,  Elector  of  Saxony— His  determination — 
The  Imperial  Council — The  Emperor's  Declaration — 
Reply  of  the  Protestant  Princes— Ferdinand,  King  of 
Rome,  1531— Religious  Peace— The  Turks  in  Hun- 
gary—Their Defeat— Ulric,  Duke  of  Wurtemberg— 
Restored  to  his  Possessions  by  Philip  of  Hesse — In- 
surrection of  the  Anabaptists— Their  Defeat— The 
Emperor  in  Africa — Tunis — His  Triumph  and  Libe- 
ration of-.i-J.iion  Christian  Slaves— Francis  I.  attacks 
Italy— Charles  V.  enters  France— Suspension  of  Arms 
—Interview  between  the  two  Monarchs  at  Aigues- 
Martes—  Revolt  in  Ghent— Progress  of  Charles  V. 
through  France  and  Ghent— Hospitality  received- 
Peace  restored  in  Ghent— The  Diet  at  Katisbon,  1541 
—Charles  V.  in  Algiers— Disastrous  Expedition—  His 
Fortitude— Return  to  Italy— Francis  I.  resumes  Hos- 
tilities—His 111  Success— Charles  V.  on  the  Rhine- 
Attacks  the  Dukeof  Cleves— Overcomes  and  pardons 
Aim— Marches  into  France— Advance  upon  Paris— 
The  Peace  of  Crepi,  1544. 

DURING  this  interval  the  emperor  Charles 
jad  not  been  without  occupation  abroad. 


He  had  proceeded  from  the  diet  in  Worms 
to  the  Netherlands  and  thence  revisited 
Spain,  where  he  remained  nearly  eight 
years ;  his  penetrating  glance  embraced 
the  whole  of  Europe.  His  immediate  at- 
tention, however,  was  more  especially 
directed  to  the  movements  of  Francis, 
king  of  France,  who,  as  a  dangerous  neigh- 
bor and  rival,  availed  himself  of  every 
opportunity  to  gain  some  advantage  over 
him. 

It  would  be  useless  to  investigate  the  par- 
ticular causes  of  jealousy  between  these 
two  rnonarchs  ;  in  their  character  as  men, 
and  their  political  relations  to  each  other 
as  rulers,  ample  foundation  existed  for  this 
rivalship.  Charles,  like  Francis,  was  ruled 
by  ambition  and  pride,  but  in  him,  these 
passions  assumed  a  more  ennobling  char- 
acter. Both  had  been  rivals  for  the  impe- 
rial throne,  and  Francis,  who  claimed  supe- 
riority not  only  in  years  but  in  reputation 
as  a  knight,  and  in  personal  endowments, 
was  highly  mortified  when  ho  found  the 
latter  elected  in  preference  to  himself. 
At  the  same  time  the  duchy  of  Milan,  which 
had  been  conquered  by  Francis  and  held 
by  him  as  a  fief  of  the  empire,  served  as 
an  inevitable  cause  of  dispute,  inasmuch 
as  Charles  felt  himself  bound  to  recover  it 
by  force  of  arms,  and  restore  it  under  the 
imperial  sway  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  preponderance  of  Charles's  power  in 
Europe,  now  assuming  a  more  threatening 
aspect,  excited  the  fears  of  the  other  rulers, 
and  Francis,  who,  next  to  the  emperor,  pos- 
sessed the  most  powerful  dominion,  con- 
sidered himself  called  upon  before  any 
other  to  enter  the  field  against  him.  He 
had  turned  his  attention  more  especially 
towards  Italy,  in  which  country  he  had  al- 
ready made  one  successful  expedition  ; 
and  it  was  there  that  Charles's  power  should 
be  weatv^ned  and  destroyed,  for  which  pur- 
pose the  French  king  sought  to  revive  all 
the  claims  he  derived  from  his  ancestors  to 
the  kingdom  of  Naples  in  that  quarter. 
Charles  meantime  had  augmented  his  power 
by  an  alliance  with  Henry  VIII.  of  Eng- 
land, whose  vanity  had  been  offended  by 
Francis,  and  thus  the  war,  which  had  al- 
ready commenced  in  the  year  1521,  was 
carried  on  by  the  English  and  Flemish  troops 
from  the  Netherlands  as  far  as  Spain ;  but  in 
Italy  more  especially  the  contest  was  main, 
tained  with  the  greatest  obstinacy.  What 
operated  much  to  Charles's  disadvantage 


264 


DUKE  OF  BOURBON— BATTLE  OF  PAVIA. 


was  the  wide  dispersion  of  his  possessions, 
which  produced  a  necessary  division  of  his 
forces ;  while  Francis,  on  the  other  hand, 
from  the  central  point  on  which  he  had 
rallied  his  troops  and  formed  them  into  one 
united  mass,  was  enabled  tc  dash  forward 
and  at  once  strike  the  blow  in  whatever 
direction  he  pleased.  But  that  which 
principally  characterized  the  superiority  of 
Charles,  and  which,  in  reality,  constituted 
his  power  and  shed  over  him  so  brilliant  a 
lustre,  was  that  he  had  been  enabled  to 
collect  around  him  a  body  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  the  day,  from  among 
whom  his  penetrating  eye  at  once  singled 
out  the  general  best  qualified  to  lead  his 
army  against  the  foe,  the  ambassador  whose 
diplomatic  talent  could  best  loosen  the  com- 
plicated knot  of  political  intrigue,  and  the 
counsellor  whose  prudence  and  superior 
judgment  rendered  him  the  most  efficient 
adviser.  It  is  by  the  intellectual  powers 
that  the  world  should  be  governed,  and 
Charles  knew  how  to  enlist  them  in  his 
service. 

Charles,  duke  of  Bourbon,  a  valiant 
and  distinguished  general  of  the  French 
army,  having  been  deeply  injured  by  Fran- 
cis, came  over  to  the  emperor's  side.  He 
was  received  by  that  monarch  with  open 
arms,  and  was  at  once  appointed  leader,  in 
conjunction  with  the  viceroy  of  Naples, 
Launoy,  and  the  marquis  of  Pescara,  at 
that  time  the  most  distinguished  warrior  of 
the  imperial  army  in  Italy.  The  king  of 
France,  on  the  other  hand,  lost  about  this 
time  (in  the  year  1524)  one  of  his  most 
brave  and  loyal  knights,  the  Chevalier 
Bayard,  who,  in  the  retreat  from  Italy, 
saved  the  army  by  his  heroic  courage  on 
the  bridge  of  Sesia,  but  receiving  a  mortal 
wound,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  his  patriotic  de- 
votion. The  advantages  of  the  war  ap- 
peared now  wholly  on  the  side  of  the  em- 
peror ;  Milan  was  retaken,  and  the  French 
driven  out  of  Italy.  But  Charles  having 
resolved  to  attack  France  itself,  marched 
with  his  army  into. Provence,  and  laid  siege 
lo  Marseilles ;  there,  however,  he  nearly 
lost  the  superiority  he  had  gained.  He 
found  that  to  take  France  from  this  side 
was  more  difficult  than  he  had  calculated  ; 
vhe  city  itself  was  not  to  be  conquered,  and 
.he  whole  country  around  having  been  laid 
waste  by  the  enemy  himself,  Pescara  was 
forced  to  retreat.  It  required,  indeed,  all 
the  ingenuity  of  that  great  general  to  save 


the  army  in  its  dangerous  march  back,  foi 
the  French  monarch  followed  at  his  heels, 
and  again  taking  possession  of  Milan,  pro- 
ceeded to  attack  Pavia.  The  imperial 
generals  found  their  situation  at  this  mo- 
ment very  embarrassing ;  for  in  front  ol 
them  was  an  enemy  of  superior  force,  who 
threatened  one  of  the  chief  cities ;  behind 
them  was  the  terror  of  the  pope,  who 
had  just  formed  an  alliance  with  Francis  ; 
and  finally,  their  own  army  was  in  a  mos 
distressed  condition,  a  feeling  of  languo 
and  depression,  produced  by  the  late  re 
treat,  pervading  the  spirits  of  all.  Never- 
theless,  the  courage,  wisdom,  and  good  for- 
tune of  the  leaders,  soon  effected  a  change 
for  the  better. 

The  commandant  who  defended  Pavia, 
Don  Antonio  de  Leyva,  not  discouraged 
for  a  moment,  most  obstinately  maintained 
his  position  against  the  besiegers  during 
the  entire  winter  until  the  February  of 
1525.  By  this  time  the  imperial  army  was 
reinforced  by  a  strong  body  of  15,000  lan- 
cers, who  marched  to  their  aid  from  Ger- 
many, under  the  command  of  the  brave 
warrior,  George  of  Freundsberg,  or  Frunds- 
berg,  and  a  combined  attack  was  made 
upon  the  French  king  near  Pavia.  The 
quick,  experienced  eye  of  Pescara  selected 
the  point  of  attack  in  a  quarter  least  ex- 
pected by  the  king,  who  was  consequently 
wholly  unprepared  for  it.  He  fancied  his 
rear  to  be  perfectly  secured  by  a  wood  en- 
closed by  an  extensive  strong  wall :  Pes- 
cara, however,  caused  a  road  to  be  cut 
through  the  entire  forest  during  the  night, 
and  with  the  dawn  of  morning  his  troops 
rushed  upon  the  surprised  enemy,  and 
completely  overthrew  them  at  this  point. 
At  the  same  moment  Leyva  made  a  sally 
from  the  citadel  itself,  while  Launoy  and 
Bourbon  made  an  attack  in  another  quarter, 
and  the  entire  French  army,  thus  over- 
whelmed, was  soon  put  to  rout.  The  Swiss 
auxiliaries,  a  circumstance  unusual  with 
them,  were  the  first  to  yield  and  take  to 
flight,  while  the  German  mercenaries, 
although  they  fought  with  great  courage, 
were  overmatched  by  the  valor  of  the  Ger- 
mans under  their  brave  leader,  George  of 
Freundsberg,  and  to  whom  in  fact  the  im- 
perialists were  chiefly  indebted  for  the  vic- 
tory, for  burning  with  indignation  to  find 
their  fellow-countrymen  fighting  in  the 
ranks  of  the  French  army,  they  cut  them 
down  almost  to  a  man.  Francis  had  his 


FRANCIS  I.  A  PRISONER— FRANCIS  LIBERATED. 


fiorse  killed  under  him,  and  he  continued 
fighting  on  foot,  defending  himself  against 
a  host  of  Spaniards  who  had  surrounded 
him  without  knowing  the  royal,  chivalric 
warrior  they  endeavored  to  overcome.  For- 
tunately for  the  king,  a  French  nobleman, 
Pomperant,  belonging  to  the  suite  of  the 
duke  of  Bourbon,  came  up  at  this  moment, 
and  recognising  the  sinking  monarch,  sum- 
moned him  to  yield  himself  a  prisoner  to 
the  duke,  his  master;  this  he  refused  to 
do,  but  with  reluctance  ordered  him  to 
send  Launoy  to  him.  The  combatants 
paused  until  the  general  arrived,  when  the 
king  resigned  his  sword  into  his  hands. 
Launoy  received  it  kneeling,  and  giving  the 
monarch  his  own  in  exchange,  said :  "  It 
suits  not  that  so  great  a  king  should  stand 
unarmed  before  a  subject  of  the  emperor." 
A  fortnight  after  this  decisive  battle  no 
enemy  remained  in  Italy. 

Charles  was  almost  discontented  with  his 
too  great  fortune  which  left  him  without  an 
object  to  pursue  :  "  Since  you  have  made  a 
prisoner  of  the  kino;  of  France  forme,"  he 
says  in  a  letter  to  Launoy,  "  I  find  nothing 
more  to  do  but  to  fight  against  the  infidels. 
This  I  have  always  felt  a  great  desire  to 
do,  and  now  more  than  ever.  Arrange 
matters,  therefore,  so  that  I  maybe  enabled 
before  I  grow  too  old  to  perform  deeds  that 
may  promote  the  service  of  God,  and  not 
be  unattended  with  glory  to  myself." 

The  king  of  France  was  conveyed  a  cap- 
tive to  Madrid  and  closely  guarded.  Great 
difference  of  opinion  was  expressed  by  the 
council  of  the  emperor  respecting  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  was  to  be  treated,  and  the 
means  of  availing  themselves  of  their  pres- 
ent good  fortune.  One  party,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  Launoy,  advised  the  emperor 
to  act  with  generosity  towards  the  king,  and 
thus  destroy,  perhaps  forever,  the  seeds  of 
discord  and  enmity  between  the  two  mon- 
archs ;  while  another  parly,  headed  by  the 
Chancellor  Mercurinus  Gattinara,  sought 
to  derive  every  possible  advantage  from 
the  circumstance.  The  emperor  chose  the 
middle  path  between  the  two  parties,  and 
lost  the  entire  fruit  of  his  good  fortune. 
He  approved  of  the  plan  proposed  by  the 
chancellor,  viz. :  to  demand  from  the  cap- 
Jve  monarch,  as  the  price  of  his  liberty, 
the  restoration  of  the  duchy  of  Burgundy, 
which  France  had  unjustly  wrested  from 
nis  grandmother,  and  to  which  he  attached 
great  and  especial  value  ;  but  he  consider- 


ed the  detention  of  the  king  as  prisoner 
until  the  fulfilment  of  this  condition — as 
advised  by  his  chancellor — too  harsh,  and 
unworthy  of  the  imperial  dignity.  He 
trusted,  therefore,  to  the  promise  of  the 
king ;  but  that  promise,  with  whatever 
chivalric  importance  Francis  may  have 
invested  it,  was  never  sincerely  given  nor 
eventually  performed.  Before  he  signed 
the  treaty,  he  secretly  summoned  to  hi.-1 
presence  some  confidential  agents  in  Ma- 
drid, and  before  them,  in  the  presence  of 
the  pope's  nuncio,  declared  that  he  was  no! 
bound  to  perform  the  promise  he  should 
make  as  a  prisoner,  and  that  the  pope,  Cle- 
ment VII.  himself,  had  absolved  him  from 
the  performance  of  any  engagement  into 
which  he  might  enter.  The  voice  of  con- 
science being  thus  quieted,  he  knelt  before 
the  altar  and  swore  on  the  Holy  Bible  itself 
faithfully  to  fulfil  the  conditions  to  which  he 
had  agreed.  At  the  same  time  he  pledged 
his  royal  word  to  return  and  surrender  him- 
self again  a  prisoner  within  six  months  from 
that  time  in  the  event  of  his  not  being  able 
to  execute  the  said  conditions. 

Francis  I.  was  accordingly  set  at  liberty, 
in  the  year  1526,  after  an  imprisonment  of 
one  year — but  never  kept  his  word.  The 
excuse  he  made  for  such  a  breach  of  honor 
was,  that  his  states  would  not  by  any  means 
admit  the  abandonment  of  Burgundy,  while 
at  the  same  time  he  offered  a  considerable 
sum  as  a  ransom  for  his  two  eldest  sons 
whom  he  had  sent  to  Spain  as  hostages. 
Charles,  however,  returned  for  answer: 
"  That  he  had  violated  faith  and  truth,  both 
of  which  he  had  solemnly  and  publicly 
sworn  to  maintain  ;  that  he  had  not  acted 
as  became  a  man  of  noble  birth  and  a  sover- 
eign prince;  and  that' he,  Charles,  was 
ready  to  support  the  charge  with  the  sword 
in  single  combat."  Francis  accepted  the 
challenge,  but  only  with  words  ;  for  sub- 
sequently he  avoided  the  meeting  under 
various  pretexts,  and  thus  the  people  were 
once  more  forced  to  terminate  with  their 
own  blood  the  contest  produced  by  the  am- 
bition and  folly  of  their  monarch,  and  war 
was  once  more  declared  between  Charles  V. 
and  Francis  I. 

Just  at  the  commencement  of  this  war. 
however,  a  most  unheard-of  event  took 
place  in  Italy.  The  duke  of  Bourbon  had 
succeeded  to  the  chief  command  of  the  ivr? 
perial  army  in  Milan,  after  the  death  of 
General  Pescara.  The  count-y  "ivas  com 


8GG 


THE  TOPE  A  PRISONER— WAR  WITH  FRANCE 


pletely  devastated,  and  the  generals  with- 
out money,  while  the  troops  oecame  more 
and  more  loud  in  their  demands  for  their 
oay.  All  means  having  been  employed  in 
rain  to  appease  them,  the  army  suddenly 
broke  up  in  the  month  of  January,  1527, 
and  advanced  in  forced  marches  against 
Rome,  without,  however,  having  received 
any  commands  from  the  emperor ;  neither 
is  it  known  for  certain  whether  it  was  by 
the  order  of  the  duke  of  Bourbon,  who, 
perhaps,  may  have  formed  some  grand  pro- 
jects of  ambition,  or  whether  it  was  the 
result  'of  some  sudden  determination  of  the 
army  itself,  which  calculated  on  finding  in 
Rome  abundance  of  supplies  and  a  rich 
booty  besides.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Bourbon 
arrived  with  the  army  before  the  city,  after 
a  most  difficult  march.  On  the  6th  of  May 
the  command  was  given  for  a  general  as*. 
sault  against  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
world,  and  Bourbon  was  one  of  the  first 
upon  the  walls,  his  example  serving  to  in- 
^]  ire  the  whole  of  the  besiegers ;  but  he 

aO  scarcely  got  his  footing  on  the  ramparts 
when  he  was  mortally  wounded  by  a  shot 
from  an  arquebusier.  His  troops,  never- 
theless, forced  their  way  into  the  city,  and, 
for  several  days,  a  scene  of  pillage  and  de- 
vastation was  continued,  equalled  only  in 
the  time  of  the  Vandals.  The  pope,  Cle- 
ment VII.,  with  his  court,  had  taken  refuge 
in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  where  he  was 
besieged  for  several  months,  until,  forced 
by  necessity,  he  promised  the  imperialists 
a  sum  of  400,000  ducats,  in  order  that  the 
whole  army  might  be  paid  their  full  arrears. 
Meantime  the  emperor  Charles  sent  let- 
ters to  all  the  princes  of  Christendom,  in 
which  he  took  especial  care  to  exonerate 
himself  in  their  eyes  in  respect  to  these  ex- 
cesses, which  took  place  without  his  wish 
or  knowledge ;  nay,  during  the  time  that 
his  generals  kept  the  pope  a  prisoner  in  the 
castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  laid  siege  to  that 
place,  he  ordered  public  prayers  to  be  of- 
fered in  all  the  churches  throughout  Spain 
for  his  deliverance.  He  has  been  reproach- 
ed with  hypocrisy  for  doing  this  ;  but  it  is, 
no  doubt,  a  fact,  that  his  mutinous  troops 
would  no  longer  obey  his  orders  until  they 
had  received  the  arrears  due  to  them.  It 
was  only  then,  at  the  end  of  eighteen  months, 

hat  the  army  was  once  again  brought  into 

state  of  discipline,  and,  at  his  command, 

marched  towards  Naples.      But  owing  to 

he  excesses  committed  in  Rome,  it  had  be- 


come so  reduced,  that  when  the  king  of 
France,  in  the  year  1527,  once  more  in. 
vaded  Italy,  his  army,  under  me  commanc 
of  Lautrec,  was  enabled  to  penetrate,  with- 
out opposition,  as  far  as  Naples  itself,  tc 
which  place  it  laid  siege.  The  sudden  de- 
fection of  the  celebrated  naval  hero,  An- 
drew Doria,  who,  with  his  fleet,  came  over 
to  the  emperor's  side,  together  with  the 
sickness  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
French  army,  combined,  however,  to  turn 
the  scale  in  Charles's  favor;  the  French 
were  forced  to  give  up  the  siege,  and  also 
to  abandon  Milan.  Both  parties,  equally 
tired  and  worn  out  by  the  war,  agreed  to 
sign  a  treaty  of  peace  at  Cambray,  in  the 
year  1529,  and  which  was  styled  the  ladies' 
peace,  inasmuch  as  it  was  negotiated  by 
the  emperor's  aunt  and  the  king's  mother. 
Francis  paid  two  millions  of  crowns  for  the 
deliverance  of  his  two  sons  in  Spain,  re- 
nounced all  claims  to  Milan,  Genoa,  Na- 
ples, and  all  the  other  countries  beyond  the 
Alps,  and  married  Eleonora,  the  sister  of 
Charles ;  while  the  emperor,  on  his  part, 
without  requiring  the  immediate  secession 
of  Burgundy,  still  retained  his  ancient 
rights. 

The  time  had  now  arrived  when  the  em- 
peror was  enabled  to  appear  with  dignity 
in  his  Italian  states,  where,  in  fact,  he  had 
hitherto  never  shown  himself.  He  landed 
in  August,  1529,  in  Genoa,  and  continued  his 
progress  on  to  Bologna  with  the  pomp  worthy 
of  an  emperor.  Here  he  had  appointed 
a  meeting  with  Pope  Clement,  which  took 
place  in  great  solemnity.  The  former 
enmity  was  altogether  forgotten  ;  the  em- 
peror, following  the  example  of  his  ances- 
tors, dropped  on  his  knee  and  kissed  the 
foot  of  the  holy  father,  and  the  latter 
solemnly  crowned  him  emperor  and  king 
of  Lombardy. 

Thus  was  celebrated  the  coronation  of 
the  greatest  and  most  powerful  monarch 
who  had  borne  the  crown  since  Charle- 
magne, and  who  was,  likewise,  the  last 
emperor  who  visited  Italy.  Charles  ap- 
peared now  to  the  Italians,  who  had  only 
known  him  hitherto  as  a  prince  to  be 
dreaded,  in  the  character  of  a  mild  and 
noble  ruler,  and  their  fear  was  changed 
into  the  most  sincere  veneration.  The 
emperor  would  not  even  retain  Milan  for 
himself,  but,  before  he  left  Italy,  restored 
it  into  the  hands  of  Francis  Sforza,  whc 
received  it  as  a  fief  of  the  empire.  Hav- 


LEAGUE  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  PRINCES. 


267 


ing  accomplished  this,  Charles  now  hasten, 
sd  to  return  to  Germany  to  preside  at  the 
grand  diet  of  Augsburg. 

In  Germany  many  of  the  princes  had 
low  openly  introduced  the  new  doctrine 
into  their  various  territories.  One  of  the 
most  zealous  among  them  was  the  young 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  Philip  the  Gener- 
ous ;  he  urged  the  other  princes  who  joined 
with  him  in  opinion,  to  form  an  alliance 
for  mutual  defence,  in  the  event  of  the 
adverse  parties  seeking  by  violent  mea- 
sures to  execute  the  edict  of  Worms.  Nor 
was  his  anxiety  without  foundation.  Sev- 
eral of  the  Catholic  princes  had  already 
held  a  meeting  at  Leipsic,  and  had  de- 
iberated  together  upon  the  necessity  of 
making  common  defence  against  the  dis- 
semination of  the  new  faith  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  they  had  claimed  the  assistance  of 
the  emperor,  who  in  his  reply  promised  the 
extirpation  of  all  the  errors  of  the  Luthe- 
ran sect.  Accordingly  a  league  was  form- 
ed at  Dessau  by  these  princes,  at  the  head 
of  which  were  the  electors  of  Mentz  and 
of  Brandenburg,  and  the  dukes  of  Wolf- 
enbiittel  and  Calenberg.  On  the  other 
hand  an  alliance  was  formed  on  the  4th  of 
May,  1526,  at  Torgau,  between  the  elector 
of  Saxony,  John  the  Steadfast,  Philip  of 
Hesse,  the  dukes  of  Grubenhagen  and 
Celle,  Duke  Henry  of  Mecklenberg,  Prince 
Wolfgang  of  Anhalt,  Counts  Gebhard  and 
Albert  of  Mansfeld,  together  with  the  im- 
perial free  city  of  Magdeburg.  Albert, 
margrave  of  Brandenburg,  formerly  grand 
master  of  the  Teutonic  order,  but  who  on 
embracing  the  new  faith,  and  with  the 
sanction  of  the  king  of  Poland  as  chief 
feudal  lord,  secularized  the  territory  of  the 
order  into  a  dukedom  of  Prussia,  concluded 
an  especial  alliance  with  the  elector  of 
Saxony.  The  firm  position  maintained  by 
the  allies  at  the  diet  held  in  Spires  in  1526, 
presided  over  by  Ferdinand,  produced  for 
them  the  favorable  resolution:  "  That  the 
states  of  the  empire  in  affairs  referring  to 
the  edict  of  Worms,  should  so  decide  and 
rule  among  their  subjects  as  to  be  able 
to  render  good  account  of  their  conduct 
before  God  and  the  imperial  majesty." 
Thence  it  was  left  to  the  conscience  of 
each  authority  to  proceed  in  religious  af- 
fairs as  far  as  he  might  deem  requisite. 

During  this  time  the  emperor  had  been 
occupied  with  his  royal  prisoner,  Francis 
I.,  against  whom,  however,  he  afterwards 


had  to  maintain  another  war,  but  now  was 
urgently  appealed  to  by  the  German  prince? 
to  exert  his  authority  in  settling  their  dif 
ferences;  and  only  succeeded  in  al.ay 
ing  their  impatience  by  promising  them  if 
hold  a  new  diet  as  soon  as  he  was  at  liberty 
to  come  to  them.  Meantime  he  summoned 
a  provisional  diet  at  Spires,  in  1529.  The 
result  of  this  meeting,  however,  was  only 
still  more  to  widen  the  breach  between  the 
two  parties  by  giving  a  permanent  name  to 
the  partisans  of  the  new  doctrine,  inasmuch 
as  the  majority  of  the  states  being  Catholic, 
decreed  :  "  That  the  essential  edicts  of  the 
diet  of  Worms  should  be  retained  ;  tha» 
the  celebration  of  mass  should  be  preserv- 
ed ;  that  all  those  who  had  been  gained 
over  to  the  new  doctrine  should  abstain 
from  further  innovations;  and  that  no 
subject  of  the  empire,  should  be  permitted 
to  give  protection  to  a  co-religionist  against 
the  authorities."  The  Lutheran  party, 
dissatisfied  with  these  resolutions  of  tlv> 
diet,  drew  up  accordingly  an  instrument  in 
opposition,  in  which  they  protested  agains* 
them,  whence  they  took  the  name  of  Pro 
testants,  declaring  at  the  same  time  tha 
they  would  continue  in  all  their  proceed 
ings  to  act  up  to  the  decree  of  the  yeai 
1526.  The  Protestant  party  included 
the  whole  of  the  princes  who  joined  the 
league  of  Torgau,  together  with  George, 
margrave  of  Brandenburg,  of  the  Salian 
house,  and  the  cities  of  Strasburg,  Nurem- 
berg, Ulm,  Constance,  Reutlingen,  Winds- 
heirn,  Memmingen,  Lindau,  Kempten,  Heil- 
bronn,  Issny,  Weissenburg,  Nordlingen, 
and  St.  Gallen. 

In  the  following  year,  1530,  the  grand 
diet  was  held  in  Augsburg,  to  which  the 
emperor  himself  repaired  from  Italy  as  he 
had  announced.  Even  before  he  arrived, 
he  was  met  on  the  road  by  several  deputies 
from  both  parties,  who  sought  to  gain  his 
preference  ;  he  referred  them,  however,  to 
the  approaching  diet  itself,  without  de- 
claring his  sentiments  on  the  subject.  On 
the  22d  of  June,  in  the  evening,  he  made 
his  entry  into  the  city  with  great  pomp, 
surrounded  by  the  numerous  electoral  and 
other  princes  and  nobles.  No  longer  now 
the  young  and  inexperienced  prince  as 
when  ten  years  before  he  first  appeared  in 
Germany,  the  emperor  at  this  moment 
stood  unrivalled  by  any  cotemporary  mon- 
arch,  unsurpassed  by  his  predecessors  since 
the  dominion  of  the  great  Charlemagne. 


ens 


MELANCIITHON— JOHN,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY- 


and  admired  universally  for  his  distin- 
guished qualities.  In  Francis  I.  of  France 
he  had  humbled  one  of  the  most  haughty 
and  ambitious  of  his  foreign  enemies,  and 
Rome  itself  had  not  been  able  to  withstand 
h.is  mighty  power.  His  noble  figure  and 
dignified  carriage  produced  their  imposing 
effect  upon  all — whether  friends  or  foes — 
who  approached  his  presence. 

Melanchthon,  who  had  come  to  Augsburg 
in  the  suite  of  the  elector  of  Saxony,  thus 
expresses  himself  in  a  confidential  letter 
upon  the  subject  of  the  emperor  :  "  But  the 
.iidividual  most  worthy  of  remark  in  this  as- 
sembly, is  certainly  the  emperor  Ir'mself.  His 
uninterrupted  success  has  no  doubt  excited 
wonder  even  in  your  country ;  but  far 
more  to  be  admired  is  his  great  moderation, 
amidst  all  this  good  fortune,  which  seems 
to  come  at  his  bidding ;  for  neither  by  ac- 
tion nor  word  does  he  indicate  in  the  slight- 
est degree  the  effect  it  may  have  upon  his 
feelings.  What  emperor  or  king  can  you 
show  me  in  the  records  of  their  reign  in 
whom  success  has  not  produced  some 
change  ?  With  him,  on  the  other  hand, 
frothing  appears  to  operate  upon  his  feel- 
ings ;  no  trace  of  passion,  hauteur,  or  cru- 
elty, is  ever  visible  in  him.  To  omit  other 
examples,  I  will  instance  what  has  occur- 
red in  our  case.  Although  in  these  reli- 
gious disputes  our  enemies  have  employed 
every  art  to  render  him  hostile  to  us,  he 
has  ever  condescended  to  listen  attentively 
to  the  arguments  of  our  party.  His  do- 
mestic life  abounds  with  instances  of  absti- 
nence, moderation,  and  temperance.  That 
system  of  household  discipline,  so  rigidly 
exercised  in  former  times  among  the  Ger- 
man princes,  is  now  confined  exclusively 
to  the  imperial  palace.  Neither  are  the 
traces  of  vicious  or  licentious  men  to  be 
found  within  its  walls  ;  while  as  friends  he 
selects  among  his  court  only  those  dis- 
tinguished for  their  genius  and  virtues. 
Whenever  I  behold  him,  methinks  I  see 
before  me  one  of  those  heroes  or  demi-gods 
who  in  ancient  times  were  wont  to  mix  with 
men.  Who,  therefore,  ought  not  to  rejoice 
in  witnessing  such  a  combination  of  noble 
qualities  in  one  man  ?"• 

In  spite,  however,  of  the  veneration  with 
which  the  emperor's  personal  character 
was  regarded,  the  preponderance  of  his  own 
'jower,  and  that  of  the  Catholic  princes 
generally,  the  Protestant  princes,  who  were 
all  present,  maintained  their  ground  of  op- 


position with  so  much  determinatior,  and 
firmness,  that  they  succeeded  in  effecting 
their  object  even  in  matters  of  merely  e\"- 
ternal  ceremonies  of  worship,  and  obliged 
him  to  revoke  several  of  his  edicts.  Thus 
when  he  had  ordered  that  all  the  princes 
present  should  join  in  the  celebration  of  the 
festival  of  Corpus-Christi-day,  (the  day  af- 
ter his  arrival,)  the  whole  number  of  Ger- 
man princes,  mounting  their  horses  at  dawn 
of  day,  proceeded  in  solemn  state  to  the 
palace,  where,  demanding  an  audience  01 
the  emperor,  they  firmly  declared  they 
would  not  attend,  and  he  found  it  expedient 
to  abandon  his  purpose.  With  equal  reso- 
lution they  protested  against  the  ordinance, 
prohibiting  their  clergy  from  preaching  in 
Augsburg,  and  withdrew  only  after  he  had 
revoked  it  and  substituted  another,  in  which 
he  ordered  that  no  sermon  should  be  preach- 
ed on  either  side,  and  that  on  Sundays  the 
gospel  and  epistles  alone  should  be  read. 
At  the  head  of  the  rest  of  the  Protestant 
princes  was  John,  elector  of  Saxony,  a  man 
whose  remarkable  zeal  and  firmness  in  the 
cause  of  reform  acquired  for  him  the  sur- 
name by  which  posterity  has  distinguished 
him.  When  even  threatened  by  the  empe- 
ror with  his  refusal  to  invest  him  with  the 
enfeoffment  of  the  electorate  of  Saxony,  as 
yet  not  conferred,  he  still  maintained  his 
position.  This  prince,  the  last  of  the  four 
excellent  sons  of  Ernest,  possessed  a  simple 
but  resolute  mind,  which,  when  once  under 
the  influence  of  conviction,  was  impressed 
by  no  fear,  regardful  of  no  sacrifice.  At 
the  same  time,  he  did  not  conceal  from 
himself  the  fact,  that  with  his  inferior  pow- 
er it  must  be  impossible  for  him  to  contend 
against  the  mighty  and  preponderating 
force  of  the  emperor  ;  but  the  question  he 
put  to  himself  was:  "  Whether  he  should 
renounce  the  almighty  power  of  God  or  the 
world  ?"  and  the  answer  to  which  removed 
all  doubt  from  his  mind  and  heart.  He 
was  likewise  much  encouraged  and  con- 
firmed in  his  conviction  by  the  letters  of 
Luther,  who,  or.  account  of  the  ban  still  in 
force  against  him,  was  able  to  proceed  on- 
ly as  far  as  Coburg,  from  which  place  he 
watched  the  important  proceedings  that 
were  taking  place  in  Augsburg  with  tho 
greatest  anxiety  and  expectation  ;  b^,  ai 
the  same- time,  with  an  indomitable  resolu- 
tion inspired  by  his  faith  and  zeal  in  the 
great  cause.  It  is  said  that  at  this  time  he 
composed  his  beautiful  hymn,  "  Einestarkc 


THE  IMPERIAL  COUNCIL— DECLARATION  OF  CHARLES  V. 


Burg  ist  unser  Gott,"  (A  mighty  rock  is 
our  God.)  When  now  the  question  of  the 
religious  disputes  was  at  length  discussed 
before  the  diet  at  Augsburg,  the  Protestant 
princes  laid  before  the  assembly  their  con- 
fession of  faith,  exhibiting  in  succinct,  but 
comprehensive  language  all  the  articles  in 
which  the  new  church  differed  from  the 
old.  This  was  completed  by  Melanchthon 
from  the  seventeen  articles  prepared  by 
Luther  at  Schwabach,  and  from  other  wri- 
tings which  the  Protestant  princes  had 
brought  with  them  ;  thus  was  produced  the 
Augsburg  confession,  which  from  that  mo- 
ment has  formed  the  basis  of  the  Protestant 
church.  It  was  read  publicly  before  the 
diet  by  Bayer,  the  chancellor  of  Saxony,  on 
the  25th  of  June,  and  its  reading  occupied 
several  hours.  The  emperor  then  replied 
to  the  Protestant  princes,  through  Frede- 
rick, the  count  palatine,  "  That  he  would 
take  into  consideration  that  important  and 
remarkable  document,  and  make  known  to 
them  his  determination." 

In  the  council  of  Charles,  as  well  as  in 
that  of  the  Catholic  princes,  opinions  were 
very  much  divided.  The  popish  legate, 
as  well  as  George,  duke  of  Saxony,  Wil- 
liam, duke  of  Bavaria,  and  the  majority  of 
the  bishoprs,  required  that  Charles  should 
tbrce  the  Protestants  to  abjure  at  once  their 
doctrine  ;  others  again,  among  whom  was 
the  cardinal-archbishop  of  Mentz,  were 
more  moderate.  They  observed  that  such 
a  proceeding  must  inevitably  be  attended 
with  great  bloodshed,  and  produce  civil 
war  ;  they  referred  to  the  dangers  to  be 
dreaded  from  the  Turks,  who  only  recent- 
ly, in  1529,  had  ventured  to  attack  Vienna 
itself,  although  happily  without  success ; 
and  they  recommended  either  that  the  Pro- 
testants should  be  brought  to  return  to  the 
church  through  conviction,  produced  by 
mild  treatment,  or  that  the  question  should 
be  settled  with  a  view  to  preserve,  at  least, 
the  internal  tranquillity  of  the  empire. 

In  accordance,  therefore,  with  this  latter 
opinion,  a  refutation  of  the  Augsburg  con- 
fession  was  drawn  up  by  several  Catholic 
theologians,  headed  by  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Eck,  which  was  forthwith  read  to  the  Pro- 
testants with  the  intimation  that  they  should 
quietly  acquiesce  therein  ;  and  when  they 
declared  at  once  that  they  could  not  do  so 
conscientiously,  various  other  attempts  at 
reconciliation  and  accommodation  were 
made,  for  many  of  the  more  moderate  of 


both  parties  still  thought  this  result  attain 
able.  Melanchthon  himself  wrote  to  the 
pope's  legate  to  this  effect :  "  There  still 
remains  a  slight  difference  only  in  the 
usages  and  forms  of  the  church  which  ap- 
pears to  interfere  with  the  accomplishment 
of  a  reunion,  and  the  ecclesiastical  canons 
themselves  admit  that,  notwithstanding  this 
discrepancy  of  opinion,  the  unity  of  the 
church  may  yet  be  maintained."  But  the 
more  zealous  partisans  of  .both  sides  op- 
posed many  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  con- 
ciliatory investigation,  and  what  was  con. 
ceded  did  not  at  all  affect  the  principal 
points  of  dispute.  In  addition  to  this,  va- 
rious Protestant  princes  and  free  cities 
became  influenced  by  worldly  considera- 
tions when  they  found  the  question  arise  : 
whether  or  not  the  episcopal  power  should 
be  re-established  in  their  different  territo- 
ries ;  while  on  the  Catholic  side  they  now, 
more  obstinately  than  ever,  held  to  the 
strict  performance  of  the  articles  in  respect 
to  which  indulgence  had  formerly  been 
granted,  for  instance,  to  the  Greek  church 
and  the  Hussites ;  these  articles  had  refer- 
ence to  the  prohibition  of  the  marriage  of 
priests,  and  of  the  administration  of  the 
holy  communion  to  the  laity  under  both 
forms.  Thus  were  defeated  all  those  at. 
tempts  to  produce  the  desired  reconcilia- 
tion, and  the  two  parties,  instead  of  ap- 
proaching each  other  more  closely  on  terms 
of  mutual  peace  and  concord,  became  now 
more  and  more  widely  estranged.  The 
emperor,  at  length,  issued  the  following 
declaration  to  the  Protestants  :  "  That  they 
should  consider  and  determine  by  the  en- 
suing 15th  day  of  the  month  of  April, 
whether  or  not  they  would  unite  in  favor 
of  the  articles  in  discussion  with  the  Chrie 
tian  church,  with  the  pope,  the  emperor, 
and  the  other  princes,  until  they  were  more 
amply  explained  in  a  council  to  be  assem- 
bled at  an  early  future  day ;  that  during 
this  period  of  peace,  they  should  not  print 
any  thing  new  in  their  various  territories, 
nor  seek  to  strengthen  their  party  by  re- 
ceiving fresh  adherents  from  among  their 
own  subjects  or  strangers  ;  that,  as  many 
abuses  and  irregularities  of  every  kind  had, 
for  many  years  down  to  the  present  mo- 
ment, become  more  and  more  prevalent 
throughout  Christendom,  the  emperor  would 
use  all  his  endeavors,  with  the  pope  and  the 
other  princes  of  Europe,  in  order  that  a 
general  council  should  be  convoked  within 


870 


REPLY  OF  THE  PROTESTANT  PRINCES— FERDINAND 


a  period  of  six  months,  or  at  latest  within 
a  year  from  the  present  time." 

To  this  the  Protestants  replied,  as  usual, 
that  their  dogmas  had  not  as  yet  been  re- 
futed by  the  Scriptures,  that  their  con- 
science  would  not,  therefore,  permit  them  to 
consent  to  this  decree  of  the  diet,  by  which 
they  were  prohibited  from  propagating  their 
laith.  At  the  same  time  they  handed  over 
to  the  emperor  a  defence  of  their  confes- 
sion, and  all  who  still  remained  in  Augs- 
burg immediately  departed.  The  rupture 
between  the  two  parties  was  now  formally 
declared.  In  the  resolutions  of  the  diet 
subsequently  made  public,  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  was  treated  as  heresy,  and  char- 
acterized as  such  in  the  most  severe  and 
condemnatory  language  ;  the  restoration 
of  all  the  confiscated  convents  and  reli- 
gious establishments  strictly  ordered ;  a 
censorship  over  all  writings  on  subjects  of 
religion  was  rigidly  enforced ;  and  all  those 
who  contumaciously  acted  against  these 
decrees  were  threatened  with  the  severest 
punishment. 

The  Protestant  princes,  at  the  end  of 
this  year,  assembled  together  in  the  city 
of  Schmalkald,  and  there  renewed  their 
alliance  more  firmly.  Some  among  them 
were  even  anxious  to  commence  the  strug- 
gle, and  appeal  tc  arms  at  once  ;  but  others 
again  still  retained  their  ancient  religious 
dread  of  civil  war,  and  veneration  for  the 
sacred  person  of  the  emperor,  as  expressed 
by  themselves ;  whence,  as  this  feeling  of 
the  majority  exercised  its  predominating 
influence  upon  all,  their  league  was  saved 
from  incurring  the  reproach  of  having 
been,  without  necessity,  the  first  to  kindle 
the  flame  of  a  religious  war.  The  Catho- 
lic electors  and  princes  likewise,  on  their 
part,  and  with  equal  merit,  checked  the 
feeling  so  prevalent  among  them  for  war- 
like measures — a  desire  so  much  encour- 
aged in  Rome,  and  by  which  the  emperor 
himself  already  appeared  to  be  somewhat 
influenced.  They  would  not  allow  the  ban 
of  the  empire  to  be  pronounced  against  the 
Protestant  party,  because  they  were  reluc- 
tant to  furnish  the  emperor  with  full  pow- 
ers for  war ;  they  wished,  as  they  expressed 
themselves,  to  contend,  but  not  with  the 
sword's  point,  and  they  hoped,  by  means 
of  the  imperial  chamber  of  justice,  which 
with  this  object  had  been  cleansed  of  all 
its  anti-Catholic  elements,  and  strengthened 
uy  the  addition  of  six  assessors,  to  bring 


the  decree  of  the  grand  diet  into  full  opera, 
tion.  But  we  shall  very  soon  see  tha 
these  means  likewise  proved  totally  inade. 
quate. 

The  emperor,  on  leaving  the  diet  of 
Augsburg,  had  proceeded  to  Cologne,  where 
le  summoned  the  electoral  princes  to  meet 
lim.  He  there  proposed  to  them  that  they 
>hould  select,  as  king  of  the  Romans,  his 
brother  Ferdinand,  to  whom  he  had  already 
ceded  his  hereditary  lands  in  Austria — 
and  who,  since  the  extinction  of  the  royal 
house  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary  in  the 
jperson  of  Lewis  II.,  who  was  killed  when 
^fighting  against  Soliman  II.  in  the  battle 
pf  Mohacz,  in  1526,  had  acquired  the 
browns  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  by  the 
Rights  founded  upon  ancient  treaties  of  in 
(leritance — in  order  that  he  might  be  en- 
abled to  maintain  good  order  throughout  the 
empire  during  the  frequent  absence  of  the 
(emperor.  The  electors  consented,  and 
[Ferdinand  was  crowned  at  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  ;  the  elector  of  Saxony,  who  caused 
his  protestation  against  this  election  to  be 
handed  in  by  his  son,  and  the  dukes  of 
Bavaria,  who  had  for  a  long  time  been 
jealous  of  the  power  of  the  Austrian  house, 
and  who  on  this  occasion  joined  in  alliance 
with  their  enemies  in  matters  of  religion, 
the  princes  of  the  Schmalkaldian  league, 
were  the  only  two  parties  who  made  any 
opposition,  and  refused  to  acknowledge 
Ferdinand. 

The  new  king  of  the  Romans  was  ex 
tremely  desirous  of  preserving  tranquillity 
in  Germany,  as  his  new  kingdom  of  Hun- 
gary was  at  this  time  hard  pressed  by  the 
Turks,  and  his  chief  source  of  assistance 
must  be  derived  from  the  German  princes. 
The  Protestants,  however,  refused  to  give 
their  co-operation  until  peace  had  been  se- 
cured to  them  in  their  own  country,  and  its 
continuance  sworn  to  be  maintained.  The 
emperor  accordingly  now  concerted  fresn 
measures,  in  order  to  promote  a  state  of 
union,  and  at  length,  after  the  most  warm 
and  urgent  exhortations  from  Luther  in 
favor  thereof,  they  produced  the  provision- 
ary  religious  peace  of  Nuremberg,  in 
1532.  The  emperor  declared,  in  contra- 
diction to  the  opinion  of  the  Catholic  ma- 
jority :  "  That,  in  virtue  of  his  imperia; 
power,  he  would  establish  a  general  peace, 
according  to  which  no  person  should  be 
attacked  or  condemned  on  account  of  his 
faith,  or  any  other  religious  matter,  untiJ 


THE  TURKS  DEFEATED— ULRIG  OF  WURTEMBERG. 


271 


the  approaching  assembly  of  the  council, 
or  the  meeting  of  the  estates  of  the  em- 
pire." Nay,  lie  promised  likewise  to  sus- 
pend all  proceedings  taken  by  his  imperial 
chancellor  in  matters  of  faith,  against  the 
c  l.vtor  of  Saxony,  until  the  next  council. 

The  subsidiary  troops  against  the  Turks 
\VIM-O  now  collected,  and  formed  an  army 
of  such  force  as  had  not  been  produced  for 
a  K-ngth  of  time,  the  Protestant  princes  and 
cities  themselves  sending  very  large  contri- 
butions. The  danger  appeared,  indeed,  ex- 
tremely urgent,  for  the  sultan  had  advanced 
with  a  force  of  three  hundred  thousand 
ni'-n  to  attack  the  Austrian  territories  from 
four  points  ;  and  to  oppose  him,  the  empe- 
ror had  only  seventy-six  thousand  men  at 
command.  However,  the  first  attempts 
they  made  very  soon  showed  the  Turks 
with  what  men  they  had  to  deal.  Ibrahim 
Pasha,  who  led  the  vanguard,  considered  he 
was  bound  for  honor's  sake  to  punish  the 
little  town  of  Gunz,  in  Hungary,  which  to 
his  mortification  had  closed  its  gates  against 
him,  thinking  that  it  would  easily  fall  into 
his  hands  on  the  first  assault ;  but  its  brave 
commandant,  Jurischtisch,  with  his  small 
garrison  repulsed  all  his  attacks,  and  kept 
him  before  the  walls  for  the  space  of  a 
fortnight.  At  this  sudden  and  unexpected 
check  upon  his  march,  Soliman  calculated 
what  the  great  city  of  Vienna  might  cost 
him,  especially  as  now  the  emperor  had 
come  to  its  aid  ;  and  perceiving,  in  addi- 
tion, that  the  German  princes,  whom  he 
thought  to  find  in  a  state  of  dissension,  had 
now  become  reunited,  he  resolved  at  once 
to  sound  a  retreat.  Thus  the  whole  of 
Europe,  to  their  great  surprise,  found  the 
irrcat  Soliman  quickly  abandon  an  expedi- 
tion which  it  had  cost  him  three  years  to 
prepare. 

The  emperor  was  now  enabled  to  turn 
his  attention  toother  affairs,  and  proceeded, 
first  of  all,  to  Italy,  for  the  purpose  of  ar- 
ranging with  the  pope  upon  the  subject  of 
the  convocation  of  the  grand  council.  But 
he  found  that  the  pope  was  by  no  means  in 
earnest  about  the  matter,  neither  was  it, 
at  this  time,  at  all  desired  by  the  papal 
court ;  and  Charles  accordingly  departed 
for  Spain  without  doing  any  thing. 

During  the  absence  of  the  emperor  in 
Spain,  and  while  Ferdinand  was  engaged 
in  employing  all  his  means  to  establish liis 
dominion  in  Hungary,  the  doctrine  of  the 
reformers  spread  more  and  more  in 


many,  and  party  spirit  daily  increased. 
The  Protestants  went  so  far,  in  the  year 
1534,  as  to  declare  to  the  imperial  cham- 
ber that  they  would  no  longer  obey  its  de- 
crees :  because,  contrary  to  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty  of  Nuremberg,  it  pronounced 
judgment  against  them  in  cases  which  re- 
ferred to  the  restitution  of  confiscated 
church  property ;  and  which  proceeding 
rendered  completely  invalid  the  laws  for 
the  perpetual  peace  of  the  country,  as  estab- 
lished by  the  emperor  Maximilian.  Another 
subject  of  dispute  was  the  territory  of  Wur- 
temberg.  We  have  already  had  occasion 
to  refer  to  the  circumstance  of  Ulric,  duke 
of  Wurtemberg,  having,  just  after  the  death 
of  Maximilian,  and  before  the  election  of 
Charles  V.,  been  driven  out  of  his  country 
by  the  Swabian  league,  on  account  of  a 
feud  which  had  existed  between  him  and 
the  town  of  Reutlingen.  The  league 
ceded  the  land,  which  was  burdened  with  a 
heavy  debt,  to  the  emperor,  and  the  latter 
transferred  it,  in  1530,  to  his  brother  Fer- 
dinand, together  with  his  Austrian  states. 
It  appeared  now  as  if  that  country  was 
destined  to  form  forever  a  portion  of  the 
Austrian  possessions  ;  but  the  deposed  duke, 
who  was  now  wandering  through  the  em- 
pire a  fugitive,  seeking  to  enlist  his  friends 
in  his  cause,  found  at  length  a  protector  in 
his  relation  Philip,  landgrave  of  Hesse. 
Ulric  had  already  adopted  the  Lutheran 
faith,  and  Philip  now  formed  the  determina- 
tion to  re-establish  him  in  his  possessions 
even  by  force  of  arms.  He  accordingly 
raised  an  arm^  of  twenty  thousand  men, 
marched  unexpectedly  into  the  very  heart 
of  Wurtemberg,  defeated  the  Austrian  gov- 
ernor of  the  country  at  Lauffen,  in  1534, 
and  restored  the  reconquered  duchy  to 
Ulric.  It  was  expected  that  this  bold  act 
would  have  produced  a  sanguinary  war ; 
but  this  time  the  storm  passed  over.  Charles 
and  Ferdinand  were  both  too  much  occu- 
pied elsewhere,  and  perhaps  they  may  have 
felt  it  ungenerous  and  unworthy  to  augmen, 
their  already  extensive  power,  by  the  ad- 
dition  of  a  foreign  country,  while,  on  the 
contrary,  the  other  members  of  the  Schmal 
kaldian  league,  who  had  taken  no  share  in 
this  act  of  the  landgrave,  endeavored  to 
bring  the  matter  to  a  peaceful  adjustment. 
Thence  was  effected,  under  the  mediation 
of  the  elector  of  Saxony,  the  peace  of  Cadan 
in  Bohemia,  by  which  Duke  Ulric  received 
back  his  land  as  an  arriere  fief  of  Austria; 


272 


THE  AXABAPTISTS— THEIR  REVOLT  AND  DEFEAT. 


the  religious  peace  as  signed  at  Nuremberg 
was  confirmed,  and  Ferdinand  was  formally 
acknowledged  king  of  Rome  by  the  elector 
of  Saxony  and  all  his  family.  And  in 
order  to  maintain  at  least  the  imperial  sov- 
ereignty, it  was  decided  that  the  landgrave 
and  Duke  Ulric  should  ask  pardon  of  the 
emperor  personally,  and  of  the  king  of 
Rome  by  deputy,  for  having  disturbed  the 
peace  of  the  land. 

Another  circumstance  occurred  which 
threatened  important  and  serious  results, 
but  still  did  not  interrupt  definitively  the 
peace  of  the  empire,  viz.,  the  contentions 
of  the  anabaptists  in  Miinster,  in  1534  and 
1535.  The  principles  of  Thomas  Miinzer 
upon  Christian  liberty  and  equality,  and 
upon  the  community  of  possessions,  as  well 
as  upon  his  faith  in  immediate  divine  reve- 
lations, were  not  as  yet  eradicated,  and  had 
still  been  preserved,  especially  in  Holland, 
among  the  so-called  anabaptists.  They 
demanded  that  mankind  should  do  penance 
and  be  baptized  anew  in  order  to  avert 
the  wrath  of  God.  Two  of  their  fanatic 
preachers,  Jan  Matthys,  a  baker  of  Har- 
lem, and  a  tailor,  Jan  Bockhold  or  Bockel- 
sohn,  of  Leyden,  proceeded,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1534,  to  Miinster,  at  the 
time  that  an  ecclesiastic,  called  Rothmann, 
had  just  introduced  the  doctrine  of  Luther; 
they  gained  him  over  to  their  sect  likewise, 
and  with  the  aid  of  the  populace  and  other 
anabaptists  from  the  vicinity,  drove  out  of 
the  city  all  the  wealthy  citizens,  created 
fresh  magistrates,  and  established  a  com- 
munity of  possessions.  Each  person  was 
required  to  deposite  in  a  general  treasury 
all  he  possessed,  whether  in  gold,  silver,  or 
other  precious  articles,  while  the  churches 
were  despoiled  of  their  ornaments,  pictures, 
and  images,  and  all  the  books  they  con- 
tained, except  the  Bible,  were  publicly 
burnt.  Everywhere,  as  in  all  such  scenes 
of  fanaticism,  the  most  licentious  acts  were 
committed,  and  passions,  the  most  violent 
and  brutal,  raged  throughout  the  city. 
Under  the  sanction  of  their  creed  of  Chris- 
tian liberty,  each  man  was  authorized  to 
take  to  himself  several  wives,  and  their 
chief,  John  of  Leyden,  set  the  example  by 
marrying  three  at  once.  Finally,  one  of 
his  partisans,  who  made  a  boast  of  having 
especially  received  a  divine  communica- 
tion, John  Dusentschur  of  Warendorf,  sa- 
luted him  as  king  of  the  whole  globe,  and 
as  such,  appointed  to  restore  the  throne  of 


David ;  and  twenty-eight  apostles  were 
selected  and  sent  forth  to  preach  this  doc- 
rine  to  the  whole  world,  and  to  bring  the 
nhabitants  thereof  to  acknowledge  the 
newly-appointed  king.  These  agents,  how. 
ever,  wherever  they  arrived,  were  imme- 
diately seized  as  rebels  and  executed. 

The  bishop  of  Miinster,  supported  by  the 
andgrave  of  Hesse,  and  several  other 
princes,  advanced,  in  the  year  1534,  with 
a  large  army  against  the  city.  In  the  first 
assault,  however,  that  they  made  on  the 
30th  of  August,  they  were  repulsed  most 
valiantly  by  the  fanatic  anabaptists ;  but 
the  more  slow  and  not  less  fatal  attacks  of 
famine,  to  which  the  latter  were  gradually 
reduced  by  the  besiegers,  who  cut  off  the 
supplies,  could  not  be  overcome.  Want 
ncreased  from  day  to  day,  and  diminished 
more  and  more  the  zeal  of  the  people. 
The  new  king  resolved  to  establish  his 
royal  authority  more  firmly  by  terror,  and 
even  beheaded  one  of  his  wives  with  his 
own  hand  in  the  public  market-place,  be- 
cause she  gave  vent  to  the  expression,  that 
she  could  not  possibly  believe  that  God  had 
condemned  such  a  mass  of  people  to  di« 
of  hunger,  while  the  king  himself  was  liv- 
ing in  abundance.  At  length,  however, 
after  a  great  number  had  really  perished 
through  starvation,  two  citizens  led  the 
bishop's  troops,  on  the  night  of  the  25th  of 
June,  1535,  into  the  city ;  and  after  a  san- 
guinary battle,  John  of  Leyden,  and  his 
executioner,  Knipperdolling,  together  with 
his  chancellor,  Krechting,  were  made  pris- 
oners, and  having  been  publicly  exhibited 
in  several  cities  of  Germany  as  a  spectacle, 
they  were  tortured  with  burning  pincers 
and  put  to  death  by  piercing  their  hearts 
with  a  red-hot  dagger.  Their  bodies  were 
then  placed  in  iron  cages,  and  suspended 
from  the  steeple  of  the  church  of  St.  Lam 
bert,  in  the  market-place  of  Miinster,  and 
the  form  of  Catholic  worship,  and  the  au- 
thority of  the  bishop,  were  immediately 
re-established  in  that  city. 

Meantime  the  emperor  had  proceeded 
upon  an  expedition,  the  results  of  which 
crowned  him  with  lasting  honor  and  fame. 
A  pirate,  Haradin  Barbarossa,  born  of  ob- 
scure parents  in  the  island  of  Lesbos,  bui 
one  of  the  most  daring  and  extraordinary 
men  of  his  day,  had  established  himself  on 
the  north  coast  of  Africa.  To  join  him  in 
his  depredations  he  had  gained  over  a  nu. 
merous  body  of  Moors,  who,  driven  out  of 


CHARLES  V.  IN  AFRICA— HIS  TRIUMPH— FRANCIS  I. 


273 


Spain  by  King  Ferdinand  the  Catholic, 
burned  with  the  desire  of  revenging  them- 
selves  upon  the  Christians,  and  thus 
strengthened,  this  desperate  pirate  infested 
the  Mediterranean  seas  in  every  direction. 
His  cruelty  and  audacity  rendered  him  the 
terror  of  all  the  inhabitants  along  the 
coasts  ;  while  in  the  African  peninsula  he 
held  in  his  possession  Algiers  and  Tunis, 
and  the  Turkish  sultan,  Soliman,  himself 
had  confided  to  his  charge  the  whole  of  his 
fleet,  in  order  to  employ  it  against  the 
Christians,  of  whom  already  some  thou- 
sands languished  as  captives  in  the  hands 
of  the  barbarians. 

As  protector  of  entire  Christendom, 
Charles  felt  he  could  no  longer  endure  the 
existence  of  such  outrage  and  cruelty,  es- 
pecially as  the  fugitive  and  rightful  king 
of  Tunis,  Hascen,  had  come  to  him  for 
protection.  He  embarked,  therefore,  with 
an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men,  including 
eight  thousand  German  troops,  under  the 
command  of  Count  Max  of  Eberstein,  and 
a  fleet  of  five  hundred  vessels ;  the  latter 
being  under  the  orders  of  Doria,  and  the 
army  commanded  by  the  emperor  himself 
in  person  and  the  Marquis  de  Vaston. 
They  arrived  before  Tunis  in  the  summer 
of  1535,  and  captured  the  citadel  of  Gole- 
ta,  which  defended  the  port,  on  the  first 
assault ;  all  the  ammunition  was  seized, 
and  more  than  two  thousand  Turks  put  to 
the  sword.  The  army  of  Haradin  Barba- 
rossa,  which  was  drawn  up  ready  for  bat- 
tle on  the  plain  in  front  of  the  city,  was  at- 
tacked at  once  and  completely  put  to  rout.' 
The  victorious  troops  now  took  possession 
of  the  city,  and  proceeded  immediately  to 
open  the  prisons  of  their  suffering  fellow- 
Christians;  and  Charles,  to  his  inexpressi- 
ble joy,  was  enabled  to  set  at  liberty  no 
less  than  twenty-two  thousand  of  these  ob- 
jects of  severe  oppression,  who  now,  with 
tears  of  joy  and  gratitude,  were  restored  to 
their  relations  and  friends.  The  emperor 
himself  declared  that  glorious  day  to  be 
one  of  the  most  happy  and  delightful  of  his 
entire  life.  His  fame  spread  far  and  wide 
throughout  every  country;  and  this  he 
truly  merited  by  the  courage  and  perse- 
verance he  had  evinced  in  this  perilous  but 
neroic  undertaking;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  he  proved  by  his  example  how  easily 
these  barbarian  corsairs  of  the  African 
coasts  might,  with  a  bold  and  resolute 
spirit,  be  overcome.  He  restored  the  fu- 
35 


gitive  king,  Hascen,  to  his  throne  of  Tunis , 
but,  at  the  same  time,  he  prohibited  him 
from  all  capture  or  imprisonment  of  Chris, 
tian  slaves,  and  as  a  pledge  of  his  obedi- 
ence, the  emperor  retained  possession  of 
the  citadel  of  Goleta.  Haradin,  after  his 
defeat,  had  flown  to  Algiers,  whither 
Charles  resolved  to  pursue  him  in  the  en- 
suing year. 

A  fresh  war,  however,  with  the  king  of 
France  prevented  him  from  executing  this 
intention.  This  prince,  on  the  death  of 
Francis  Sforza,  had  renewed  his  claims  to 
Milan,  and  in  order  to  ensure  for  himself 
an  open  road  to  Italy,  he  unexpectedly  at- 
tacked and  took  possession  of  the  duchy  of 
Savoy,  upon  whose  duke  he  also  made 
claims.  Charles  saw  at  once  the  necessity 
of  war,  and  resolved  to  fix  the  scene  of 
contest  in  the  south  of  France.  Unwarned 
by  the  disastrous  results  which  attended  his 
first  expedition,  under  the  duke  of  Bour- 
bon, he  undertook  another  in  1536,  and 
having  advanced  as  far  as  Marseilles,  he 
once  more  laid  siege  to  that  city.  He 
however  found  that  it  was  much  too  strong, 
ly  fortified  to  hold  out  any  chance  of  suc- 
cess, while  the  whole  of  the  neighboring 
country  was  laid  waste  by  the  French  them* 
selves  ;  whence  want  of  supplies  and  dis- 
ease forced  the  emperor,  after  having  re- 
mained two  months  before  the  place,  to 
withdraw  his  troops  and  make  as  good  a 
retreat  as  he  could,  but  in  which  he  never- 
theless lost  much  of  his  ammunition  and 
luggage. 

By  the  mediation  of  the  pope,  a  suspen- 
sion  of  aims,  during  ten  years,  took  place 
in  Nice,  in  the  year  1538,  and  soon  after- 
wards the  two  monarchs  had  an  interview 
at  Aigues-Mortes,  on  the  Rhone.  The 
proposal  for  this  meeting  was  first  made 
by  the  king  of  France  ;  and  although  the 
imperial  council  considered  it  unsafe  for 
the  emperor  to  trust  himself  upon  French 
ground,  Charles,  notwithstanding  the  doubts 
they  expressed,  resolved,  were  it  even  for 
the  novel  and  extraordinary  nature  of  the 
project — to  him  so  pleasing — to  accept  the 
invitation.  When  he  arrived  in  the  harbor 
the  king  himself  embarked  in  his  state 
barge  to  receive  him,  and  conducted  him 
ashore.  Here  a  splendid  dinner  was  pre- 
pared and  served  up,  which  was  followed 
by  a  grand  fete,  at  which  the  royal  per- 
sonages  presided  until  midnight.  On  the 
following  morning  the  dauphin  himself  at» 


274 


CHARLES  V.  IN  FRANCE-ALGIERS. 


.ended  upon  the  emperor  and  handed  him 
the  water  and  towel  for  his  toilet,  and,  in- 
deed, both  sides  rivalled  each  other  in  marks 
of  mutual  friendship  and  civility.  And  in 
all  this  there  was  no  hypocrisy  ;  they  were 
both  desirous  of  a  lasting  peace,  and  in  the 
following  year,  1539,  Francis  gave  an  ad- 
ditional proof  of  his  good  intentions  and 
sincere  wishes.  The  city  of  Ghent,  in 
Flanders,  owing  to  some  new  impost,  had 
risen  in  revolt  against  the  emperor  Charles, 
and  offered  to  place  itself  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  king  of  France  ;  but  the  latter 
immediately  communicated  the  circum- 
stance to  the  emperor  himself,  and  proposed 
at  the  same  time,  in  order  to  reach  the 
scene  of  contention  in  Flanders  with  more 
expedition,  that  he  should  take  the  shortest 
route  from  Spain  through  France. 

This  offer  wras  accepted  by  Charles  with- 
out any  mistrust,  and  as  he  proceeded  on 
his  journey  through  ;he  kingdom  he  was 
everywhere  received  with  the  greatest 
honors,  and  at  every  city  or  town  he  enter- 
ed the  keys  of  each  place  were  presented 
to  him,  while  in  Fontainebleau,  where  the 
king  had  previously  arrived,  he  was  detain- 
ed by  magnificent  fetes  during  the  space  of 
an  entire  fortnight,  and  when  he  reached 
Paris  he  was  equally  well  entertained  du- 
ring another  week. 

His  presence  in  Ghent  ve'ry  soon  ap- 
peased the  rioters  ;  and  while  he  was  still 
there,  Charles  received  the  most  urgent 
appeals  from  Germany,  hoping  that  he 
would  quickly  reappear  in  that  country, 
where  his  presence  was  become  more  ne- 
cessary than  ever,  in  order  to  put  down  the 
disorders  which  had  daily  increased. 

He  acceded  to  their  wishes,  and,  in  the 
year  1541,  presided  at  the  diet  of  Ratis- 
bon.  We  shall  relate  in  the  succeeding 
cnapter  how,  on  this  occasion,  and  subse- 
quently for  several  years,  he  endeavored 
by  writings,  religious  discussions,  and  his 
own  persuasive  eloquence,  to  reunite  the 
contending  parties  ;  and  how,  at  the  same 
time,  the  maintenance  of  internal  peace  in 
Germany  was  the  desire  and  aim  of  his 
government,  as  well  as  the  necessary  prin- 
ciple of  his  reign,  threatened  as  he  was, 
on  the  one  hand,  by  invasions  from  the 
Turks,  and  forced,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
carry  on  wars  with  the  French.  Here  it 
only  remains  for  us  to  throw  a  glance  at 
the  progress  made  by  the  emperor  in  his 
foreign  relations,  until  the  period  when,  at 


length,  he  found  his  entire  thoughts  anr 
labors  absorbed  in  the  interests  of  his  Ger- 
manic  empire. 

Charles  quitted  the  diet  at  Ratisbon,  and 
proceeded  to  Italy,  whence  he  set  out  on 
his  expedition  to  Algiers,  as  previously  de. 
termined  upon.  His  enterprising  mind, 
ever  delighting  in  new  and  brilliant  ex- 
ploits, aspired  to  the  realization  of  a  pro- 
ject, at  once  grand  and  commensurate  with 
his  powers — the  annihilation  of  the  corsairs 
of  the  barbarian  states  of  Africa  ;  the  ac- 
complishment of  which  he  now  felt  him- 
self especially  called  upon  to  effect,  inas- 
much as  the  audacious  Barbarossa  had 
again  excited  general  indignation  by  his 
recent  piracies  on  the  coast  of  Spain.  This 
new  expedition,  however,  commenced  under- 
very  unfavorable  circumstances ;  the  sea- 
son for  the  navigation  of  the  Mediterranean 
had  already  become  extremely  tempestu- 
ous, and  the  experienced  admiral,  Andreas 
Doria  himself,  prognosticated  a  disastrous 
voyage.  Charles,  however,  would  not  con- 
sent to  its  being  postponed,  and  they  ac- 
cordingly set  sail.  The  fleet  arrived  on 
the  20th*of  October,  1541,  before  Algiers, 
and  the  troops  were  forthwith  landed.  To- 
wards  evening,  however,  before  the  artil- 
lery, baggage,  and  provisions  could  b& 
brought  on  shore,  a  tremendous  gale  arose, 
and  did  much  damage  to  the  ships,  several 
of  which  were  wrecked  on  the  coast. 

All  thoughts  of  conquering  Algiers 
were  of  course  abandoned,  and  the-  grand 
object  now  was  the  preservation  of  the 
army ;  for  the  light  cavalry  of  the  Turks 
made  their  appearance  on  the  following 
day  and  pressed  hard  upon  the  ranks  of  the 
jaded  troops.  In  this  trying  and  dangerous 
moment,  however,  the  emperor  Charles 
displayed  the  energy  and  perseverance  for 
which,  as  a  warrior,  he  was  ever  dis- 
tinguished. During  a  march  of  three  en- 
tire days,  through  water  and  mud,  he  led 
his  troops,  amidst  the  harassing  attacks  of 
the  enemy,  along  the  whole  extent  of  the 
coast  as  far  as  the  Bay  of  Metafuz,  where 
the  remnant  of  the  dispersed  fleet  had  as- 
sembled. Without  distinction  he  shared 
with  his  common  soldiers  the  most  severe 
privations  and  fatigue,  and  thence  it  was 
that  he  succeeded  in  reviving  their  spirits 
and  stimulating  their  courage,  till  at  length 
they  reached  their  destination  arid  re- 
embarked.  The  emperor  set  sail  fbi 
Italy,  where,  having  arrived  safely,  he 


THE  DUKE  OF  CLEVES— FRANCE 


275 


disembarked,  and  proceeded  at  once  to 
Spain. 

The  king  of  France  had  availed  himself 
of  Charles's  absence  in  order  to  renew  hos- 
tilities. All  his  experiments  of  friendly 
understanding  with  Charles  would  not  suf- 
fice to  banish  from  his  recollection  the 
.lucliy  of  Milan;  and  now  he  thought  the 
moment  had  arrived  when  he  must  suc- 
ci-od  in  reconquering  it,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose he  renewed  his  alliance  with  the 
Turks.  While,  therefore,  Charles,  after 
his  return  from  Algiers,  sought  a  little  re- 
pose from  the  fatigues  of  that  sad  expedi- 
tion, Francis  forthwith  entered  the  field 
against  him  ;  the  incapacity  of  his  generals, 
however,  when  brought  to  compete  with  the 
experience  and  superiority  of  the  Spanish 
leaders,  combined  with  disease  and  the 
scarcity  of  supplies  for  the  troops,  operated 
so  much  against  him,  that  the  whole  of  his 
five  armies  could  effect  nothing  in  the  first 
campaign,  and  were  forced  to  return  home 
dispirited  and  disappointed. 

In  the  following  year,  1543,  Charles  set 
:>ut  for  Italy,  and  thence,  suddenly  crossing 
the  Alps,  proceeded  to  the  Lower  Rhine, 
where  the  duke  of  Cleves  had  made  an  al- 
liance with  Francis  I. ;  and  this  prince, 
who  had  recently  begun  to  encourage  the 
doctrines  of  Luther,  was  selected  as  the 
first  to  feel  the  imperial  authority.  The 
appearance  of  the  emperor  in  this  country 
was  quite  unexpected.  It  was  reported 
among  the  people  that  he  had  been  ship- 
wrecked on  his  return  from  Algiers  and 
had  perished.  Believing  this  statement, 
they  treated  the  news  of  his  arrival  in 
Germany  as  a  mere  fable.  The  garrison 
of  the  small  town  of  Diiren,  on  being  sum- 
moned by  Charles  to  surrender,  replied  : 
•'  They  were  no  longer  in  dread  of  the  em- 
peror, as  he  had  long  since  become  food  for 
the  fishes."  When,  however,  the  Spaniards 
scaled  the  walls,  cut  down  all  before  them, 
and  set  fire  to  the  town,  alarm  and  ter- 
ror spread  throughout  the  whole  country. 
They  said  the  emperor  had  brought  with 
him  a  species  of  wild  men,  half  black  and 
half  brown,  with  long  sharp  nails  at  their 
fingers'  ends,  which  enabled  them  to  climb 
the  loftiest  walls,  together  with  huge  teeth 
with  which  they  tore  every  thing  asun- 
der. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the  beings 
.hus  marvellously  described,  were  no  other 
Jian  the  old  warriors  of  Charles,  who,  by 


constant  exposure  to  the  sun,  had  become 
dyed  completely  brown,  and,  reckless  of  all 
danger,  when  making  an  assault  on  a  forti- 
fied town  usually  fixed  their  daggers  or 
lances  in  the  fissures  of  the  walls,  and  thus 
formed  for  themselves  the  means  of  ascent 
to  the  ramparts.  The  terror,  howevor, 
which  their  appearance  created  very  soon 
brought  under  subjection  the  entire  coun- 
try ;  and  the  duke  of  Cleves  was  obliged 
humbly  to  sue  for  pardon  on  bended  knee. 
This  was  granted  to  him  by  the  emperor 
but  under  the  condition  that  he  shouk 
not  forswear  his  religion ;  that  whatevei 
changes  he  had  introduced  should  be  im- 
mediately abolished,  and  the  original  regu- 
lations re-established,  and  that  he  should 
not  enter  upon  any  alliance  in  opposition  to 
the  emperor. 

No  action  or  engagement  of  any  impor- 
tance took  place  with  the  French  this  year  ; 
but  for  the  ensuing  one  Charles  collected 
a  very  large  army,  and  after  he  had  held  a 
new  diet  in  Spires,  in  the  winter  of  1543, 
and  had  secured  to  himself  the  co-operation 
of  all  the  German  princes,  he  marched  in 
the  following  spring  into  the  enemy's  coun- 
try at  the  head  of  a  numerous  body  of 
chosen  troops.  The  flower  of  this  army 
consisted  of  thirty  thousand  Germans,  the 
result  of  the  good  understanding  which  the 
emperor  had  established  at  this  last  diet 
between  himself  and  the  Protestant  princes, 
and  more  especially  the  elector  of  Saxony 
and  the  Landgrave  Philip.  The  first  place 
he  took  was  Saint  Dizier,  whence  he 
marched  direct  for  Paris,  and  having  taken 
possession  of  Epernay  and  Chateau-Thierry, 
he  was  within  a  march  of  only  two  days 
from  the  capital,  whence  the  inhabitants, 
already  alarmed  at  his  approach,  took  to 
flight.  Now,  however,  Francis  made  pro- 
posals of  peace,  which  the  emperor  ac- 
cepted at  once,  being  anxious  for  a  recon- 
ciliation with  his  rival,  as  affairs  in  Ger- 
many grew  more  and  more  complicate,  and, 
on  the  24th  of  September,  1544,  the  peace 
of  Crepi  was  signed — the  last  that  Charles 
signed  with  the  king  of  France.  By  this 
treaty  little  alteration  was  made  in  the 
main  points  of  dispute ;  as  before,  Burgun- 
dy remained  in  the  possession  of  France, 
and  Milan  was  retained  by  the  emperor. 
Francis,  however,  pledged  himself  this 
time  to  support  the  emperor  not  only  in 
checking  the  Turks,  but  in  restoring  tto 
unity  of  faith. 


276 


RELIGIOUS  AFFAIRS  IN  GERMANY. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

State  of  Religious  Affairs  in  Germany,  from  1534  to 
15467-  Vain  Attempts  at  Reconciliation— Rapid  Prop- 
agation of  the  New  Doctrine— Henry,  Duke  of 
Brunswick— Death  of  Martin  Luther,  1546— Charles 
V.  and  the  Pope— Their  Alliance— Preparations  for 
War— The  League  of  Schmalkald— The  Elector  of 
Saxony  and  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse — Their  charac- 
ters contrasted— Maurice,  Duke  of  Saxony— His  ex- 
traordinary Genius— His  Adherence  to  the  Emperor 
—The  Pope's  Bull— The  Holy  War— The  Schmalkal- 
dian  Army,  1546-1547— General  Schartlin— Division 
among  the  Protestant  Leaders— Inglorious  Results— 
The  Imperial  Camp  besieged — Charles  triumphant 
—Duke  Maurice  and  the  Elector  of  Saxony— Treach- 
ery of  Duke  Maurice— The  Emperor  in  Upper  Ger- 
many—Conquers the  Imperial  Free  Cities— Saxony— 
The  Battle  of  Miihlberg— The  Saxons  defeated— 
The  Elector  taken  Prisoner— Deposed  and  con- 
demned to  Death— The  Game  of  Chess— The  Elec- 
tor's Firmness  and  Resignation— His  Life  spared— 
Duke  Maurice  made  Elector  of  Saxony — Witten- 
berg—Charles V.  and  Philip  of  Hesse— The  Land- 
grave's Submission  and  Humiliation— Detained  a 
Prisoner,  and  his  Lands  seized  by  the  Emperor — 
The  Elector  Maurice— His  Mortification,  and  Pro- 
jects against  the  Emperor— The  Spanish  Troops  in 
Germany— Their  Insolence  and  Oppression. 

Ix  Saxony,  the  Elector  John  the  Stead- 
fast, since  the  year  1532,  had  been  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  John  Frederick,  a 
prince  of  just  and  honorable  principles,  but 
of  a  reserved  mind,  and  in  this  respect 
quite  the  opposite  of  the  bold  and  active 
Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse,  who  continued 
to  march  at  the  head  of  the  Protestant 
princes  as  one  of  the  most  energetic  and 
effective  among  them.  Not  only  this  con- 
trast of  character  presented  in  the  two 
leaders,  but  other  causes  had  operated  to 
produce  a  division  .among  the  body  of 
Protestants  themselves.  Already,  in  the 
tenth  year  of  the  Reformation,  a  dispute 
had  arisen  among  them  with  respect  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  communion,  in  which  at 
first  Luther  stepped  forward  to  resist  Carl- 
stadt,  and  afterwards  extended  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  reformer  of  Switzerland,  Ulric 
Zwingli,  with  whom  he  had  a  religious 
conference  at  Marburg,  in  1529,  but  which 
led  to  no  satisfactory  result.  They  parted, 
it  is  true,  with  an  improved  opinion  of  each 
other's  merit,  and  Luther  himself  was  in 
hopes  that  the  violence  of  spirit,  which  had 
hitherto  breathed  throughout  their  contro- 
versial writings,  would  now  become  soft- 
ened down  ;  but  the  primary  subject  of 
division  still  retained  its  influence,  and 
presented  an  obstacle  even  to  the  external 
union  of  the  parties  in  a  common  alliance  ; 
so  that  in  fact  it  might  have  led  to  the 
>otal  destruction  of  the  new  church,  if  the 
Catholics  had  availed  themselves  cf  the 
existing  schism  between  them. 


But  among  the  latter,  likewise,  dissen- 
sion prevailed  to  such  an  extent  Jiat,  as  wt 
have  already  seen,  the  dukes  of  Bavaria 
had  even  joined  the  Schmalkaldian  league. 
And,  subsequently,  when  these  princes 
separated  from  it,  and  the  new  church  war 
thus  threatened  with  greater  danger,  the 
strict  Lutheran  party,  by  the  advice  of 
their  chief  himself,  became  reconciled,  foi 
a  time,  with  the  Swiss,  by  a  concordate  of 
Wittenberg,  and  the  towns  of  Switzerland 
as  well  as  several  others  of  Upper  Ger- 
many, joined  the  league.  This  was  one 
of  the  most  important  events  towards  the 
development  of  the  evangelical  church. 

The  propagation  of  the  new  doctrine  in- 
creased rapidly  from  day  to  day.  Several 
bishops  even,  including  those  of  Liibeck, 
Camin,  and  Schwerin,  embraced  the  new 
form  of  worship,  and  the  venerable  Her- 
mann, elector  of  Cologne,  of  whom  we 
shall  speak  more  in  detail  as  we  proceed, 
made  serious  preparations  to  follow  thek 
example. 

One  of  the  most  important  changes, 
however,  took  place  at  this  time  in  the 
Saxon  territories.  The  moiety  of*  these 
provinces,  together  with  the  cities  of  Dres- 
den  and  Leipsic,  belonged  to  Duke  George, 
(by-named  "the  bearded,")  who  was  a 
zealous  adherent  and  defender  of  the  old 
church,  and  who  employed  every  means 
in  his  power  to  prevent  the  introduction 
of  the  new  doctrine  into  his  estates.  His 
two  sons,  however,  died  before  him,  and 
his  brother,  Henry  of  Altenburg,  (father 
of  Maurice,  the  subsequent  duke  and 
elector,)  his  immediate  inheritor,  was,  on 
the  other  hand,  devoted  with  his  whole 
soul  to  the  doctrines  of  Luther.  When, 
therefore,  his  brother  George  died,  in 
April,  1539,  the  first  act  of  Henry's  gov- 
ernment was  to  introduce  the  Reformation 
everywhere  throughout  his  land.  The  ma- 
jority of  his  subjects  submitted  willingly ; 
the  university  of  Leipsic  itself,  after  a  slight 
opposition,  became  completely  changed, 
and  the  most  zealous  of  the  Catholic  theo- 
logian professors,  having  been  removed  and 
discharged  from  their  offices,  were  re- 
placed by  the  partisans  of  the  new  doc- 
trine. 

A  similar  change  took  place  in  Bran- 
denburg,  nearly  about  the  same  time. 
Prince  Joachim  I.,  a  zealous  Catholic; 
having  died  in  1534,  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  Joachim  II.,  who  had  been  educated 


rAIN  ATTEMPTS  AT  RECONCILIATION. 


27? 


b}  his  mother,  a  princess  of  Denmark,  in 
the  principles  of  Luther.  Encouraged  by 
the  example  set  by  the  bishop  of  Branden- 
burg, Matthias  Jagow,  this  prince  sub- 
scribed to  the  Augsburg  confession,  and 
introduced  into  his  country  a  church  ser- 
vice which  retained  some  portion  of  the 
old  form  of  worship,  but  in  the  chief  points 
was  strictly  conformable  with  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  reformed  church. 

The  superiority  which  the  new  doctrine 
was  now  gaining  in  the  north  of  Germany, 
induced  the  venerable  Cardinal  Albert, 
archbishop  of  Mentz,  a  prince  of  the  house 
of  Brandenburg,  to  abstain  from  making 
farther  opposition  to  its  progress  in  his  two 
bishoprics  of  Magdeburg  and  Halberstadt, 
and  withdrawing  to  Mentz,  he  granted  per- 
mission  to  the  states  and  cities  of  those 
provinces,  in  return  for  the  payment  of 
a  considerable  sum  of  money,  to  establish 
their  new  doctrine  and  build  churches,  as 
they  might  deem  best  and  most  advanta- 
geous. 

After  this,  the  more  evil  the  state  of 
things  became,  the  more  strenuous  were 
both  the  emperor  and  his  brother  Ferdinand 
in  their  endeavors  to  reunite  both  parties, 
and  for  this  object  they  established  from 
time  to  time  successive  religious  confer. 
ences  :  at  Hagenau,  in  1540  ;  at  Worms, 
in  1541,  where  Melanchthon  and  Eck  stood 
opposed  to  each  other ;  and  in  the  same 
year  likewise  at  Ratisbon,  at  which  the  em- 
peror himself  presided  and  took  an  active 
part  therein.  All,  however,  was  in  vain  ; 
the  new  doctrine  was  too  widely  separated 
from  the  old,  and  in  it  were  now  involved 
too  many  interests  :  or.  all  sides  too  many 
worldly  considerations  were  brought  into 
operation,  and  amidst  the  wild  party  pas- 
sions and  distractions  of  that  period,  it  was 
impossible  to  obtain  for  the  subject  that 
calm  and  profound  investigation  so  neces- 
sary and  so  desirable. 

These  attempts  at  reconciliation  produ- 
cing little  or  no  result,  the  emperor,  as  usual, 
had  recourse  either  to  a  general  council, 
con  finning  in  the  interval  the  treaty  of 
Nuremberg;  or,  of  his  own  authority,  is- 
suing, even  against  the  voice  of  the  Catho- 
lic majority,  decrees  by  which  all  the 
Protestant  churches  in  the  land  were  re- 
cognised by  the  state.  Thus  it  occurred 
at  the  diet  of  Ratisbon,  in  1541,  before 
Charles's  expedition  to  Algiers  ;  thus  like- 
wise at  Spires,  in  1542,  by  the  mediation 


of  Ferdinand  and  the  elector  of  Branden- 
burg, in  order  to  collect  together  all  the 
forces  of  the  empire  against  the  Turks, 
and  finally,  in  1544,  at  the  second  grand 
diet  in  the  same  city,  at  which  the  emperor 
and  all  the  seven  electors  were  present, 
when  he  prepared  his  second  expedition 
against  Francis  I.  of  France,  and  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken.  The  personal 
relations  between  the  emperor  and  the  two 
Protestant  leaders,  John  Frederick  of  Sax- 
ony and  Philip  of  Hesse,  had  never  been 
upon  a  more  favorable  footing,  so  much  so 
indeed,  that  the  question  of  a  marriage  be- 
tween a  son  of  the  elector  and  a  daughter 
of  Ferdinand  had  already  formed  a  subject 
of  discussion,  while  the  landgrave  received 
from  the  emperor  a  promise  that  in  the 
next  campaign  against  the  Turks  he  should 
be  appointed  commander-in-chief  in  lieu 
of  himself.  And  yet  in  spite  of  all  this, 
the  Protestants  about  this  time  sought  to 
aid  themselves  by  force  of  arms.  Duke 
Henry  the  younger,  of  Brunswick,  a  zeal- 
ous Catholic,  and  of  impatient  and  violenl 
spirit,  was  at  enmhy  with  the  elector  of 
Saxony  and  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  moro 
particularly  on  account  of  their  religion  , 
and  each  party  attacked  the  other  in  fierce 
pamphlets  abounding  in  passionate  invec- 
tive and  furious  abuse.  In  addition  to  this 
the  two  towns  of  Brunswick  and  Goslar, 
which  formed  a  part  of  the  league  of 
Schmalkald,  invoked  the  protection  of  the 
Protestant  provinces  against  their  own 
duke,  who  oppressed  them  in  every  possible 
way,  and  whom  the  emperor  himself  as 
well  as  King  Ferdinand  had  repeatedly, 
although  in  vain,  reproached  for  his  unjust 
violence  against  those  towns.  At  length. 
in  1542,  the  league  raised  an  army,  inva- 
ded the  territory  of  the  duke,  conquered  and 
drove  him  from  the  country,  and  held  pos- 
session thereof.  The  duke  appealed  to  the 
emperor  for  succor ;  he,  however,  only 
referred  the  matter  to  the  consideration  of 
the  next  diet. 

Accordingly  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  held 
in  1545,  it  was  decided  that,  until  the  affair 
was  equitably  adjusted,  the  emperor  should 
hold  the  estates  of  Brunswick  under  his 
own  immediate  dominion.  This  arrange- 
ment, however,  by  no  means  accorded  with 
the  demands  of  the  impatient  and  haughty 
duke,  who  would  willingly  have  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  oarty: 
"  To  pretend  to  make  use  of  threats  in  the 


278 


DUKE  HENRY  OF  BRUNSWICK. 


name  of  the  emperor,  was,"  he  said,  "just 
like  hunting  with  a  dead  falcon."  In  his 
zeal  he  was  misled  into  an  act  for  which  he 
stood  committed  in  the  eyes  of  Francis  I., 
king  of  France.  This  monarch  had  con- 
fided to  his  charge  a  considerable  sum  of 
money,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  a  body 
of  troops  for  his  service  ;  as  soon,  however, 
as  the  duke  had  succeeded  in  this  object  he 
marched  them  into  his  own  duchy,  in  the 
autumn  of  1545,  in  order  to  regain  it  from 
his  enemies.  The  no  less  bold  and  ener- 
getic Landgrave  Philip,  however,  was  soon 
on  the  alert  with  his  army,  and  the  elector 
of  Saxony  with  Duke  Maurice  having 
joined  him  with  their  forces,  they  surround- 
ed the  duke  so  completely  in  his  camp  of 
Calefeld,  near  Nordheim,  that  he  was 
forced  to  yield  himself  a  prisoner,  together 
with  his  son.  The  landgrave  led  them 
away  as  captives  to  the  castle  of  Ziegen- 
hain,  and  the  emperor  took  no  farther  in- 
terest in  the  matter  beyond  advising  him 
to  treat  his  prisoners  with -lenity,  and  ac- 
cording to  their  rank  as  princes. 

Meantime  the  be  fore- mentioned  diet  of 
Worms,  although  it  operated  once  more 
towards  the  maintenance  of  religious  peace, 
presented,  nevertheless,  stronger  indica- 
tions of  the  growing  schism,  and  the  com- 
plaints of  both  parties  became  more  and 
more  urgent.  The  Catholics  did  not  fail 
to  complain  of  the  confiscation  of  their  ec- 
clesiastical 'possessions  in  the  Protestant 
countries,  and  the  Protestants  on  their  side 
refused  to  acknowledge  the  decrees  pro- 
nounced by  the  imperial  chamber  in  these 
and  similar  matters,  inasmuch  as  the  Cath- 
olics would  only  permit  judges  of  the  an- 
cient faith  to  preside  there.  Distrust  had 
now  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  but  a 
small  number  of  Protestant  princes  ap- 
peared at  all  at  the  diet.  The  grand  me- 
dium for  reconciliation,  from  which  Charles 
had  formerly  hoped  so  much,  viz.,  a  gene- 
ral council  of  the  church,  was  now  ineffec- 
tually employed,  for  it  was  now  too  late  to 
resort  to  it,  neither  was  it  regulated  in  a 
just  and  equitable  form.  The  court  of 
Rome  had  eventually  given  its  consent  to 
such  an  assembly,  and  had  convoked  the 
council  for  the  15th  of  March,  1545,  at 
Trent,  in  Tyrol,  which  was  solemnly 
opened  on  the  13th  of  December  of  the 
same  year.  The  Protestants,  however, 
refused  to  recognise  its  authority  for  de- 
ciding in  their  affairs,  giving  as  their  rea- 


sons— that  the  council  was  convoked  OE 
the  frontiers  of  Italy,  in  a  country  total  lv 
unacquainted  with  the  customs  of  Ger- 
many, and  which  consequently  could  nol 
fail  to  have  an  injuriously  preponderating 
influence ;  and  farther,  that  the  pope,  who 
had  already  condemned  them  as  heretics, 
or  at  least  had  treated  them  as  accused  of 
heresy,  presided  at  the  said  council  as  thei 
judge.  If,  therefore,  this  council  was  to 
be  regarded  as  an  independent  one,  they 
must  enjoy  equal  rights  with  the  others. 

Some  time  previously,  Frederick,  the 
elector  palatine,  who  had  then  recently 
gone  over  to  the  new  church  doctrine, 
made  a  proposition  which  might  have  pro- 
duced advantageous  results  if  every  one 
had  been  animated  with  good  faith  and 
influenced  by  pure  principles.  He  pro- 
posed, viz.,  "  to  convoke  a  national  or 
general  council  of  Germany,  and  to  trans- 
mit to  Trent  the  convention  therein  con- 
cluded between  all  parties,  as  being  the 
opinion  of  the  entire  body  of  the  German 
nation."  The  same  idea  had  been  vainly 
suggested,  even  prior  to  this,  by  John 
Frederick  of  Saxony,  who  proposed  that 
the  said  council  should  meet  in  Augsburg. 
This  expedient,  free  from  all  foreign  influ- 
ence, and  by  which  the  nation  would  have 
been  so  represented  as  to  express  its  wants 
fairly  and  directly,  appeared  the  only  one 
which  must  have  proved  beneficial  and 
have  led  to  a  conclusion  of  religious  dis- 
putes. 

The  anxiety  felt  by  the  emperor  and 
the  Catholics,  lest  the  Protestants  should 
acquire  a  superiority  throughout  the  em- 
pire, was  not  without  foundation.  Three 
out  of  the  four  lay-electorate  princes  in 
the  imperial  council,  had  already  adopted 
the  new  doctrine,  (although  the  elector 
palatine  and  the  elector  of  Brandenburg 
had  not  as  yet  joined  the  league  of  Schmal- 
kald,)  and  now  even  one  of  the  three  prel- 
ates, Hermann,  the  venerable  elector  of 
Cologne,  declared  himself  more  and  more 
decidedly  in  favor  of  the  new  cause.  He 
was  desirous,  with  the  sanction  of  his 
states  and  a  portion  of  his  chapter,  to  in- 
troduce into  his  bishopric  the  most  search- 
ing and  important  reforms,  and  had  aU 
ready  entered  upon  the  grand  work  him- 
self, having  invited  Melanchthon  from 
Wittenberg  to  aid  him  therein.  The  uni- 
versity and  the  corporation  of  Cologne, 
however,  together  with  the  opposition  partv 


CHARLES  V.  AND  THE  POPE. 


2711 


of  the  chapter,  were  against  all  such  re- 
forms, and  appealed  to  the  emperor  and 
the  pope  for  their  authority  against  these 
measures.  This  university  had,  previous- 
'y  to  the  Reformation,  in  the  time  of  Jacob 
!  foogstraten,  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
dispute  against  the  humanists,  the  profes- 
and  restorers  of  the  study  of  the  an- 
cient languages,  and  especially  against 
Keuchlin  ;  while  it  was  one  of  the  first  to 
condemn  the  dogmas  of  Luther. 

In  this  increasing  complication  of  affairs, 
where  no  longer  the  least  hope  of  concilia- 
tion remained,  the  emperor,  more  and  more 
urged  to  hostile  measures  by  Rome  and 
Spain,  (the  duke  of  Alba  having  now  ar- 
rived in  Germany  from  the  latter  country,) 
considered  himself  at  length  called  upon — 
however  much,  hitherto,  an  inward  warn- 
ing voice  might  have  restrained  him — to 
employ,  as  a  last  resource,  the  force  of 
arms,  and  thus  promptly  and  definitively 
to  decide  the  question.  His  chancellor, 
Granvclla,  held,  therefore,  secret  council 
with  the  pope's  legate,  Cardinal  Farnese, 
on  the  possibility  of  carrying  on  a  war 
against  the  Protestants  ;  he  gave  him  to 
understand  that  the  pope  must  necessarily 
join  in  active  co-operation,  as  the  emperor 
himself  was  exhausted,  and  the  Catholic 
princes  without  energy  ;  and  the  cardinal, 
in  his  joy  to  find  the  emperor  now  seriously 
determined  to  proceed  to  extremities,  made 
the  most  flattering  promises.  In  order  to 
be  unoccupied  with  any  foreign  enemy, 
Charles  now  concluded  a  truce  with  the 
sultan,  and  with  Francis  I.  he  likewise 
made  peace. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  a  critical  period 
of  CharJes's  life.  In  forming  the  resolu- 
tion to  accomplish  with  the  sword  that 
which  he  had  so  long  endeavored  to  effect 
by  peaceful  means,  he  fell  into  a  great 
error;  falsely  imagining  that  the  mighty 
agitations  of  the  mind  could  be  checked 
and  held  in  chains  by  external  power. 
From  that  moment,  on  the  contrary,  he 
was  himself  vanquished  by  that  very  over- 
whelming epoch,  the  course  of  which,  until 
then,  he  had  appeared  to  direct  and  hold  in 
rein  ;  it  was  henceforward  no  longer  in 
his  power  to  restrain  its  career.  His 
genius,  impaired  with  increasing  years, 
and  over  which,  about  this  time,  the  Jesuits 
had  gained  an  influence  not  to  be  mistaken, 
became  more  and  more  clouded  and  preju- 
diced against  a1 1  that  was  new  and  vigor- 


ous in  life,  and  thus,  in  his  gloomy  and 
morose  spirit,  he  thought  he  was  able  to 
cut  with  the  sharp  edge  of  his  sword  the 
knot  he  found  it  so  difficult  to  ]o 
This  mistaken  idea  of  the  emperor  Charles 
at  the  closing  period  of  his  reign  resemble: 
a  tragedy,  in  which  we  find  a  noble  mint 
forced  to  bend  and  sink  beneath  the  heavj 
burden  to  which  fate  has  subjected  it. 
These  latter  years,  it  is  true,  may  be  in- 
cluded among  the  most  brilliant  of  his  life, 
by  their  external  successes  produced  so 
rapidly  ;  but  it  was  precisely  this  good 
fortune  which  made  him  lose  sight  of  the 
exact  point  of  moderation  which,  down  to 
this  moment,  he  had  so  happily  main- 
tained, and  whence  he  was  soon  laid  low 
by  the  iron  hand  of  destiny,  and  all  his 
plans,  formed  with  so  much  trouble  and 
anxiety,  completely  annihilated.  Nothing 
else  now  remained  for  him,  but  to  collect 
his  reduced  powers  in  order  to  withdraw 
in  time  from  the  whirlpool  before  him,  and, 
while  he  threw  aside  the  shining  brilliancy 
of  earthly  grandeur,  to  preserve  at  least 
the  independence  of  his  spirit.  And,  as- 
suredly, by  this  last  resolution,  of  which 
subsequently  we  shall  speak  more  fully, 
the  emperor  Charles  secured  to  himself 
his  dignity  as  a  man  while  he  conciliated 
the  voice  of  posterity. 

Shortly  previous  to  the  commencement 
of  the  sanguinary  war  of  religion,  Luther, 
the  founder  of  the  grand  struggle,  breathed 
his  last.  He  had  used  all  the  weight  of 
his  power  and  influence  in  order  to  dis- 
suade his  party  from  mixing  external  force 
with  that  which  ought  only  to  have  its  seat 
within  the  calm  profundity  of  the  soul  ; 
and,  indeed,  as  long  as  he  lived,  this  ener- 
getic reformer  was  the  warm  advocate  for 
the  maintenance  of  peace.  He  repeatedly 
reminded  the  princes  that  his  doctrine  was 
foreign  to  their  warlike  weapons,  and  he 
beheld  with  pain  and  distress,  in  the  latter 
years  of  his  life,  the  growing  temporal  di- 
rection given  to  the  holy  cause,  and  the 
increasing  hostility  of  parties,  whence  he 
augured  nothing  good.  Providence,  how- 
ever, spared  him  from  witnessing  the  final 
and  disastrous  course  of  events.  He  had 
suffered  from  severe  illness  for  several 
years,  and  during  a  journey  he  had  under- 
taken, in  the  year  1546,  to  Eisleben,  in 
order  to  settle  a  dispute  between  the  earls 
of  Mansfeld,  he  was  seized  with  a  fresh 
stroke  of  illness,  and  died  on  the  16th  of 


880 


LEAGUE  OF  SCHMALKALD. 


February  of  that  year,  at  the  age  of  sixty 
three  after  having  repeated  once  more 
with  his  dying  breath,  that  he  had  livec 
and  now  died  in  the  firm  belief  of  Christ 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  His  body  was 
conveyed  in  solemn  state  to  Wittenberg 
where  it  was  placed  in  tne  vault  of  the 
royal  chapel  of  the  castle. 

While  the  d'et  of  Ratisbon  was  still  sit 
ting,  in  1546,  where  for  the  last  time  the 
Protestants  urged,  viz.  "  A  lasting  peace 
and  equal  rights  for  the  evangelical  anc 
Catholic  estates,  together  with  an  equitable 
council  of  the  German  nation,"  the  empe- 
ror had  already  collected  an  army,  anc 
concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  the 
pope.  He  determined,  in  combination  with 
the  Holy  See,  to  adopt  extreme  measures 
against  Hermann,  the  archbishop  of  Co- 
logne, who  was  at  once  formally  depos 
from  his  electorate.  This  and  other  acts 
alarmed  the  confederates  of  Schmalkald 
and  they  demanded  from  the  emperor  the 
object  of  his  military  preparations.  He  re- 
plied briefly  :  "  That  all  those  who  submit- 
ted to  his  authority  would  find  him  influ- 
enced by  the  same  gracious,  paternal,  and 
good  intentions  he  had  hitherto  shown  ;  but 
on  the  other  hand,  all  such  as  acted  in  op- 
position to  him  must  expect  to  be  treated 
with  the  greatest  severity."  And  shortly 
after  this,  when  the  messenger  returned 
from  Rome  with  the  treaty  signed  by  the 
pope,  he  issued  his  declaration  of  the  26th 
of  June,  1546  :  "  That  as  hitherto  all  the 
diets  had  produced  no  effect,  it  was  his  de- 
sire that  all  should  await  with  patience 
the  determination  he  might  adopt  upon  the 
subject  of  religion,  whether  for  peace  or 
war."  This  declaration  showed  evidently 
that  it  was  the  emperor's  intention  to  have 
recourse  to  war,  and  the  Schmalkaldian 
league  immediately  prepared  to  take  up 
arms  in  their  defence.  The  marked  con- 
trast, however,  between  the  two  great  lead- 
ers held  out  but  little  prospect  of  brilliant 
results. 

The  elector  of  Saxony,  who  adhered  to 
his  faith  with  his  whole  soul,  and  was  but 
little  influenced  by  any  thing  external  be- 
yond it,  would  not  for  a  moment  admit  any 
political  calculation  to  connect  itself  with 
his  cause,  b«]t  rested  solely  upon  his  con- 
viction, "  That  God  would  not  forsake  His 
gospel."  Previously,  he  had  already  refus- 
ed the  alliance  of  the  kings  of  England  and 
France,  because  they  both  appeared  to  him 


unworthy  to  defend  the  doctrines  he  held  1C 
be  the  most  pure,  and  he  even  considered 
that  he  was  bound  to  refuse  the  co-operation 
of  the  Swiss,  because  they  deviated  from 
him  in  their  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Eucharist.  The  elector,  whose  ideas  were 
extremely  circumscribed,  had  never  for  a 
moment  suspected  the  existence  of  the  plans 
so  long  contemplated  by  the  emperor ;  on 
the  contrary,  he  always  continued  to  nour- 
ish in  his  heart,  even  to  the  last  moment 
the  most  sincere  and  genuine  veneration 
for  the  ancient  sacred  name  and  person  of 
the  emperor.  And,  indeed,  had  it  not  been 
for  his  able  chancellor,  Bruck,  to  whom  he 
confided  every  thing,  and  who,  fortunately, 
knew  better  than  himself  how  to  bring  into 
connection  the  maxims  of  state  policy  with 
the  strict  principles  of  religion,  so  firmly 
advocated  by  his  master,  the  league  would 
have  suffered  still  more  severely. 

Philip  of  Hesse  was  not  wanting  either 
in  attachment  and  zeal  for  his  faith ;  but 
there  were  other  motives  besides  of  an  ex- 
ternal character  by  which  he  was  influ- 
enced in  the  part  he  had  chosen.  He  had 
from  the  first  been  excited  by  the  most 
burning  ambition,  and  had  it  not  so  hap- 
pened that  a  combination  of  events  had  cut 
him  off*  from  all  friendly  connection  with 
the  imperial  throne,  he  would  doubtless 
have  occupied  a  distinguished  position  among 
the  counsellors  and  generals  of  the  emperor. 
Finding  himself,  however,  placed  by  fate 
at  the  head  of  the  opposite  party,  his  bold 
and  enterprising  genius  prompted  him  to 
employ  every  expedient  against  the  empe- 
ror ;  and  for  which  purpose  he  was  gifted 
with  powers  far  more  comprehensive  than 
the  elector  of  Saxony.  He  would  willingly, 
in  several  cases,  have  taken  up  arms  where 
he  circumstances  were  favorable,  in  order 
to  obtain  for  himself  arid  his  co-religionists 
at  once  those  rights  for  which  they  were 
otherwise  forced  to  wait  until  granted  them 
>y  the  emperor.  We  have  seen  already 
low  he  twice  boldly  took  the  field  at  all 
lazards,  at  one  time  in  favor  of  Ulric  of 
Wurtemberg,  and  at  another  against  the 
duke  of  Brunswick ;  but  whenever  he 
urged  the  policy  of  undertaking  more  ex- 
ensive  expeditions,  he  found  himself  al- 
ways checked  by  the  elector,  who  was  ever 
anxious  not  to  infringe  the  laws ;  whence 
t  was  alone  the  common  danger  which 
leld  in  union  two  minds  so  different  in  cha- 
racter, and  almost  wholly  opposed  to  each 


MAURICE  OF  SAXONY. 


281 


her.  This  inequality  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing, however,  could  not  fail  to  produce  ne- 
cessarily great  confusion  and  opposition  in 
moments  of  decisive  action. 

This  was  the  weak  side  of  the  Schrnal- 
kaldian  league  ;  but  for  this,  its  power  un- 
der good  and  wisely-concerted  direction, 
would  have  been  sufficiently  effective  to 
have  obtained  complete  success  in  a  legiti- 


mate defence 


against 


the 


emperor. 


And 


in  such  case,  to  have  proceeded  upon  the 
principle  and  feeling  with  which  the  elec- 
tor of  Saxony  acted,  would  have  been 
highly  praiseworthy  and  honorable ;  for 
thence  the  Protestant  party  would  have 
been  able  to  defend  its  liberty  of  faith  with 
advantage,  without  the  interference  of 
foreigners,  which  was  always  destructive 
to  Germany ;  it  would  have  preserved  the  re- 
spect and  reverence  due  to  the  imperial  ma- 
jesty so  long,  at  least,  as  the  latter  did  not 
transgress  the  limits  of  justice,  and  with- 
out having  recourse  to  the  dishonest  arti- 
fices of  that  policy  which  honors  truth  in 
proportion  only  as  it  accords  with-  its  own 
interest.  But  the  league  was  unhappily 
devoid  of  unity  of  action  and  cordial  co- 
operation, as  well  as  in  fixity  of  purpose  in 
the  execution  of  its  plans.  A  considerable 
number  of  princes  ha'd  refused  to  join  its 
ranks,  and  even  opposed  it  by  attaching 
themselves  to  the  emperor's  party.  Mau- 
rice, the  young  duke  of  Saxony,  although 
himself  a  Protestant  and  cousin  of  the  elec- 
tor, as  well  as  heir  to  the  Landgrave  Philip, 
was  in  secret  communication  with  the  empe- 
ror ;  while  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
John  of  Kiistrin,  abandoned  the  league, 
and  Albert  of  Baireuth  also  openly  enter- 
ing the  service  of  the  emperor,  acted  with 
him  in  concert  against  it. 

Maurice  of  Saxony  was  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  and  distinguished  men  of  his 
day.  Young,  bold,  and  active,  he  already 
possessed  the  keen  glance  and  quick  con- 
ception of  the  more  experienced  warrior, 
and  had  at  command  that  searching,  com- 
prehensive view  of  circumstances  which  en- 
abled him  to  execute  his  purposes  with 
characteristic  promptitude.  His  whole  ap- 
pearance, likewise,  displayed  the  perfect 
man  ;  and  his  eye  of  fire  and  penetration, 
together  with  the  entire  expression  of  his 
noble,  daring  countenance,  indicated  his  he- 
roic character.  The  emperor  Charles 
himself,  who  always  ranked  the  Germans 
far  behind  his  subjects  of  the  southern 


climes,  and  accordingly  held  but  few  of 
them  in  much  respect,  soon  learned  to  know 
the  young  duke's  character,  and  quickly 
penetrating  into  all  that  was  grand  and  no- 
ble in  his  nature,  he  singled  him  out  at 
once  as  worthy  of  especial  regard  and  es- 
teem beyond  all  his  other  courtiers. 

Maurice,  whose  keen  glance  penetrated 
far  more  deeply  into  future  events  than  that 
of  his  cousin  the  elector,  discovered  very 
soon  that  the  latter  could  not  possibly  main- 
tain  the  contest  against  the  superior  address 
and  tact  of  the  emperor,  and  he  accordingly 
formed  at  once  the  resolution  of  making 
himself  the  chief  of  the  house  of  Saxony. 
In  doing  this,  he  may,  perhaps,  have  justi- 
fied himself  by  the  plea,  that  there  was  no 
other  means  of  saving  it ;  still  his  justice 
and  truth  were  put  thereby  severely  to  the 


league 


of 


test.  He  would  not  join  the 
Schmalkald  because  he  wished  to  attach 
himself  to  the  emperor  and  preserve  his 
alliance  until,  by  the  attainment  of  his  ob- 
ject, he  should  be  at  liberty  to  act  with 
independence. 

On  the  formation  of  the  league  he  gave 
his  advice  against  it,  and  when  invited  to 
join  it,  he  refused  and  declared  that  he 
would  only  take  up  arms  in  defence  of  his 
own  lands.  He  was,  however,  already,  at 
the  moment  he  made  this  declaration,  in 
secret  understanding  with  the  emperor  ;  but 
to  what  extent  and  how  closely  he  was 
allied,  and  under  what  stipulations,  has  not 
been  clearly  shown :  unfortunately,  howev- 
er, there  is  every  probability  to  suppose  that 
the  reward  held  out  to  him  was  the  pros- 
pect of  receiving  the  electorate.  Such 
being  the  case,  what  an  inward  struggle 
must  it  have  cost  him,  and  how  painfully 
must  it  have  agitated  his  whole  soul,  when 
the  unsuspecting  elector,  just  before  he  set 
out  on  his  expedition  against  the  emperor, 
confided  into  his  hands  'the  whole  of  his 
lands,  in  order  to  protect  and  watch  over 
them  as  his  substitute  during  his  absence, 
to  be  faithfully  restored  to  him  on  his  return ! 
Nevertheless,  no  external  sign  betrayed 
this  inward  contention,  and  wisdom  tri- 
umphed  over  truth  ;  and  in  order  not  to  be- 
tray himself,  he  accepted  the  protectorate 
of  the  electoral  territories. 

The  emperor  exerted  every  effort  in  or- 
der that  the  approaching  war  should  not 
assume  the  character  of  a  purely  religious 
war.  In  a  proclamation  to  the  principal 
Protestant  cities,  Strasburg,  Nuremberg 


THE  HOLY  WAK 


Augsburg,  and  Ulm,  printed  in  Ratisbon, 
he  assures  them  positively :  "  That  the 
preparations  for  war  made  by  his  imperial 
majesty,  were  by  no  means  adopted  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  either  religion  or 
liberty,  but  solely  in  order  to  bring  to  sub- 
mission a  few  obstinate  princes,  who,  under 
the  cloak  of  religion,  sought  to  seduce  over 
to  their  party  other  members  of  the  holy 
empire,  and  who  had  lost  all  sense  of  jus- 
tice and  order,  as  well  as  respect  for  the 
imperial  dignity." 

The  straightforward  good  sense  of  the 
German  citizens,  told  them  plainly  that  a 
part  of  this  proclamation  was  nothing  but 
mere  empty  words,  while  they  felt  the  dan- 
ger with  which  they  were  themselves  threat- 
ened by  the  overthrow  of  the  princes. 
They  held  themselves,  therefore,  firmly  at- 
tached to  their  league  with  the  Protestant 
states.  An  unexpected  event  which  now 
took  place  rendered  perfectly  useless  all  the 
pains  that  Charles  had  taken  to  conceal  the 
object  in  view.  He  had  scarcely  concluded 
his  alliance  with  the  pope,  the  nature  of 
which  was  exactly  the  opposite  of  what  he 
had  so  lately  assured  the  cities  in  ques- 
tion, when  the  pope  made  it  publicly  known, 
and  issued  a  bull  throughout  Germany,  in 
which  he  represented  the  emperor's  expedi- 
tion as  a  holy  undertaking  for  the  cause  of 
religion:  "  The  vineyard  of  the  Lord,"  it 
says  therein,  "  shall  now  be  purified,  by 
fire  and  sword,  of  all  the  weeds  which  have 
been  sown  by  the  heretics  throughout  the 
Germanic  empire."  By  the  terms  of  the 
compact  itself,  the  pope  promised  to  assist 
the  emperor  with  twelve  thousand  Italian 
foot-soldiers,  and  fifteen  hundred  light  caval- 
ry troops,  which  he  undertook  to  maintain 
at  his  own  cost  for  the  space  of  six  months. 
Besides  this,  he  gave  two  hundred  thousand 
crowns  towards  the  general  outlay  of  the 
war,  and  authorized  the  emperor  to  draw 
the  moiety  of  the  revenues  from  the  ecclesi- 
astical possessions  in  Spain,  and  to  dispose 
of  Spanish  monastic  property  to  the  amount 
of  five  hundred  thousand  scucli.  In  return 
for  which  Charles  promised  :  "  That  he 
would  compel,  by  force  of  arms,  all  the 
rebels  in  Germany  to  return  to  their  obe- 
dience to  the  holy  chair  of  Rome  ;  that  he 
would  restore  the  ancient  religion,  and  that, 
without  the  consent  of  the  holy  father,  he 
would  enter  into  no  treaty  with  those  of  the 
new  heresy,  that  might  be  disadvantageous 
or  injurious  to  the  Romish  church." 


Thus  this  manifesto,  contrary  to  the  wish 
of  Charles,  gave  a  religious  character  to 
the  war,  and  such  was  the  pope's  desire. 
In  the  Protestant  countries,  however,  thp 
most  bitter  and  indescribable  exasperatioi 
was  excited,  and  if  the  leaders  had  onh 
known  how  to  avail  themselves  of  that  mo 
ment,  by  directing  the  entire  strength  of 
the  mass  thus  aroused,  the  emperor,  with 
his  Spaniards  and  Italians,  must  have  been 
completely  overcome.  For  the  other  Ger- 
man princes,  and  even  the  Catholic  princes, 
held  themselves  generally  quiet ;  dreading 
lest,  after  overthrowing  the  Protestants,  the 
emperor  would  exercise  sole  dominion  ove* 
the  whole  empire. 

The  army  furnished  by  the  cities  of 
Upper  Germany  marched  first  into  the 
field;  a  well-appointed  and  select  body  ol 
troops  under  the  command  of  a  man  dis- 
tinguished for  his  military  skill  and  well- 
tried  experience,  Sebastian  Schiirtlin  of 
'Burtenbach,  near  Augsburg.  This  brave 
officer  and  knight  was  remarkable  for  his 
resolution  and  firm,  undeviating  principles 
of  action ;  he  would  never  brook  half 
measures,  but  always  manoeuvred  for  the 
total  defeat  and  destruction  of  his  enemy. 
He  had  served  in  all  the  campaigns  against 
the  Turks  and  the  French,  and  had  shared 
in  the  battle  of  Pavia  and  the  storming  of 
Rome  under  the  duke  of  Bourbon.  He 
was  now  soon  joined  by  the  corps  of  Ulric, 
duke  of  Wurtemberg,  under  the  command 
of  the  brave  John  of  Heydeck.  Schiirtlin 
speedily  drew  up  his  plan  of  the  war,  ac- 
cording to  which  he  commenced  operations 
by  at  once  seeking  to  annihilate  the  em- 
peror's forces  at  the  very  onset  of  theii 
formation  ;  for  Charles,  who  still  remained 
stationary  in  Ratisbon,  had  as  yet  at  the 
utmost  only  from  eight  to  ten  thousand 
men,  while  he  still  awaited  the  troops  col- 
lecting in  Germany  and  those  that  were 
marching  to  his  aid  from  Italy  and  the 
Netherlands. 

Schurtlin  advanced  against  the  town  of 
Fuessen  on  the  river  Lech,  in  Swabia,  one 
of  the  principal  military  depots  of  the  em- 
peror ;  but  the  troops  on  his  approach  evac- 
uated the  place,  and  retired  into  Bavaria, 
and  just  as  he  was  about  to  march  in  pur- 
suit of  them,  a  messenger  arrived  from  the 
council  of  the  city  of  Augsburg,  in  whose  ser- 
vice he  was  more  especially  engaged,  with 
instructions  not  to  enter  the  territory  uf  the 
duke  of  Bavaria,  who  was  a  neutral  power 


DIVISION  AMONG  THE  LEADERS 


233 


The  house  of  Bavaria  had  threatened  to 
joir.  th^  emperor  in  case  they  did  not  leave 
his  country  unmolested  ;  at  the  same  time  it 
may  be  observed,  that  if  it  was  resolved  to  re- 
main  entirely  neutral,  it  ought  assuredly  not 
to  have  permitted  the  troops  of  the  emperor 
to  pass  through  its  territory.  But  there 
was  at  that  moment  a  secret  compact  con- 
eluded  between  the  Bavarian  house  and 
the  emperor,  by  which  the  former  agreed 
to  furnish  at  least  a  certain  contribution  in 
money.  It  was,  therefore,  with  no  little 
pain  and  mortification  that  Schiirtlin  found 
himself  thus  suddenly  checked  and  forced 
.o  make  a  halt  on  the  very  banks  of  the 
river  Lech,  without  being  permitted  to 
cross  it  and  destroy  the  enemy  thus  slip- 
ping through  his  fingers;  especially  as  his 
plans  embraced  far  more  important  and 
decisive  results,  it  being  his  determination, 
after  having  defeated  the  troops  now  before 
him,  to  have  proceeded  by  forced  marches 
on  tt/  Ratisbon  itself.  The  army  there 
collected  being  but  small,  the  emperor 
would  have  been  forced  to  take  to  flight," in 
which  case  he  must  have  lost  the  whole  of 
Upper  Germany.  Referring  to  this  sub- 
ject Schiirtlin  wrote :  "  That  assuredly 
Hannibal  himself  had  not  experienced  great- 
er regret  and  mortification,  when  compelled 
to  withdraw  from  Italy,  than  he  had  en- 
dured when  forced  at  that  moment  to  retire 
from  the  Bavarian  territory." 

The  brave  Schiirtlin  now  proceeded  at 
once  to  carry  into  execution  the  plan  he 
had  formed  immediately  after  the  failure 
of  his  first  project,  and  which  was  to 
oppose  the  march  of  the  pope's  troops 
across  the  Tyrolese  mountains  into  Ger- 
many. 

Never  had  such  a  well-appointed  army 
been  formed  in  Italy  as  that  which  now 
marched  forth  to  join  the  emperor's  force; 
the  soldiers,  under  chiefs  long  distinguished 
for  courage  and  experience,  being  all  uni- 
ted in  one  zealous,  enthusiastic  feeling 
against  the  Protestants.  Schiirtlin,  by  for- 
ced marches,  soon  gained  the  passes  and 
made  himself  master  of  the  important  de- 
file of  Ehrenberg.  Thence  he  marched- 
against  Inspruck,  and  had  he  been  allowed 
to  proceed,  would  have  obtained  his  object 
and  commanded  the  whole  country ;  but 
here  he  received  fresh  orders  from  the 
leaders  of  the  league,  by  whom  he  was 
now  instructed  to  evacuate  the  land,  inas- 
much as  King  Ferdinand,  to  whom  it  be- 


longed, had  not  as  yet  declared  war  against 
the  Schmalkaldian  league.  Thus  was 
evinced  already,  even  at  the  commence- 
ment of  operations,  all  that  doubt  and  fear 
among  the  confederates  whence  might  easily 
be  foreseen  the  most  unfortunate  and  dis- 
astrous results.  For  it  was  the  height  of 
folly  and  madness,  after  the  war  had 
become  inevitable,  to  show  consideratioi 
towards  those  who,  although  as  yet  no 
declared  enemies,  were  nevertheless  known 
to  be  decidedly  hostile.  Nevertheless,  the 
general  was  obliged  again  to  obey  superior 
orders,  and  was  thus  unable  to  avail  him- 
self  of  the  advantages  he  already  possess- 
ed, or  might  at  any  future  period  gain. 

Meantime,  the  Saxon  and  Hessian  troops 
were  brought  into  the  field,  and  directed 
their  march  towards  Upper  Germany.  The 
two  chiefs  of  the  league  addressed,  on  the 
4th  of  July,  a  letter  to  the  emperor  as  fol- 
lows :  "  That  they  were  not  conscious  of 
having  committed  any  act  of  disobedience, 
for  which  they  had  been  accused  by  the 
emperor.  If,  however,  they  had  laid  them- 
selves open  to  such  reproach,  it  was  only 
just  and  equitable  that  they  should  be 
heard  beforehand  ;  and  if  this  did  take 
place,  then  they  would  make  it  clear  in 
the  eyes  of  all,  that  the  emperor  undertook 
the  war  merely  at  the  instigation  of  the 
pope,  in  order  to  oppress  and  crush  the 
doctrine  of  the  evangelists,  and  the  liberty 
of  the  Germanic  empire."  This  last  and 
most  grave  accusation,  now  made  for  the 
first  time  against  the  emperor  by  his  oppo- 
nents, was  soon  eagerly  caught  at  and 
disseminated  throughout  the  world.  This 
one  sentence,  if  it  was  held  to  be  truly 
expressed,  must  have  produced  a  startling 
change  even  in  the  Roman  Catholics  them- 
selves, have  subdued  all  their  zeal,  and 
rendered  them  less  desirous  to  behold  the 
emperor  succeed  in  overcoming  his  ad- 
versaries. 

Charles,  indeed,  immediately  afterwards, 
by  committing  a  most  rash  act,  appeared 
to  confirm  the  accusation  thus  made  against 
him  ;  for  when  the  document  from  the 
leaders  of  the  league  was  laid  before  him, 
he  would  not  even  touch  it,  but  proceeded 
at  once,  on  the  20th  of  July,  to  reply  to  il 
by  a  declaration  of  the  imperial  ban  against 
the  two  princes  of  Saxony  and  Hesse.  He 
therein  charged  them  with  disobedience  to 
the  imperial  authority,  and  a  design  to  "  de- 
prive him  of  his  crown,  his  sceotre,  and  all 


884 


THE  IMPERIAL  CAMP. 


authority,  in  order  to  invest  themselves 
therewith,  and  finally  to  subjugate  every 
one  to  their  tyrannical  power."  He  called 
them  "rebels,  perjurers,  and  traitors,"  and 
absolved  their  subjects  from  all  obligation 
of  homage  and  obedience  to  them.  Thus 
severely  did  he  express  himself  in  reply  to 
their  address,  although  quite  in  conformity 
with  the  excitement  and  violence  of  that 
turbulent  period.  By  this,  his  ast  act, 
however,  the  emperor  violated  the  ancient 
rights  of  the  empire,  according  to  which  he 
was  not  empowered  to  declare  the  ban 
against  any  state,  without  the  council  and 
judgment  of  the  princes.  No  exact  esti- 
mate, therefore,  can  be  made  of  the  extent 
to  which  the  emperor  might  have  been  car- 
ried, had  circumstances  continued  favor- 
able ;  for  to  minds  like  his,  which  subject 
themselves  entirely  to  the  dictates  and 
guidance  of  prudence,  circumstances  con- 
stitute the  only  measure  of  restriction. 
They  undertake  only  what  appears  to  them 
practicable,  and  Charles  accordingly  was 
cautious  in  not  attempting  to  do  that  which 
he  could  not  complete.  He  held  the  sway 
over  so  many  extensive  states,  and  had  op- 
posed to  him  so  many  powerful  adversaries 
in  Europe,  that  he  felt  it  quite  impossible 
to  devote  that  continual  and  exclusive  care 
to  Germany,  which  a  plan  of  absolute  sov- 
ereignty, to  be  carried  out  successfully, 
strictly  demanded  ;  whence  he  wisely  ab- 
stained from  the  attempt.  Nevertheless, 
Charles  gave  ample  evidence  of  his  char- 
acter as  a  proud  and  mighty  emperor,  and 
the  ruler  of  half  the  world,  by  acting  in 
particular  circumstances,  when  everything 
depended  upon  prompt  measures  of  execu- 
tion, independent  of  all  forms  of  law ; 
whence  it  may  be  said  that  the  violation  of 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  empire  rested 
more  in  his  intentions  than  in  his  plans. 

Meantime  he  entered  upon  this  opening 
scene  of  the  Schmalkaldian  war  in  con- 
scious superiority  of  mind  and  true  heroic 
independence.  Although  having  at  com- 
mand but  a  small  body  of  troops,  and  threat- 
ened by  an  army  of  at  least  fifty  thousand 
men,  the  most  complete  and  formidable 
force  that  Germany  had  produced  for  sev- 
eral years,  he  only  replied  to  the  decla- 
ration of  the  princes  by  the  said  document 
of  excommunication,  and  then  proceeded 
from  Ratisbon  to  Landshut  in  order  to  be 
more  immediately  at  hand  to  receive  the 
succore  marching  from  Italy.  To  re- 


move, however,  all  doubt  or  fear  frcm  the 
minds  of  his  partisans,  he  declared  to  them 
that  he  would  never  abandon  the  German 
soil,  but  would  adhere  to  it  living  or  dead, 
His  best  guarantee  was  the  state  of  dissen- 
sion existing  in  the  camp  of  the  allies. 
Schartlin  with  the  municipal  troops  had 
now  joined  the  army  of  the  two  disunited 
princes.  The  citizen-general  now  advised 
that  they  should  march  with  their  combined 
forces  against  Landshut,  and  there  surround 
the  emperor  at  once  ;  but,  as  usual,  they 
could  come  to  no  determination,  and  the 
valuable  opportunity  was  lost  once  more. 
The  emperor,  on  the  contrary,  lost  no  time 
in  making  the  most  of  these  valuable  mo- 
ments ;  he  collected  around  him  all  the 
reinforcements  as  they  arrived  from  Italy 
and  Spain,  as  well  as  the  auxiliary  troops 
from  Germany,  and  when  he  found  him- 
self in  sufficient  strength,  he  ascended  the 
banks  of  the  Danube  as  far  as  Ingolstadt. 
There  he  encamped,  and  strongly  fortified 
himself;  for  as  yet  he  could  not  venture 
to  enter  the  open  field  and  attack  the  ene- 
my, preferring  to  wait  the  arrival  of  Count 
Buren,  who  was  advancing  to  join  him  with 
a  considerable  body  of  troops  from  the 
Netherlands.  The  allies  had  followed  him 
to  his  present  position,  and  now  they  at 
length  determined  to  attack  his  camp,  as 
yet  not  quite  secured,  with  their  artillery, 
and  thus  force  him  to  draw  up  in  line  ol 
battle. 

Accordingly,  on  the  31st  of  August,  they 
advanced  at  break  of  day,  and  forming 
themselves  into  a  half  circle,  occupied  all 
the  heights  in  the  rear  of  the  camp  with 
their  planted  cannon.  The  allied  troops 
were  animated  with  courage  and  a  desire 
for  battle  ;  and  at  this  favorable  moment, 
a  bold  and  decisive  assault,  conducted  with 
prompt  and  energetic  effect,  would  have 
produced  for  the  allies  an  easy,  but  com- 
plete and  glorious  victory.  For  the  em- 
peror was  far  inferior  in  force,  and  his 
camp  was  as  yet  only  defended  by  a  sim- 
ple trench.  The  idea  of  such  an  assault 
was  not  unthought  of  by  the  allies ;  ac- 
cording to  some  accounts  the  Landgrave 
Philip,  according  to  others  General  Schurt- 
lin,  had  suggested  it  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  fire  from  his  twelve  heavy  can- 
nons was  dealing  destruction  among  th< 
emperor's  Spanish  arquebusiers,  and  sent 
them  back  flying  into  the  camp.  But  again 
this  time  irresolution  and  disunion  amon^ 


THE  IMPERIAL  FREE  CITIES. 


jhe  leaders  rendered  futile  the  decision 
which  ought  to  have  been  put  into  force 
mmediately.  The  emperor,  who  with  the 
greatest  sang  froid  encouraged  his  troops, 
and  himself  defied  all  danger,  now  gained 
time  to  complete  the  fortifications  of  his 
camp,  and  was  soon  enabled  to  witness  in 
perfect  security  how  vain  were  the  efforts 
of  the  enemy  to  point  their  cannon  with  any 
effect  against  him.  From  this  moment 
Schartlin,  as  he  himself  relates,  placed  no 
longer  faith  in  this  war,  "  for  he  saw  no 
serious  efforts  made  to  render  it  an  honor- 
able and  legitimate  war." 

The  princes  continued  during  five  entire 
days  to  cannonade  the  imperial  camp,  with- 
out producing  any  desired  result;  and 
when  they  heard  that  Count  Buren,  with 
his  auxiliary  troops  from  the  Netherlands 
nad  already  crossed  the  Rhine,  they  raised 
the  siege,  and  suddenly  retired  with  their 
whole  army  in  order  to  march  against  him. 
The  emperor  could  scarcely  believe  his 
eyes,  when  he  beheld  the  powerful  army 
of  his  enemy  thus  retire  without  having  ef- 
fected any  thing,  and  mounting  his  horse 
he  rode  out  of  his  camp  escorted  by  the 
duke  of  Alba  and  others  of  his  staff,  to  ob- 
serve their  retreat  more  closely. 

Meantime  the  princes,  notwithstanding 
their  rapid  march,  were  unable  to  prevent 
the  junction  of  Count  Buren  with  the  em-' 
peror,  who  being  now  so  much  reinforced, 
proceeded  at  once  to  march  in  advance, 
taking  possession  of  one  place  after  an- 
other along  the  Danube,  and  making  him- 
self complete  master  of  that  river.  When 
at  length  he  approached  and  threatened 
Augsburg,  the  citizens  summoned  their 
general,  Schartlin,  to  their  aid  and  protec- 
tion. The  allies,  however,  notwithstanding 
they  had  not  understood  properly  how  to 
avail  themselves  of  their  superiority,  main- 
tained the  war  by  an  obstinate  resistance 
until  November,  so  that  the  emperor  could 
not  bring  them  to  a  general  action  ;  while, 
in  the  mean  time,  the  Spaniards  and  Ital- 
ians of  his  army  already  suffered  greatly 
from  disease  and  fatigue. 

The  allies  suffered  likewise  from  severe 
weather,  to  which  was  added  the  want  of 
supplies,  both  in  provisions  and  money,  and 
the  army  now  began  to  show  signs  of  dis- 
couragement and  dejection,  because  the 
leaders  were  incapable  of  inspiring  confi- 
dence ;  the  Swabian  division  of  the  army 
was  more  especially  disgusted  with  the 


war,  because  the  whole  burden  was  thrown 
upon  its  shoulders,  while  the  two  armies 
had  now  been  encamped  face  to  face  foi 
more  than  six  weeks,  without  doing  any 
thing.  The  princes  at  length  sent  a 
dispatch  to  the  imperial  camp,  in  which 
they  declared  themselves  ready  to  negoti- 
ate for  peace,  or  at  least  a  suspension  of 
arms.  By  this  act,  however,  they  only 
betrayed  and  acknowledged  at  once  their 
weakness,  and  yielded  themselves  as  con- 
quered without  striking  a  blow.  Rejoicing 
triumphantly,  the  emperor  commanded  the 
document  to  be  read  before  the  whole  army 
drawn  up  in  order  of  battle,  and  in  full  of 
all  reply,  he  briefly  announced  to  th* 
princes,  through  the  margrave  of  Branden 
burg :  "  That  his  majesty  knew  of  no 
other  way  by  which  peace  was  to  bt 
restored,  except  by  the  submission  of  tht 
electors  themselves,  and  their  adherents  tc 
the  imperial  authority,  together  with  theii 
entire  army,  their  lands,  and  subjects." 

Upon  receiving  this  reply,  the  allied 
princes  broke  up  and  separated  on  the  22<? 
of  November,  at  Giengen,  and  each  re 
turned  to  his  own  territories. 

The  presence  of  the  elector  of  Saxony 
had  been  more  especially  claimed  by  his 
country  through  a  message  dispatched  to 
him  in  his  camp,  announcing  that  Duke 
Maurice  had,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
small  places,  taken  entire  possession  of  the 
whole  land.  For  the  emperor  had  author- 
ized his  brother  Ferdinand,  as  king  of  Bo- 
hemia, to  execute,  in  conjunction  with 
Duke  Maurice,  the  sentence  of  the  ban  ad- 
judged against  the  elector  ;  and  such  was 
the  position  of  affairs,  that  it  appeared,  if 
Maurice  did  not  himself  take  immediate 
possession  of  the  electorate,  it  would  most 
probably  be  lost  forever.  Such  at  least 
was  the  representation  made  by  Maurice 
when  he  summoned  together  the  states  of 
the  country,  in  order  to  obtain  their  sanc- 
tion for  such  proceeding  ;  for  without  that 
he  could  not  have  commenced  upon  such 
an  important  undertaking.  He  employed 
all  his  powers  of  speech  and  argument,  ir 
order  to  give  his  conduct  and  wishes  tht 
semblance  of  right  and  justice.  The  sud 
den  arrival,  however,  of  Ferdinand,  with 
his  Hungarian  light  cavalry,  which  he  had 
brought  with  him  from  Bohemia,  produced 
the  decided  effect ;  their  savage  appear- 
ance spread  universal  terror,  and  it  was 
regarded  as  a  happy  relief  to  yield  to  the 


286 


THE  CITIES  SURRENDER. 


Saxon  warriors  of  Maurice.  The  entire 
electorate,  therefore,  with  the  exception  of 
Wittenberg,  Eisenach,  and  Gotha,  was 
speedily  in  the  hands  of  the  ambitious 
duke.  The  voice  of  the  people,  neverthe- 
less, loudly  condemned  his  proceedings; 
he  was  looked  upon  by  them  as  a  renegade 
in  the  cause  of  the  new  doctrine  of  faith ; 
and  by  the  clergy,  both  in  the  pulpit  and  in 
their  various  writings,  he  was  most  severe- 
ly censured  and  lashod. 

The  elector  himself  now,  in  December, 
1546,  returned  to  Saxony,  full  of  sadness 
and  dejection.  He  soon  succeeded,  how- 
ever,  in  reconquering  his  lands,  and  in 
seizing  a  portion  of  the  duke's  territory, 
after  he  had  overthrown  and  taken  prisoner 
in  Rochlitz,  Albert,  margrave  of  Branden- 
burg, who  had  been  sent  to  the  aid  of  his 
friend,  Duke  Maurice,  by  the  emperor. 
Maurice  was  likewise  left  without  any  as- 
sistance from  Bohemia,  as  the  estates  of 
that  country  refused  to  fight  against  their 
co-religionists  in  Saxony,  referring,  at  the 
same  time,  to  a  treaty  of  inheritance  which 
existed  between  the  crown  of  Bohemia 
and  the  electoral  house  of  Saxony  ;  while 
Ferdinand  himself  began  to  feel  rather 
uneasy  on  account  of  his  own  kingdom. 
That  country  had  already  ripened  into  a 
state  of  open  revolt,  and  the  states  had 
even  proceedea  to  collect  together  a  con- 
siderable army,  in  order,  as  they  pretend- 
ed, to  protect  the  Bohemian  territory 
against  the  attack  of  the  unchristian  Span- 
ish and  Italian  forces.  Whence  it  resulted 
that  Maurice,  of  his  own  land,  only  re- 
tained possession  of  the  towns  of  Dresden, 
Pirna,  Zwickau,  and  Leipsic,  and  he  was 
reduced  to  place  all  his  hopes  in  the  em- 
peror Charles. 

Meantime  Charles  was  -occupied  in 
bringing  to  subjection  the  Protestant  cities 
in  the  south  of  Germany.  This,  however, 
was  deemed  no  easy  undertaking,  these 
places  being  exceedingly  strong,  and  might 
have  resisted  his  arms  for  a  length  of 
time  ;  while,  in  the  interval,  the  princes 
of  the  north  could  avail  themselves  of  the 
opportunity,  and  make  their  preparations 
for  a  fresh  campaign.  It  seemed,  how- 
ever, as  if  both  courage  and  resolution 
had  suddenly  deserted  them  altogether; 
for  wherever  the  emperor  presented  him- 
self the  cities  submitted  to  him  at  once 
without  offering  any  resistance.  Bopfin 
gen,  Nb'rdlingen,  Dunkelsbiihl,  and  Roth- 


enburg,  threw  open  their  gates  without  ita 
being  necessary  for  him  to  unsheath  the 
sword  at  all ;  while  Ulm  itself,  powerful 
as  that  city  was,  dispatched  messengers  tc 
meet  him,  who  on  their  knees,  and  in  the 
open  field,  besought  his  pardon  in  the 
Spanish  tongue,  (this  act  was  especially, 
and  with  justice,  most  severely  condemned 
by  the  allies,)  and  paid  over  to  him  as  a 
fine  100,000  florins.  Frankfort  paid  like- 
wise a  sum  of  80,000  florins,'  Memmingen 
50,000  florins,  and  the  smaller  towns  paid 
sums  in  proportion  ;  and  now  the  turn 
came  for  Augsburg.  This  city  was  pro- 
tected by  walls  almost  invulnerable,  mount- 
ed with  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery, 
and  provided  with  a  strong  garrison,  and  a 
warlike  population;  if,  therefore,  it  had 
only  maintained  its  ground  with  deter- 
mined bravery,  it  must  thereby  have  re- 
vived once  more  the  sinking  courage  of  the 
entire  body  of  the  allied  forces.  But  the 
rich  members  of  the  municipality  took 
fright  when  they  found  the  danger  so  close 
to  their  own  door ;  and  one  of  them,  An- 
thony Fugger,  proceeded  as  deputy  to  wait 
upon  the  emperor  in  his  camp,  and  re- 
turned with  the  conditions  exacted,  viz.  : 
that  the  city  should  pay  a  sum  of  150,000 
gold  florins  ;  that  it  should  receive  a  Span- 
ish garrison,  and  banish  its  brave  command- 
ant Schiirtlin.  The  latter  employed  every 
effort  to  prevail  upon  them  to  defend  the 
place,  but  all  his  eloquence  was  in  vain, 
he  could  not  infuse  courage  into  them ; 
finally,  he  reminded  them  of  their  contract 
with  himself,  according  to  which  they  had 
engaged  to  retain  him  in  their  service,  and 
could  not  banish  or  discharge  him.  They, 
however,  only  replied,  by  begging  -him 
with  tears  in  their  eyes,  for  God's  sake,  to 
leave  the  city  ;  accordingly  the  brave  old 
warrior  quitted  the  place  in  disgust  and  in- 
dignation, and  retired  to  Switzerland — the 
Spanish  troops  taking  immediate  posses- 
sion. The  cities,  indeed,  had  reason  to 
congratulate  themselves  upon  having  the 
permission  granted  them  to  retain  the  same 
privileges  in  respect  to  religion  as  were 
enjoyed  by  Duke  Maurice  and  the  house 
of  Brandenburg ;  although  this  arrange- 
ment did  not  certainly  accord  with  the 
promise  made  to  the  pope. 

Besides  the  cities,  two  princes  in  Upper 
Germany  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the 
Ulric,  duke    of  Wurtemberg,  and 


war 


Frederick,  elector  of  the  palatinate.      The 


CHARLES  V.  IN  SAXONY 


287 


a'.ier  was  not  a  member  of  the  Schmalkal- 
jian  league,  and  had  only,  in  accordance 
with  an  hereditary  treaty  between  him  and 
Duke  Ulric,  furnished  the  latter  with  a 
subsidiary  force  of  three  hundred  cavalry 
and  six  hundred  foot  soldiers  ;  added  to 
this,  he  had  been  a  juvenile  companion  and 
playmate  of  the  emperor  Tvhen  together  in 
Brussels  as  boys,  whence  lie  easily  obtain- 
ed a  pardon.  The  duke  of  Wurtemberg, 
however,  was  obliged,  together  with  his 
council,  to  beg  for  pardon  on  their  knees, 
as  likewise  to  give  up  his  strongest  castles 
with  all  the  cannon,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of 
300,000  gold  florins,  after  having  sworn  to 
obey  the  emperor  in  all  things. 

Thus  the  Schmalkaldian  league  in  Up- 
per Germany  was  speedily  destroyed,  and 
the  emperor  resolved  at  once  not  to  allow 
his  army  any  repose,  but  to  bring  matters 
in  the  north  of  Germany  to  an  equally 
prompt  and  decisive  termination.  He  him- 
self stood,  indeed,  much  in  need  of  rest; 
ins  hair  curing  this  war  had  become  quite 
o;ray,  his  limbs  were  completely  lamed 
irom  gout,  while  his  countenance  was  so 
aeathiy  pale,  and  his  voice  so  weak  and 
tremulous,  thai  he  could  hardly  be  recog- 
nised or  understood.  His  spirit,  however, 
still  reigned  with  all  its  original  power 
jvithin  that  infirm  body  ;  and  he  was  now 
urged  on  by  necessity  to  obtain  his  object, 
inasmuch  as  he  was  anxiously  expected  at 
Eger  by  King  Ferdinand  and  Duke  Mau- 
rice, who  there  tarried  like  two  fugitives 
•driven  from  their  possessions  until  became, 
rfe  joined  them  at  length,  on  the  15th  of 
April,  and  they  celebrated  together  the 
Easter  festival ;  they  then  forthwith  pro- 
ceeded on  their  march,  and  on  the  22d  of 
April,  Charles  round  himself  already  en- 
camped wuhin  a  short  distance  of  the  walls 
of  Meissen  on  the  Eloe. 

The  elector  cu-ild  not,  for  a  long  time, 
believe  it  possible,  ihai  Charles  was  march- 
ing against  him  ;  but  now,  when  to  his  no 
little  surprise,  he  found  he  was  actually 
within  sight  and  close  upon  him,  he  gave 
hasty  orders  to  destroy  the  bridge  near 
Meissen,  and  marched  with  his  army  along 
the  right  bank  of  the  Elbe,  in  order  to 
reach  Wittenberg,  his  capital,  where  he 
would  have  at  command  all  the  means  ne- 
cessary to  maintain  a  long  and  vigorous 
resistance.  The  emperor,  on  the  other 
hand,  held  it  most  important  that  an  imme- 
diate attack  should  take  place,  by  which 


to  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  end ;  espe- 
cially  as  his  army  was  four  times  as  strong 
as  that  of  the  elector.  Accordingly,  he 
lost  not  a  moment,  but  pursued  his  march 
along  the  opposite  shore,  almost  in  a  line 
with  the  elector's  troops,  and  searched 
along  the  river  for  a  spot  to  ford  it  and  ge 
his  army  safely  and  expeditiously  across 
The  elector  halted  near  the  small  town  of 
Mlihlberg,  while  the  emperor,  very  late  a 
night,  once  more  rode  with  his  brother  ana 
Duke  Maurice  along  the  shore,  seeking  in 
vain  for  a  favorable  spot  by  which  to  cross 
over ;  for  the  Elbe  here  was  at  least  three 
hundred  feet  wide,  and  the  opposite  shore 
was  considerably  higher  than  on  his  side. 
At  length  his  general,  th'e  duke  of  Alba, 
brought  from  a  neighboring  village  a  young 
miller,  (his  name — preserved  by  history — 
was  Strauch,)  who  promised  to  lead  them 
to  a  fording-place.  He  was  induced  to 
commit  this  act  of  treachery  by  a  feeling 
of  revenge  towards  his  fellow-countrymen, 
who,  as  they  marched  in  the  course  of  the 
day  through  his  village,  had  taken  with 
them  two  of  his  horses — this  circumstance, 
and  the  tempting  offer  of  a  hundred  crowns, 
made  him  by  Duke  Maurice,  with  the 
promise  of  two  other  horses  to  replace  those 
taken  from  him,  determined  him  to  serve 
the  enemies  of  his  country. 

At  the  dawn  of  morning,  and  under  favor  of 
a  very  thick  fog,  several  thousands  of  Span- 
ish arquebusiers  now  commenced  crossing 
the  river,  and  a  select  troop  among  them 
having  cast  aside  their  guns,  and  thrown  off 
their  armor,  placing  their  swords  in  their 
mouths,  holding  them  tight  between  their 
teeth,  plunged  into  the  stream,  and  swim- 
ming to  the  other  side,  seized  the  remains 
of  the  bridge  which  had  been  destroyed  by 
the  Saxons.  This  they  succeeded  in  re- 
pairing while  the  cavalry  forded  the  river, 
each  horseman  taking  with  him  on  his  sad- 
dle a  foot-soldier.  Lastly  followed  the 
emperor,  his  horse  guided  by  the  said  mil- 
ler, King  Ferdinand,  Duke  Maurice,  and 
the  Duke  of  Alba,  with  the  rest  of  the  im- 
perial suite. 

On  the  morning  of  this  eventful  day — 
the  sabbath — the  elector  attended  divine 
service  in  Miihlberg,  and  when,  in  the 
midst  of  his  devotions,  a  messenger  arrived 
in  breathless  haste  and  announced  to  him 
that  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  river  and 
was  in  full  march  in  puisuit  of  him,  he 
could  not,  would  not  belle\e  it,  but  desireu 


BATTLE  OF  MUHLBERG. 


the  service  of  God  not  to  be  interrupted. 
When  it  was  over  he  found  the  news  was 
too  true,  and  he  had  scarcely  time  to  retire 
with  his  army.  lie  ordered  his  infantry  to 
march  in  all  haste  for  Wittenberg,  but  he 
directed  the  cavalry  to  keep  the  enemy  at 
bay  by  skirmishing;  the  artillery  having 
already  been  sent  in  advance  to  Wittenberg. 
The  imperialists,  however,  pursued  the 
Saxons  with  such  speed  that  they  overtook 
them  on  the  plain  of  Lochau  ;  and  although 
his  artillery  and  the  greater  portion  of  the 
infantry  still  remained  behind,  the  emperor, 
nevertheless,  by  the  advice  of  the  duke  of 
Alba,  gave  orders  for  an  immediate  attack. 
The  Spanish  and  Neapolitan  troopers  dash- 
ed with  impetuous  force  against  the  Saxons, 
Maurice  himself  leading  the  attack.  The 
elector's  cavalry  was  soon  thrown  into  con- 
fusion, and  fell  back  upon  the  ranks  of  their 
own  infantry,  which  was  hastily  drawn  up 
in  battle  array  on  the  borders  of  a  deep 
forest.  The  elector  gave  his  orders  from 
a  carriage,  his  weight  of  body  not  permit- 
ting him  to  mount  on  horseback ;  the  em- 
peror, on  the  other  hand,  in  whom  the  signs 
of  illness  were  less  than  ever  perceptible  on 
this  day,  rode  an  Andalusian  charger,  hold- 
ing in  his  right  hand  a  lance,  and  wearing 
a  helmet  and  cuirass  gorgeously  decorated 
with  gold,  his  eye  beaming  with  warlike 
ardor.  The  imperial  cavalry,  with  their 
terrific  shout  of  "  Hispania !  Hispania !" 
broke  now  through  the  ranks  of  the  Saxon 
infantry,  which  were  completely  put  to 
rout.  All  now  took  to  flight;  everywhere 
was  confusion  and  terror.  As  they  flew 
across  the  plain,  the  fugitives  were  overta 
ken  and  struck  down  by  their  pursuers, 
covering  with  their  bodies  the  whole  line  of 
road  from  Kossdorf  to  Falkenburg  and 
Beiersdorf.  One  of  the  elector's  sons  was 
overtaken  by  some  troopers  of  the  enemy  ; 
he  defended  himself  with  great  courage, 
and  shot  one  of  them  dead  at  the  momenl 
when,  having  received  two  sword-cuts,  he 
was  sinking  from  his  horse  ;  some  of  his 
own  men  just  coming  up  in  time,  rescuec 
and  bore  him  away  in  safety.  But  his  fa- 
ther was  not  so  successful ;  he  could  no 
escape.  He  had  been  urgently  entreatec 
by  his  faithful  adherents  to  seek  safety  in 
flight,  and  gain  a  secure  asylum  in  Witten 
berg  ;  but  his  only  observation  was,  "  Wha 
will  become  of  my  faithful  infantry  ?"  am 
he  remained  on  the  field  of  battle.  In  the 
heat  of  action  he  had  quitted  his  carriage 


ind  mounted  a  powerful  Friesian  charger ; 
le  was,  however,  very  soon  surrounded  by 
he  enemy's  cavalry,  and  as  he  valiantly 
defended  himself,  he  received  a  cut  on  his 
eft  cheek  from  the  sabre  of  an  Hungarian 
rooper.  The  blood  streamed  all  over  his 
ace,  but  even  in  this  sad  condition  the  un 
launted  warrior  would  not  yield,  until  a 
Saxon  knight  in  the  suite  of  Duke  Maurice, 
Thilo  of  Trodt,  penetrated  through  the  Hun- 
garians that  surrounded  him,  and  called 
out  to  him  in  German  to  save  his  life.  To 
lim,  as  he  was  a  German,  the  elector  gave 
limself  up  a  prisoner,  and  in  token  thereof 

drew  from  his  finger  two  rings  which 

presented  to  him ;  while  to  the  Hunga- 
rian he  gave  his  sword  and  dagger.  The 
knight  conducted  his  royal  prisoner  to  the 
duke  of  Alba,  and  the  latter,  at  the  earnest 
and  repeated  persuasion  of  the  elector,  led 
him  before  the  emperor,  who  still  continued 
mounted  on  his  horse  in  the  centre  of  the 
plain.  The  elector,  as  he  approached, 
sighed  deeply,  and  raising  his  eyes  up  to 
Heaven,  said,  mournfully,  "  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther, have  pity  on  me,  for  behold  I  am  a 
prisoner  !"  His  sad  condition  and  appear- 
ance excited  the  compassion  and  sympathy 
of  all  around ;  his  wounded  face  still 
streaming  with  blood,  and  his  cuirass  like- 
wise being  covered  with  spots  of  gore.  He 
was  assisted  to  dismount  by  the  duke  of 
Alba,  and  was  about  to  drop  on  his  knees 
before  the  emperor,  taking  off  the  gauntlet 
from  his  right  hand,  in  order,  according  to 
German  custom,  to  present  it  to  his  majes- 
ty ;  but  the  latter  refused  to  take  it,  and 
with  a  stern  and  haughty  look  turned  from 
him.  The  mortified  prince  now  addressed 
him  with  the  words :  "  Mighty,  gracious 
emperor  !"  "  Ay,  now  I  am  your  gracious 
emperor,  am  I  ?"  returned  Charles,  haugh- 
tily. "  It  is  long  since  you  styled  me  thus !'' 
The  elector  continued  :  "  I  am  your  impe- 
rial majesty's  prisoner,  and  beg  to  receive 
the  treatment  due  to  me  as  a  prince." 
"  You  shall  receive  the  respect  you  merit," 
concluded  the  emperor.  The  elector  was 
now  conducted  to  the  camp  by  the  duke  of 
Alba,  together  with  Ernest,  duke  of  Bruns- 
wick-Liineburg,  who  had  also  been  taken 
prisoner. 

Thus  was  that  day  brought  to  a  success- 
ful close  for  the  emperor,  on  the  subject  oi 
which,  in  the  style  of  Ca3sar,  he  writes  :  "  1 
appeared,  I  fought,  and  God  vanquished." 

After   a    repose   of  two   days,    Charles 


THE  ELECTOR  CONDEMNED  TO  DEATH— HIS  LIFE  SPARED. 


28<J 


marched  on  to  Torgau,  which  surrendered 
forthwith,  and  thence  he  proceeded. to  Wit- 
tenberg, the  capital  of  the  country.  The 
place  was  defended  by  a  strong  fort  and  a 
good  garrison,  while  the  citizens  themselves 
assisted  with  determined  courage  and  loy- 
alty ;  had  they  continued  to  make  resist- 
ance for  any  length  of  time,  the  emperor 
would  have  been  forced  to  wjthdraw  from 
Saxony  without  having  completed  his  work, 
as  he  was  not  at  all  prepared  for  a  long  cam- 
paign. Thence,  in  his  impatience,  and  by 
the  urgent  persuasion  of  his  confessor  and 
others  around  him,  he  had  recourse  to  an 
expedient  which  completely  transgressed 
the  limits  of  his  prerogative,  and  was  con- 
trary to  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  em- 
pire. He  summoned  a  council  of  war,  and 
pronounced  sentence  of  death  upon  the  un- 
fortunate prince ;  an  act  which,  however 
just  the  sentence,  could  not  legitimately 
take  place,  except  in  a  diet  held  by  the 
German  princes  of  the  empire.  Probably 
he  may  not  seriously  have  contemplated  the 
execution  of  the  sentence,  but  only  sought 
to  use  it  as  a  means  to  terrify  the  friends 
and  faithful  adherents  of  the  elector  within 
the  walls  of  the  city,  and  thus  induce  them 
to  surrender  the  place  ;  but  the  violation  of 
the  law  was  based  in  the  form  of  the  judg- 
ment, and  in  case  it  did  not  operate  in  the 
way,  perhaps,  originally  intended  by  Charles, 
there  was  too  much  reason  to  fear  from  his 
stern  nature,  which  never  allowed  him  to 
waver  or  recede,  that  execution  would  fol- 
low. 

The  elector,  who,  when  in  prosperity, 
was  too  often  wanting  in  resolution  and  fix- 
ity of  purpose,  evinced  at  this  moment  all 
the  heroic  courage  of  a  firm  and  energetic 
soul  founded  upon  unchanging  and  indom- 
itable faith.  The  sentence  of  death  pro- 
nounced upon  him,  was  announced  to  him 
at  the  moment  he  was  engaged  in  a  game 
of  chess  with  his  fellow-prisoner,  Duke 
Ernest  of  Brunswick-Liineburg.  His  ap- 
pearance and  manner  betrayed  neither 
alarm  nor  despondency,  but  as  he  resumed 
nis  game,  he  calmly  replied  :  "  I  can  nev- 
er believe  that  the  emperor  will  proceed  to 
such  extremes  in  his  treatment  of  me  ;  if, 
however,  his  majesty  has  truly  and  defini- 
*ively  thus  resolved,  then  I  demand  to  be 
informed  thereof  in  such  positive  and  legit- 
imate form  as  will  allow  me  to  proceed  to 
fix  and  arrange  my  affairs  in  regard  to  my 
wife  and  children." 

37 


It  is  not  known  whether  Duke  Mauric* 
did  at  all  interest  himself  on  this  occasion 
with  the  emperor  in  favor  of  the  elector ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  known  for  cer- 
tain, that  the  Elector  Joachim  of  Brandei. 
burg  hastened  immediately  to  the  imperial 
camp,  where  he  strenuously  exerted  all 
his  powers  of  eloquence  with  the  emperor 
to  prevent,  by  some  mediatory  accommo- 
dation, the  fulfilment  of  the  sentence.  He 
succeeded  at  length  in  his  object,  but  un- 
der conditions  most  severe  and  painfully 
humiliating  to  the  elector  of  Saxony.  He 
was  obliged  to  renounce  for  himself  and 
descendants  all  claim  to  the  electoral  dig- 
nity, as  well  as  the  possession  of  the  terri- 
tory, which  were  transferred  to  Duke  Mau- 
rice. His  castles  of  Wittenberg  and  Goth  a 
were  surrendered  to  the  emperor,  while  he 
himself  remained  his  prisoner  during  im- 
perial pleasure ;  so  that  if  deemed  proper 
and  necessary  by  Charles,  he  might  even 
have  been  sent  to  Spain  itself,  and  there 
placed  under  the  immediate  charge  of  the 
Infant  Don  Philip.  The  necessary  pro- 
vision for  him  and  his  family  was  to  be 
furnished  by  Maurice,  produced  by  the 
revenues  derived  from  the  towns  of  Eisen- 
ach, Gotha,  Weimar,  and  Jena.  In  one 
article  of  the  conditions  it  was  proposed, 
that  the  elector  should  even  promise  in  ad- 
vance to  accept  of  every  thing  that  might 
be  decreed  by  the  council  of  Trent  and  the 
imperial  power  in  religious  matters — but 
to  that  the  resolute  prince  would  by  no 
means  be  brought  to  agree,  and  on  this 
point  he  remained  so  firm  and  immoveable, 
that  the  emperor  was  obliged  to  yield  ;  he 
struck  out  the  passage  with  his  own  hand, 
and  the  Spaniards  themselves  even  ac- 
knowledged the  firmness  of  the  elector  to 
be  both  honorable  and  praiseworthy. 

When  it  became  known  in  Wittenberg, 
that  its  city  was  to  be  delivered  up  to  the 
emperor,  although  in  religious  worship  it 
was  guarantied  the  free  exercise  of  the 
Augsburg  confession,  considerable  indig- 
nation and  consequent  opposition  and  con- 
fusion arose.  At  first  the  citizens  resolved 
to  defend  themselves  to  the  last  man,  be- 
cause they  found  it  impossible  to  place  any 
confidence  in  the  promise  made  that  they 
should  have  their  religious  liberty  ;  partic- 
ularly after  the  cruel  manner  in  which  the 
Spaniards  had  acted  towards  their  land. 
The  elector,  however,  commanded  them 
not  to  make  any  further  resistance,  as  the 


290 


WITTENBERG— THE  ELECTRESS 


emperor  would,  he  assured  them,  faithful- 
ly keep  the  promise  he  had  given ;  espe- 
cially as  the  latter  granted  them  permis- 
sion to  receive  only  German  troops  as  a 
rrison.  Accordingly  on  the  23d  of  May, 
1547,  the  Saxon  soldiers  marched  out  and 
the  imperialists  took  possession  of  the  town. 
[n  the  course  of  a  very  short  period  an  in- 
terchange of  a  more  peaceful  and  friendly 
feeling  arose  between  the  camp  and  the 
city,  and  mutual  distrust  disappeared  more 
and  more.  The  Saxons,  to  their  great 
wonderment  and  admiration,  beheld  their 
deposed  lord  and  prince  comfortably  lodged 
a-nd  entertained  in  the  tent  of  the  duke  of 
Alba,  where  he  was  waited  upon  and  treat" 
ed  with  the  greatest  distinction  and  rever- 
ence by  the  Spaniards.  The  electress  her- 
self and  her  children,  dressed  in  complete 
mourning,  were  led  before  the  emperor  by 
the  sons  of  the  Roman  king  and  paid  him 
their  homage  ;  Charles  assisted  the  princess 
to  rise,  and  consoled  her  in  her  sorrow  and 
affliction  with  words  of  sympathy  and  en- 
couragement, granting  permission  to  the 
elector  to  pass  an  entire  week  with  his 
family  in  his  castle  of  Wittenberg,  and 
there  celebrate  with  them  the  festival  of 
Whitsuntide.  In  addition  to  this,  he  him- 
self repaired  to  the  castle  and  returned  the 
visit  of  the  princess.  The  impression  pro- 
duced by  his  noble  and  exalted  spirit,  now 
so  much  softened,  diminished  and  almost 
extinguished  that  feeling  of  antipathy 
hitherto  existing  against  him  throughout 
the  country ;  while,  on  his  part,  he  formed 
a  much  more  favorable  opinion  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  north  of  Germany  than  the  ene- 
mies of  the  new  doctrine  had  led  him  to 
conceive  :  "  Things  and  people  appear  far 
different  in  this  evangelical  country  to 
what  I  fancied  and  believed  them  to  be  be- 
fore I  came  among  them,"  was  his  expres- 
sion now.  And  when  he  learned,  that  on 
his  arrival  the  Lutheran  form  of  divine 
service  had  been  prohibited  and  had  ceas- 
ed, he  exclaimed  :  "  Whence  has  that  pro- 
ceeded ?  By  whose  authority?  If  it  be 
in  our  name  that  the  service  of  God  has 
been  interdicted  here,  then  does  it  incur 
our  high  displeasure  !  We  have  not  alter- 
ed aught  touching  religious  matters  in 
High  Germany,  why  should  we  do  so 
nere  ?"  He  then  visited  the  royal  chapel 
of  the  castle,  and  examined  the  tomb  of 
Luther.  One  or  two  of  his  suite — it  is 
3aH  the  duke  ot  Alba  and  the  bishop  of 


Arras,  the  son  of  Granvella — advised  him 
"  to  have  the  remains  of  the  heretic  resus- 
citated and  publicly  burnt;"  but  Charles 
replied  :  "  Let  him  repose  in  peace,  he  has 
already  found  his  judge  ;  I  war  only  with 
the  living,  not  with  .he  dead." 

Maurice,  the  new  elector,  showed  him- 
self equally  friendly  and  indulgent  toward* 
the  Wittenbergians :  "You  have  been  so 
faithful  to  my  cousin  that  I  shall  always 
remember  and  think  well  of  you,"  were 
his  words  to  the  corporation  as  he  left  them. 
On  the  6th  of  June  the  imperialists  with- 
drew from  Wittenberg,  and,  immediately 
afterwards,  the  soldiers  of  the  new  elector 
marched  in  and  took  up  their  quarters  in 
the  city. 

On  the  same  day  that  the  emperor  Charles 
entered  Wittenberg,  his  former  rival,  Fran 
cis  I.  of  France,  was  borne  to  the  tomb,  as 
if  fortune  had  resolved  to  remove  at  once 
from  before  his  path  every  obstacle  to  the 
plans  he  had  formed.  From  Wittenberg 
he  marched  on  to  Halle,  in  order  to  attack 
the  second  leader  of  the  Schmalkaldian 
league,  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  the 
latter  having  now  no  longer  any  hope  of 
deliverance  but  through  the  grace  and  par- 
don of  the  now  all-powerful  emperor,  em- 
ployed every  effort  by  means  of  his  son-in- 
law  Duke  Maurice,  and  the  margrave  of 
Brandenburg,  to  obtain  both. 

Both  these  princes  exerted  themselves 
most  actively  and  zealously  for  him,  and  at 
length  they  succeeded  ;  the  emperor  de- 
claring, through  his  chancellor,  Granvella  : 
"  That  if  the  landgrave  came  to  him  in 
person,  surrendered  himself  at  discretion, 
and  signed  the  conditions  which  would  be 
submitted  to  him,  he  promised  not  to  seize 
his  lands,  neither  would  he  take  his  life  nor 
punish  him  with  lasting  imprisonment." 
Thus  it  is  expressed  in  a  copy,  recently 
discovered,  of  the  transactions  of  that  period. 
The  mediators,  however,  either  did  not  well 
weigh  the  last  sentence  of  the  declaration, 
and  imagined  it  was  meant  to  convey  that 
the  prince  should  suffer  no  imprisonment, 
or,  as  they  themselves  admitted,  some  months 
afterwards,  at  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  "  In 
their  verbal  negotiations  with  his  majesty's 
counsellors  too  great  confusion  and  misun- 
derstanding existed  through  ignorance  or 
misconception  of  language  ;"  enough,  they 
pledged  their  word  of  honor  with  the  land- 
grave to  give  themselves  up  prisoners  to  his 
sons  in  case  the  emperor  did  not  give  him 


PHILIP  OF  HESSE  DETAINED  A  PRISONER. 


291 


full  liberty  to  return.  Accordingly,  on  the 
l^th  of  June,  Philip,  in  full  reliance  on 
their  word,  came  to  Halle,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  he  was  led  before  the  erriperor. 
Charles  was  seated  on  his  throne,  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  of  Spanish  grandees 
in  id  Italian  and  German  nobles,  and  among 
•'ii'in  stood  conspicuous  Henry,  duke  of 
Brunswick,  lately  the  landgrave's  prisoner, 
whom  he  had  been  forced  to  release, 
:i:i-l  who  now  triumphed  in  his  late  con- 
queror's humiliation.  With  dejected  and 
mortified  mien  the  landgrave  humbly  knelt 
•it  the  foot  of  the  throne,  while  his  chancel- 
lor, Glintherode,  kneeling  behind  him,  read 
aloud  to  the  emperor  the  petition  for  pardon. 
tt  was  expressed  in  the  most  humble  terms, 
and  an  eye-witness  relates,  that  in  the  ex- 
cess of  shame  and  confusion  with  which 
the  prince  was  overwhelmed  at  this  moment, 
in  the  presence  of  such  a  large  and  august 
assembly,  a  slight  smile  played  about  his 
mouth,  as  if  produced  by  an  unconscious 
effort  of  nature  to  repress  the  feeling  of 
shame  by  which  he  was  so  painfully  tried. 
But  this  expression  did  not  escape  the  lynx- 
eyed  monarch  ;  he  held  up  his  finger  mena- 
cingly, and  said  in  his  Netherland  dialect 
— for  he  spoke  the  German  very  badly — 
"  Wol,  ick  soil  di  lachen  lehren  !"  (Ay, 
ay,  I  will  teach  you  to  laugh.)  The  im- 
perial chancellor,  Dr.  Seld,  then  read  the 
emperor's  reply :  "  That,  although  the 
landgrave,  as  he  himself  acknowledged, 
deserved  the  heaviest  punishment,  the  em- 
peror, nevertheless,  in  his  innate  goodness, 
and  in  consideration  of  the  intercession 
made  in  his  favor,  would  allow  mercy  to 
take  the  precedence  of  justice ;  he  there- 
fore removed  the  ban  of  excommunication 
pronounced  against  him,  and  granted  him 
(he  life  he  had  by  his  acts  forfeited."  Af- 
icr  this  document  had  been  read,  the  land- 
grave was  about  to  rise  as  a  free  prince 
from  his  humble  posture,  but  waited  in  vain 
for  the  signal  from  the  emperor;  finding, 
therefore,  that  this  was  withheld,  and  that 
the  clear  and  solemn  promise  of  pardon  was 
likewise  refused  to  him,  he  rose  of  his  own 
accord  and  withdrew  from  the  assembly. 

In  the  evening  he  supped  with  the  Elec- 
.or  Maurice  and  the  margrave  of  Branden- 
burg, in  the  quarters  of  the  duke  of  Alba ; 
after  the  meal,  he  was  about  to  retire,  when 
the  duke  informed  him  he  must  consider 
himself  his  prisoner.  He  was  seized  at 
jnce  with  astonishment  and  indignation,  as  j 


were  also  the  two  princes  who  had  guar- 
antied his  liberty.  They  immediately  ap. 
pealed  to  the  emperor,  and  represented  to 
him  that  they  had  pledged  their  princely 
word  for  the  landgrave's  liberty ;  but 
Charles  denied  having  promised  him  re- 
mission from  all  imprisonment — as  the  me- 
diators had  falsely  understood — although  he 
declared  at  the  same  time  that  he  would 
not  punish  him  with  perpetual  captivity. 
And  indeed  it  is  very  possible  that  his 
counsellors  promised  more  than  he  himself 
intended  to  grant;  or  that  in  the  ignorance 
of  the  chancellor  Granvella  and  his  son  of 
the  German,  and  of  the  two  electors  of  the 
Spanish  and  French  languages,  an  error 
may  have  arisen  in  the  correspondence. 

Still  it  would  have  been  more  noble  and 
manly  to  have  fulfilled  the  engagement  to 
which  the  two  princes  had  pledged  them- 
selves towards  the  landgrave.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  certainly  very  important  to  the 
emperor  that  he  should  hold  the  leaders  of 
the  Schmalkaldian  alliance  his  prisoners 
until  he  had  completed  the  whole  of  his 
contemplated  arrangements  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  religious  affairs  of  Germany  ; 
for  he  still  believed  in  the  possibility  of 
effecting  a  reunion  of  parties,  and'these  two 
imprisoned  princes  were  the  most  obstinate 
and  violent  opponents  to  such  a  measure. 
But  Charles  did  not  consider  that  honesty 
and  generosity  became  much  more  the 
sovereign,  and  led  more  securely  to  the 
attainment  of  the  object  in  view  than  cold, 
calculating  caution  ;  and  forgot  that  when 
this  is  once  established  as  a  law,  the  inge- 
nious and  clever  politician  may,  in  the 
course  of  time,  be  overreached  by  one  still 
more  cunning,  and  thus  all  his  gains  slip 
through  his  fingers.  Duke  Maurice,  who 
was  now  unable  to  fulfil  his  engagement, 
and  appeared  in  the  character  of  a  perjurer 
towards  the  landgrave,  felt,  no  doubt,  from 
the  moment  that  the  emperor  would  not 
acknowledge  the  pledge  he  had  given  to  the 
landgrave  in  such  good  and  confiding  faith, 
that  he  was  himself  released  from  all  obli- 
gations of  gratitude  and  fidelity  towards 
that  monarch  ;  and  thenceforth  he  consid- 
ered that  in  their  relations  together  they 
must  be  governed  alone  by  skilful  and  sa- 
gacious policy,  and  in  this  respect,  at  least, 
the  duke  needed  not  to  yield  in  any  thing 
to  the  emperor. 

The  deposed  elector  and  the  landgrave 
were  therefore,  obliged  to  follow  as  prison- 


292 


THE  COUNCIL  UF  TRE.sT. 


ers  tne  court  and  camp  of  the  emperor 
wherever  he  proceeded.  Besides  this,  all 
the  Hessian  castles  and  strongholds,  from 
Cassel  to  Ziegenhain,  were  razed,  all  the 
cannon  and  ammunition  seized  and  taken 
away,  and  the  states  of  that  country  forced 
to  p'ay  a  fine  of  150,000  florins.  The 
emperor  Charles,  in  his  treaties  with  his 
adversaries,  followed  the  principle  of  the 
Romans  in  the  time  when  they  contem- 
plated the  conquest  and  sovereignty  of  the 
whole  world.  For  in  the  same  way  as 
they  had  then  exacted  from  the  Carthagin- 
ians, and  the  kings  of  Macedonia  and  Syria 
large  sums  of  money,  together  with  the 
extradition  of  all  their  ships  of  war,  war- 
like machines,  and  elephants,  so  also  now 
Charles  disarmed  and  rendered  powerless 
his  enemies,  by  forcing  them  to  dismantle 
and  raze  their  fortifications,  to  surrender 
all  their  heavy  artillery,  which  at  that  peri- 
od it  was  seldom  possible  to  replace,  and 
finally  to  pay  him  heavy  sums  of  money  to 
enable  him  to  undertake  new  enterprises. 
In  his  treaties  with  the  cities  of  Upper 
Germany,  the  duke  of  Wurtemberg,  the 
elector  of  Saxony,  and  the  landgrave  of 
Hesse,  he  gained  more  than  five  hundred 
pieces  of  cannon,  which  he  caused  to  be 
conveyed  to  Italy,  Spain,  and  the  Nether- 
lands. The  Spanish  garrisons  which  he 
quartered  wherever  he  found  it  possible, 
and  especially  in  the  cities  of  Upper 
Germany,  excited  everywhere  the  greatest 
discontent.  The  overbearing  pride  and 
shameful  treatment  displayed  and  exer- 
cised by  these  haughty  foreigners,  ani- 
mated as  they  were  by  their  religious  ha- 
tred, were  insupportable,  while  it  was  not 
forgotten  that  the  emperor,  in  the  stipula- 
tions of  his  election,  had  promised  not  to 
bring  or  introduce  any  foreign  troops  into 
the  empire. 


CHAPTER     XX. 

Hie  Council  of  Trent — Rupture  between  the  Emperor 
and  the  Pope — The  Interim  or  Temporary  Code  of 
Doctrines— Its  Condemnation  by  both  Parties— The 
Captive  Elector  of  8axpny — Refuses  to  adhere  to  the 
Interim — His  Declaration — Shameful  Treatment  in 
consequence— The  Elector  Maurice— Magdeburg- 
Maurice  marches  against  that  City — The  Emperor 
and  Maurice — Maurice  deserts  the  Emperor,  and 
with  Albert  of  Brandenburg  joins  the  Protestants— 
Their  Declaration  against  the  Emperor — His  Reply 
— Albert's  Depredations — Maurice's  Separation  from 
him— Charles  V.  at  Inspruck— Pursued  by  Maurice 


—The  Emperor  a  Fugitive  in  the  Mountains  of  the 
Tyrol— His  desolate  and  forlorn  Condition— His  re- 
turn to  Augsburg— Release  of  the  Elector  John 
Frederick— His  Welcome  Home— Jena— Treaty  of 
Passau— Liberation  of  Philip  of  Hesse— Charles  V. 
in  France— Metz— Unsuccessful  Campaign— Albert 
of  Brandenburg— Defeated  at  Luneburg  by  Maurice 
— Death  of  Maurice  and  Aibert— Religious  Peace  of 
Augsburg— Final  Separation  of  the  two  Religioua 
Parties— Abdication  of  Charles  V.— Retreat  to  a 
Hermit's  Cell— Rehearsal  of  his  Funeral  Procession 
—His  Death,  1558. 

IT  now  became  more  and  more  evident 
that  peace  in  matters  of  religion  would  not 
emanate  from  the  council  of  Trent,  for  as 
its  members  consisted  altogether  of  Italians 
and  Spaniards,  they  could  not  possibly  bo 
regarded  as  the  representatives  of  the 
Christian  world  in  the  sense  of  the  former 
convocations  of  the  church.  The  Protestants 
now,  as  well  as  previously,  refused  not  only 
to  acknowledge  their  authority,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  insisted  upon  a  council  "  in  which 
the  pope  should  not  have  the  presidency, 
and  where  the  Protestant  theologians  should 
enjoy  the  privilege  of  voting  with  and  on  the 
side  of  the  bishops,  and  where  the  decrees 
recently  made  should  undergo  fresh  exami- 
nation and  revision." 

The  papal  party,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  not  consent  to  these  demands,  al- 
though the  princes  of  Germany,  including 
even  the  Catholics,  urgently  demanded  that 
the  states  who  had  assisted  at  the  confession 
of  Augsburg  should  be  admitted  to  join 
the  council.  Nay,  the  cardinals  them- 
selves viewed  the  circumstance  of  its  being 
held  at  Trent  with  a.  very  unfavorable  eye, 
and  they  strenuously  endeavored  to  have  it 
transferred  to  the  interior  of  Italy ;  foi 
they  were  afraid  that  if  the  aged  Pope 
Paul  III.  died  during  the  period  of  its 
being  assembled,  the  council,  supported  by 
Charles,  would  take  upon  itself  the  office 
of  electing  a  new  pope  in  opposition  to  the 
rights  enjoyed  by  the  college  of  cardinals, 
and  by  which  the  interests  of  that  institution 
must  be  materially  affected.  At  length, 
a  case  of  fever  came  fortunately  to  their 
aid  and  seconded  their  wishes;  and  al- 
though it  was  feared  that  the  disease  would 
have  proved  more  generally  fatal,  still  one 
only  of  the  bishops  became  its  victim.  This, 
however,  was  sufficient  to  produce  the  ac- 
complishment of  their  object,  and  on  the 
9th  of  March,  1547,  the  council  was  re- 
moved from  Trent  to  Bologna.  The  em- 
peror, on  hearing  it,  was  highly  indignant, 
and  flew  into  a  most  violent  passion  whib 
the  pope  approved  of  the  step  taken  bv  his1 


RUPTURE  BETWEEN  THE  EMPEROR  AND  THE  POPE. 


203 


.egate  ;  whence  the  division  already  exist- 
ing between  him  and  the  emperor — owing, 
on  the  one  part,  to  the  former  having  with- 
drawn his  troops  from  Germany  immediate- 
ly after  the  expiration  of  the  agreed  term  of 
six  months'  service,  and  on  the  other,  to  the 
latter  not  having  availed  himself  of  the 
triumph  he  had  obtained  in  his  empire  by 
forth  with  extirpating  the  Protestant  party — 
became  more  confirmed.  The  emperor 
told  the  pope's  nuncio  in  plain  language : 
•'*  It  could  not  be  expected  that  the  Pro- 
testants, who  were  willing  to  submit  to  the 
council,  would  themselves  repair  to  Bologna, 
or  even  pay  attention  to  what  might  be 
concluded  there  ;  while  the  rest  did  not 
require  this  motive  for  refusing  to  attend. 
If,  therefore,  Rome  did  not  furnish  him  with 
a  council,  he  himself  would  speedily  have 
one  assembled  which  should  be  so  formed 
as  to  satisfy  every  one,  and  produce  all  the 
reforms  required  ;"  adding,  "that  the  pope 
was  an  obstinate  old  man,  whose  only  de- 
sire was  to  ruin  and  demolish  the  church 
to  its  foundation."  Such  were  the  angry 
terms  in  which  Charles,  against  his  usual 
manner,  addressed  the  prelate,  and  by  that 
we  have  another  proof  of  his  anxiety  and 
zeal  to  promote  the  peace  of  the  church. 
The  German  bishops,  on  their  part,  now 
likewise  most  urgently  besought  the  pope 
to  remove  the  seat  of  council  to  Trent,  but 
their  efforts  remained  for  a  length  of  time 
without  producing  any  effect. 

In  consequence,  Charles  now  proceeded 
to  re-establish  of  his  own  accord,  at  a  diet 
held  in  Augsburg,  in  1548,  order  and 
peace  in  religious  matters  in  Germany, 
and  with  this  view,  he  opened  a  new  con 
ference,  to  which,  on  the  side  of  the  Cath- 
olics, two  moderate  men  were  appointed — 
the  bishop  of  Naumburg,  Julius  Pflug,  and 
the  grand-vicar  of  Mentz,  Michael  Held- 
ing  ;  while  the  court-chaplain  of  the  elec- 
tor of  Brandenburg,  John  Agricola  of  Ber- 
lin, was  selected  on  the  part  of  the  Protest- 
ants. They  applied  themselves  to  the 
subject  with  great  industry  and  zeal,  and 
marked  out  a  plan  of  reunion  which  they 
laid  before  the  emperor.  Agricola,  how- 
ever, from  his  too  great  anxiety  to  estab- 
lish the  desired  peace,  had  deviated  in 
several  essential  points  from  the  original 
principles  of  his  faith.  He  had  succeeded, 
it  is  true,  in  gaming  for  his  own  party  the 
admission  of  the  two  articles,  viz.,  of  the 
marriage  of  clergymen,  and  the  celebra- 


tion of  the  Lorc7s  Supper  in  both  forms, 
but  to  continue  valid  only  until  the  council 
should  have  given  its  decision  upon  the 
subject.  As  to  the  rest,  he  recognised  the 
authority  of  the  pope,  the  celebration  of 
mass,  and  the  Catholic  church  and  its 
signs  of  faith  generally ;  whence  it  \vas 
easy  to  foresee  that  great  discontent  and 
opposition  must  arise.  As,  however,  the 
elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  likewise  the 
elector  palatine,  engaged  both  to  sanction 
and  adopt  it,  Charles  considered  he  shoulc 
now  be  able  to  compile  therefrom  his  code 
of  doctrines,  called  the  "Interim."  He 
convoked  his  states  on  the  15th  of  May, 
and"  then  caused  to  be  read  to  them  the 
work  in  question,  which  was  entitled : 
"  Declaration  of  his  imperial  and  royal 
majesty,  which  determines  how  religion 
shall  be  exercised  and  maintained  within 
the  holy  empire  until  the  decision  of  the 
general  council  shall  be  pronounced." 
After  the  reading,  and  a  short  discussion 
had  taken  place  between  a  few  individual 
members,  but  which  led  to  no  result,  the 
elector  of  Mentz  rose,  and  in  the  name  of  the 
states  returned  thanks  to  the  emperor  for 
the  trouble,  labor,  industry,  and  love  he 
had  taken  and  shown  for  the  sake  of  the 
country  ;  and  as  none  ventured  to  make 
any  objection,  the  emperor  concluded  that 
the  sanction  of  the  entire  body  of  the  states 
was  given  to  the  measure,  and  regarded  it 
now  as  the  law  of  the  empire. 

While  the  emperor  Charles  thus  sought, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  make  himself  indepen- 
dent of  the  proceedings  of  the  pope,  and,  on 
the  other,  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  Ger- 
man church — by  which  that  of  the  Ger- 
manic empire  itself  must  be  rendered  still 
more  firm — he  was  guided  by  the  one 
grand  and  fundamental  principle  observed 
throughout  his  entire  reign  ;  viz.,  to  re- 
store the  importance  and  dignity  of  the 
ancient  empire,  as  had  formerly  been  pro- 
jected, and  in  part  effected  by  the  great 
Charlemagne,  the  Othos,  and  other  high- 
minded  emperors.  His  aim  was  to  render 
the  empire  replete  with  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral power.  The  emperor,  according  to 
Charles's  plan,  was  to  be  made  in  reality 
the  chief  authority  of  entire  Christendom  ; 
with  his  temporal  power  he  was  to  unite  a 
material  and  effective  influence  over  the 
church,  and  not  only  piotect,  as  a  machine 
of  the  spiritual  power,  the  order  of  ths 
church,  and  assist  in  enforcing  duty  to  iti 


294 


THE  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY 


commands,  but  he  was  to  have  an  impor- 
tant share  and  interest  in  its  councils  and 
resolutions.  Like  Charles  the  Great,  who 
presided  at  the  synods  of  his  bishops,  and 
whose  decrees  were  sanctioned  by  his  sig- 
nature, so,  likewise,  it  was  the  desire  of 
Charles  V.  to  partake  in  the  direction  of 
the  general  council,  or  at  least  maintain 
next  the  pope,  and  as  the  central  point  of 
the  ecclesiastical  order  of  the  Germanic 
empire,  the  dignity  with  which  he  was  in- 
vested. 

The  emperor  was  well  aware  that  a 
most  grand  and  important  step  would  be 
gained  towards  the  establishment  of  his 
';  Interim,"  if  the  imprisoned  elector  of 
Saxony,  whose  spiritual  influence  in  the 
Saxon  territories  had  recently  very  much 
increased — he  being  now  regarded  as  a 
martyr  to  his  faith — could  be  persuaded 
to  give  it  his  approval.  Accordingly,  he 
sent  his  chancellor  Granvella,  and  his  son, 
the  bishop  of  Arras,  together  with  the 
vice-chancellor  Selb,  to  submit  to  him  the 
proposals  to  accept  that  code  of  doctrines, 
and  likewise  to  recommend  its  adoption  to 
liis  sons.  The  elector,  however,  in  reply 
to  their  request,  handed  over  to  them  a 
declaration  which,  in  anticipation  of  such 
a  visit,  he  had  already  prepared  and  writ- 
ten with  his  own  hand  ;  viz.,  "  That  the 
education  he  had  received  from  his  youth 
upward  at  the  hands  of  the  servants  of 
the  divine  word,  together  with  the  profound 
researches  he  had  himself  since  made  in 
the  writings  of  the  prophets  and  apostles, 
nad  united  to  convince  him  that  the  true 
Christian  doctrine  was  to  be  recognised  in 
the  Augsburg  confession,  and  his  conscien- 
tious belief  therein  remained  unshaken. 
If  he  accepted  the  '  Interim'  as  a  Chris- 
tian and  divine  doctrine,  he  should  be 
forced,  against  his  conscience,  to  deny  and 
condemn  the  Augsburg  confession  in  many 
articles  upon  which  his  immortal  happi- 
ness depended,  and  sanction  with  his  lips 
what  in  his  heart  he  held  to  be  completely 
contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture ;  in  doing  this,  he  should  consider  he 
was  shamelessly  abusing  and  blaspheming 
the  holy  name  of  God,  for  which  sin  he 
must  severely  and  bitterly  suffer  in  his 
soul.  His  imperial  majesty,  therefore, 
tvould  not,  he  hoped,  feel  ungracious  to- 
wards him,  if  he  refused  to  accede  to  the 
'  Interim,'  and  persisted  in  adhering  strict- 
ly to  the  Augsburg  confession." 


The  ministers  refused  to  accept  of  this 
declaration,  and  reminded  the  elector,  "  that 
the  emperor  was  empowered  to  make  laws 
and  decrees  even  in  religious  matters,  and 
that  several  Roman  emperors,  ancestors  of 
his  present  majesty,  had  created  such,  whicn 
even  to  that  day  were  obeyed  by  all  the  sub- 
jects of  the  Roman  empire. "  The  elector, 
however,  remained  immoveable ;  and  as 
during  the  discussion  they  were  interrupted 
by  a  loud  peal  of  thunder,  the  elector  felt 
rejoiced  and  strengthened  by  the  conviction 
that  this  was  sent  as  an  indication  from 
Heaven  that  his  conduct  met  with  divine 
approbation,  and  that  he  should  be  guided 
by  the  judgment  of  God  alone,  and  not  by 
that  of  mortals. 

The  act  committed  against  the  elector, 
immediately  after  this  interview — although 
it  is  believed  to  have  been  done  without  the 
sanction  of  the  emperor  himself — was  both 
petty  and  unjustifiable.  He  was  deprived 
at  once  of  the  society  of  his  chaplain, 
Christopher  Hoffmann,  and  a  seizure  was 
made  of  all  his  books,  among  the  rest,  of 
his  own  especially-treasured  copy  of  the 
Bible,  beautifully  illuminated  ;  but  amid 
the  painful  mortification  he  endured,  while 
forced  to  submit  to  this  trial,  his  firmness 
did  not  forsake  him,  for  as  the  minions 
quitted  the  place  with  these,  to  him,  invalu- 
able treasures,  he  said,  resignedly :  "  You 
may  take  the  books;  but  that  which  I  have 
learned  from  them  you  can  never  take  or 
even  tear  from  my  heart." 

The  sons,  following  the  example  of  their 
father,  refused  to  introduce  the  "  Interim" 
into  their  territory,  and,  in  fact,  the  em- 
peror soon  found  himself  deceived  in  his 
hopes  of  succeeding  to  bring  his  code  into 
general  use.  The  Protestant  theologians 
rose  in  one  body  against  the  measure,  and 
many  were  forced  to  vacate  and  abandon 
their  offices,  and  take  up  the  pilgrim's  staff 
as  wanderers;  viz.,  in  Augsburg,  Nurem- 
berg, Regensburg,  Ulm,  Frankfort,  and 
other  cities  :  the  number  of  banished  ec- 
clesiastics in  the  upper  countries  alone 
amounted  to  four  hundred.  What,  how- 
ever, is  still  more  astonishing  is,  that  the 
Catholics  themselves  disapproved  of  this 
"Interim,"  although  it  was  by  no  means 
pretended  that  it  should  be  put  into  prac- 
tice among  them.  The  Catholic  church 
would  have  reaped  the  greatest  advantage 
therefrom ;  for  if  the  emperor  had  suc- 
ceeded in  his  plan,  the  reunion  of  both 


THE  ELECTOR  MAURICE. 


295 


would  have  been  a  necessary  consequence. 
Thenco  their  opposition  can  only  be  inter- 
preted into  a  declaration,  that  they  would 
not  regard  as  valid  any  regulation  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  coming  from  him  as  a  lay- 
man. 

Thus,  during  his  sojourn  of  two  years  in 
the  Netherlands,  whither  he  had  repaired 
after  the  diet  of  Augsburg,  the  emperor  was 
forced  to  receive  continual  complaints  from 
Germany ;  his  "  Interim"  was  only  ac- 
knowledged outwardly  in  a  few  places, 
while,  generally,  in  all  parts  of  the  em- 
pire much  bitter  feeling  was  expressed 
against  it,  and  even  the  Elector  Maurice 
himself  gave  it  but  a  very  limited  reception 
in  his  land.  He  had  commissioned  several 
theologians,  including  Melanchthon,  to  pre- 
pare a  church  formulary  for  his  own  sub- 
jects, and  with  great  trouble,  and  not  with- 
out incurring  severe  censure  from  the  more 
rigid  of  the  Lutheran  clergymen,  they  com- 
pleted what  was  called  "  the  Leipsic  Inte- 
rim," and  which,  certainly,  deviated  in 
many  points  from,  but  as  a  whole  adhered 
to,  the  Protestant  faith.  It  was  introduced 
in  several  parts  of  the  north  of  Germany, 
although  here  and  there  with  considerable 
alterations;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  in  many 
other  parts  of  the  country  the  greatest  stand 
was  made  against  any  change  whatever. 
The  cities  of  Constance,  Bremen,  and  Mag- 
deburg especially,  declared  themselves 
most  firmly  opposed  to  it,  and  refused  to 
submit  to  the  imperial  order;  whereupon 
the  emperor  pronounced  the  ban  of  the  em- 
pire against  them,  and  the  two  former  places 
returned  to  their  obedience.  But  Magde- 
burg continued  obstinate,  being  influenced 
in  a  great  measure  by  several  theologians 
who  had  taken  refuge  there  after  their 
banishment  from  Wittenberg  on  account  of 
the  "Interim;"  among  whom  a  certain 
Flacius,  with  the  by-name  of  Illyricus,  was 
the  most  violent  and  zealous.  The  Elector 
Maurice  received  at  the  new  diet  of  Augs- 
burg, in  1550,  orders  to  execute  forthwith 
the  sentence  of  the  ban  pronounced  against 
that  city.  He  accordingly  marched  with 
his  army  at  the  commencement  of  the  au- 
tumn in  the  same  year,  and  laid  siege  to  the 
olace. 

At  this  diet  Charles  sought  to  gain  for 
his  son  Philip,  whom  he  had  sent  for  from 
Spain,  the  title  of  king  of  the  Romans. 
However,  neither  his  brother  Ferdinand, 
nor  the  1  alter 's  son,  Maximilian,  nor,  in 


fact,  any  of  the  electors  or  princes,  would 
give  their  consent ;  foi,  besides  other  causes 
the  haughty,  gloomy,  repulsive  appearance 
and  manner  of  the  prince  could  not  possible 
operate  in  his  favor  among  the  Germans 
His  father,  therefore,  saw  himself  obliged  tc 
send  him  back  to  Spain,  whither  Philip  in- 
deed was  too  glad  to  return,  for  he  was  more 
attached  to  that  country  than  any  other. 

The  emperor,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
diet,  left  Augsburg  for  Inspruck,  as  the 
new  pope,  Julius  III.,  having  now  removed 
the  seat  of  the  council  from  Bologna  tc 
Trent,  Charles  was  anxious  to  be  in  its 
vicinity. 

Meantime  the  new  elector  of  Saxony 
nourished  in  his  heart  a  most  bold  and 
determined  design  against  the  emperor, 
the  immediate  motives  for  which,  how- 
ever, we  are  not  able  to  define,  inasmuch 
as  the  whole  of  this  man's  thoughts  and  ac- 
tions have  remained  an  enigma  in  all  his- 
torical research.  Still  there  is  no  doubt  he 
was  influenced  in  his  conduct  by  at  least 
two  grand  causes:  firstly,  the  severe  and 
unjust  confinement  of  his  father-in-law,  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  towards  whom  he  con- 
sidered he  was  still  bound  to  redeem  the 
word  and  guarantee  he  had  given  for  his 
liberty,  while  neither  the  arguments  nor 
prayers  resorted  to  by  him  had  the  least 
effect  upon  the  emperor ;  and,  secondly, 
the  sad  condition  of  the  Protestants  in  Ger- 
many. These  latter  felt  more  and  more 
convinced  that  the  emperor  only  waited 
now  for  the  resolutions  of  the  council  of 
Trent,  in  order  to  establish  them  as  the 
laws  of  religion  throughout  the  empire  ; 
and  as  he  had  already  commenced  hostili- 
ties against  Magdeburg,  on  account  of  the 
"  Interim,"  so  likewise,  as  soon  as  he  had 
collected  fresh  troops,  it  might  be  expected 
that  he  would  force  all  the  states  of  the 
land  to  submit  to  all  those  decrees  of  the 
church.  Indeed,  at  this  moment,  the  whole 
body  of  the  Protestants  were  in  a  state  of 
anxious  expectation  and  suspense.  Those 
who  dreaded  the  worst  results  condemned 
the  Elector  Maurice  as  the  most  culpable 
party :  inasmuch  as  he  had  betrayed  the 
league  of  Schmalkald,  and  it  was  through 
him  that  John  Frederick  of  Saxony  and  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse  were  now  suffering  im- 
prisonment. Those,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
still  cherished  some  hope  of  relief,  turned 
their  eyes  towards  him,  for  to  them  he  ap- 
peared the  only  one  now  left  capable  of 


MAURICE  DESERTS  THE  EMPEROR. 


protecting  the  new  faith.  The  moment  had 
now,  indeed,  arrived,  when  with  one  grand 
and  mighty  stroke  he  might  expunge  all 
recollection  of  the  past  and  regain  the  pub- 
lic opinion.  Maurice  was  not  long  in  de- 
ciding the  course  he  should  take,  and  he 
determined  to  put  his  plan  into  execution 
at  once.  He  availed  himself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity presented  in  the  expedition  against 
Magdeburg,  to  collect,  without  exciting 
suspicion,  a  numerous  body  of  troops,  while 
at  the  same  time,  in  accordance  with  the 
object  in  view,  the  siege  of  the  city  itself 
was  conducted  as  tardily  as  possible.  At 
length,  in  September  of  the  following  year, 
1551,  he,  of  his  own  authority,  agreed  to  a 
suspension  of  arms,  and  in  the  succeeding 
November,  he  concluded  a  treaty  with  the 
city — the  terms  of  which  were  extremely 
mild  and  favorable  for  the  latter — while, 
however,  he  took  care  not  to  discharge  his 
troops  on  this  account.  He  secretly  dis- 
patched his  early  friend  and  companion, 
Albert,  margrave  cf  Brandenburg-Culm- 
bach,  to  the  court  of  Henry  II.,  king  of 
France,  the  son  of  Francis  I.,  in  order  to 
conclude  an  alliance  with  him,  and  he  im- 
mediately engaged  in  his  service  the  leader 
of  the  Wurtemberg  troops,  John  of  Hey- 
deck,  who,  together  with  Schiirtlin,  had 
been  previously  placed  under  the  imperial 
ban.  These  proceedings,  however,  had  not 
escaped  observation,  and  were  communi- 
cated to  the  emperor  ;  but  Charles  remain- 
ed deaf  to  all  the  warnings  given  to  him. 
He  placed  the  greatest  confidence  in  the 
man  whom  he  thought  he  had  thoroughly 
tested,  and  when  thus  cautioned  against 
him,  he  replied :  "  That  as  he  had  never, 
to  his  knowledge,  given  cause,  either  to 
Maurice  or  the  Margrave  Albert,  to  act 
inimically  towards  him,  but,  on  the  contra- 
ry, had  shown  to  both  great  proofs  of  his 
favor  and  consideration,  he  could  not  be- 
lieve it  possible  that  they  would  be  guilty 
of  such  ingratitude  ;  and  he  was  convinced 
that  with  them  their  acts  would  go  hand  in 
hand  with  their  words,  and  that  they  would 
not  swerve  from  that  honorable  line  of  con- 
duct for  which  the  German  nation  had  ever 
distinguished  itself."  And  thus,  while,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  emperor  placed  his  firm 
reliance  upon  German  fidelity,  his  minis- 
ter, Granvella  the  younger,  calculated  up- 
on the  simplicity  of  the  Germans,  for  the 
observation  he  made  in  reply  was :  "  That 
ft  was  wholly  impossible  for  a  phlegmatic 


German  to  conceive  a  plan  and  endeavor 
secretly  to  bring  it  to  bear,  without  its  be 
ing  immediately  discovered  and  known  in 
all  its  details." 

Both  the  emperor  and  his  minister,  how- 
eve?,  were  struck  as  it  were  with  a  clap  of 
thunder,  when  Maurice,  in  the  month  of 
March,  1552,  suddenly  appeared  with  his 
whole  army  and  invaded  Franconia,  aug- 
menting his  forces  with  those  of  the  land- 
grave of  Hesse  and  the  troops  of  the  Mar- 
grave Albert.  At  the  same  time  both  these 
princes  drew  up  a  declaration  against  the 
emperor,  which  they  made  public,  wherein 
they  sought  to  justify  the  war  they  com- 
menced. They  complained  of  the  prolong- 
ed imprisonment  of  the  landgrave,  as  like- 
wise of  the  attacks  made  by  the  emperor 
upon  the  liberty  of  Germany.  They  re- 
proached him  with  having  confided  the 
seals  of  the  empire  to  foreigners,  who  were 
totally  unacquainted  both  with  the  language 
and  laws  of  Germany,  so  that  the  Germans 
themselves  were  actually  forced  to  learn  a 
foreign  tongue  before  they  were  allowed  to 
make  known  their  demands  to  the  imperial 
government.  "  Contrary  to  the  oath  he 
took,  he  had,"  they  said,  "  introduced  into 
the  country  foreign  troops,  who  pillaged 
and  ruined  the  unfortunate  inhabitants, 
whom  they  likewise  abused  and  ill-treated 
in  every  possible  way ;  nay,  he  had  gone 
to  such  extremes,  that  he  had  clearly  shown 
he  was  swayed  by  no  other  thought  or  feel- 
ing than  that  of  subjecting  all  and  each  to 
the  most  shameful  servitude,  whence  his 
conduct  had  been  such,  that  if  the  sweep- 
ing torrent  of  destruction  was  not  speedily 
and  effectually  checked,  posterity  itself 
would  have  too  great  reason  to  abominate 
the  negligence  and  cowardice  of  the  pres- 
ent generation,  during  which  the  liberty  of 
our  fatherland — its  greatest  and  most  pre- 
cious treasure— 4iad  been  allowed  to  fall  a 
sacrifice." 

Although  in  many  of  these  reproaches 
there  was  much  exaggeration,  still  we  find 
therein  reflected,  in  the  most  striking  and' 
glaring  colors,  the  great  and  especial  evil 
in  Charles's  character,  and  to  which  his 
unjust  treatment  of  the  Germans  is  to  be 
undeniably  traced.  This  great  error  he 
evinced  in  the  contempt  he  expressed  for 
the  nation,  while  on  the  other  hand  he 
showed  the  greatest  preference  and  favor 
towards  his  Spaniards  and  Netherlander^ 
of  whom  the  former,  more  especially,  h) 


IXSPRUCK— CHARLES'S  FLIGHT— TYROL. 


291 


.heir  proud  and  overbearing  conduct,  to- 
gether with  the  cruelty  practised  by  their 
common  soldiers,  brought  down  upon  them- 
selves the  just  indignation  and  hatred  of 
the  country.  The  love  of  the  nation  Charles 
never  could  possess,  for  he  himself  cher- 
ished none  towards  the  people  ;  condescen- 
sion was  the  utmost  his  pride  would  allow 
him  to  vouchsafe  to  the  Germans.  .But 
this  cold  and  formal  display  of  affability  is 
more  insupportable  to  a  brave  and  loyal 
nation  than  even  arrogance  and  tyranny  j 
while  the  discontent  and  mortification  ex- 
pressed by  the  princes  when  they  saw  that 
a  haughty  foreigner,  like  Granvella,  was 
installed  in  his  office  as  chancellor,  and 
had  thus  confided  to  his  charge  the  entire 
control  of  the  government,  were  but  too 
well  founded.  It  was,  however,  less  the 
acts  than  the  disposition  of  the  emperor  as 
evinced  against  the  Germans,  which  drew 
upon  him  tin's  humiliating  war  with  Mau- 
rice. The  Margrave  Albert,  in  his  decla- 
ration to  the  emperor,  introduces  an  accu- 
sation, the  nature  of  which  appears  still 
more  striking,  but  which  had  its  origin  in 
that  very  arrogance  then  so  openly  and  di- 
rectly displayed  by  these  foreigners  towards 
the  nation.  Albert,  in  his  furious  indigna- 
tion against  the  historian  of  the  Schmalkal- 
dian  war,  Louis  d'Avila,  bestows  upon  him 
the  epithets  of  "  liar  and  villain,"  inasmuch 
as  in  his  work  he  speaks  of  the  Germans 
being  a  savage  and  unknown  people,  "  de- 
void of  all  honorable,  manly,  and  noble 
virtue,  and  of  whose  descent  and  origin  no- 
thing was  known." 

The  emperor  again,  whose  actions  were 
better  than  as  in  these  declarations  they 
were  represented,  in  the  feeling  of  his  dig- 
nity made  no  other  reply  than  :  "  That 
the  accusations  of  the  two  princes  being  sd 
childish,  unconnected,  and  absurd,  they 
only  contained  in  themselves  their  own 
falsehood  and  want  of  foundation,  while 
they  laid  bare  in  ample  evidence  the  mis- 
chievous character  of  those  who  had  in- 
vented them." 

The  enterprise  of  the  two  princes,  how- 
ever, very  soon  lost  character  in  public 
opinion  through  the  conduct  of  the  margrave 
himself,  who,  with  his  people,  committed 
violence  and  devastation,  equalled  only  by 
the  most  lawless  band  of  freebooters  and 
incendiarists,  everywhere  throughout  the 
flat  portions  of  the  country.  Thence  Mau- 
rice and  the  young  Landgrave  William 


of  Hesse,  both  of  whom  had  nobler  objects 
in  view,  were  forced  to  separate  from  him 
and  leave  him  to  act  for  himself. 

The  emperor  was  now  in  a  state  of  great, 
embarrassment ;  he  was  in  want  both  of 
troops  and  money,  which  latter,  to  hu 
mortification,  the  money-lenders  of  Augs- 
burg refused  to  advance  him,  and  he  was 
reduced  to  the  extremity  of  deputing  his 
brother  Ferdinand  to  open  negotiations 
with  Maurice.  As,  however,  they  led  to 
no  result,  and  Maurice  easily  perceived 
that  the  design  of  Charles  was  to  gain  time, 
he  broke  up  at  once  from  Swabia  and 
marched  his  troops  into  the  Tyrol,  in  order, 
if  possible,  to  fall  upon  him  unprepared. 
His  progress  was  so  rapid,  that  he  actually 
preceded  in  person  the  announcement  of 
his  advance ;  he  marched  on  to  Ehren- 
berg,  which  fell  into  his  hands,  and  had 
he  not  been  detained  an  entire  day  by  a 
mutiny  which  broke  out  in  one  of  his  regi- 
ments, he  would  have  succeeded  in  gaining 
Inspruck  in  time  to  have  surprised  the 
ernperor  there  and  taken  him  prisoner. 
Charles,  however,  was  thus  enabled  to 
escape  on  the  previous  night,  (of  the  19th 
May,)  during  a  most  dreadful  thunder- 
storm, and  arrived  in  safety  at  Trent ;  ho 
himself  was  conveyed  there  upon  a  litter, 
being  at  the  time  extremely  ill,  and  his 
brother  Ferdinand,  the  captive  elector  of 
Saxony,  and  the  rest  of  the  suite  followed, 
some  on  horseback,  others  even  on  foot, 
while  servants  with  torches  lighted  them 
on  their  road  through  the  narrow  passes 
of  the  Ty  "olese  mountains — such  had  been 
their  hasu  .  But  even  Trent  itself  was  no 
longer  secure,  and  after  a  few  hours  of 
repose,  Charles  wa's  again  forced  to  resume 
his  flight  across  the  most  difficult  and  dan- 
gerous roads  as  far  as  the  village  of  Villach, 
in  Carinthia ;  the  assembled  council  at 
Trent  having  also  in  their  alarm  broken 
up  and  taken  flight  on  every  side.  Maurice, 
however,  on  finding  that  Inspruck  was 
evacuated,  turned  back  again,  after  ho 
had  distributed  among  his  troops  the  impe- 
rial booty  collected,  and  marched  on  to 
Passau,  whither  an  assembly  of  the  princes 
had  been  convoked. 

Meantime  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that 
these  reverses  of  fortune,  which,  together 
with  his  bodily  afflictions,  had  humbled  the 
proud  heart  of  Charles  in  these  days  of 
disgraceful  flight,  were  sent  by  Providence 
for  his  justification.  It  was,  no  doubt, 


298 


THE  ELECTOR  RELEASED. 


during  this  trying  period  that  he  formed 
the  resolution  of  voluntarily  laying  down 
his  crown  as  soon  as  ever  he  had  quelled 
this  new  war,  and,  renouncing  the  world's 
pomp,  to  retire  into  solitude,  and  devote  his 
remaining  days  to  the  exclusive  service  of 
the  eternal  and  immutable  Creator. 

He  now  gave  the  imprisoned  elector  of 
Saxony  his  liberty  once  more ;  stipulating 
only  that  he  should  remain  with  the  court 
a  short  time  longer.  And  truly,  the  sight 
alone  of  this  suffering  prince  must  have 
produced  within  him  bitter  and  painful 
feelings  ;  for  it  was  only  five  years  previ- 
ously that,  on  the  plain  of  Lochau,  the 
elector,  with  bleeding  form,  appealed  to 
him  on  his  knees  for  grace;  while  now  the 
same  prince  beheld  him,  the  former  con- 
queror, sick  and  helpless,  traversing  almost 
impassable  mountains  as  a  fugitive,  and 
pursued,  too,  by  another  elector  of  Saxony, 
whom  he  in  his  days  of  pride  and  glory 
had  himself  promoted  and  rendered  power- 
ful. What,  however,  afflicted  the  emperor 
more  than  any  thing  else,  was  to  find  him- 
self deserted  by  all  his  states — not  even 
being  aided  by  the  Catholics — while  they 
all  preferred  submitting  patiently  to  be 
plundered  by  the  Margrave  Albert,  rather 
than  uniting  together  for  the  succor  and 
protection  of  their  emperor.  Then  it  was 
that  he  but  too  truly  felt  the  conviction  at 
heart,  that  it  is  only  in  the  love  of  his  peo- 
ple that  a  sovereign  can  hope  to  find  a  sure 
protection  in  the  hour  of  danger. 

In  Augsburg,  the  Elector  John  Fred- 
erick took  leave  of  the  emperor,  who,  in 
their  parting  scene,  testified  much  respect 
and  even  emotion  towards  the  prince.  The 
latter  left  Augsburg  immediately,  and  has- 
tened to  return  to  his  own  lands.  As  he 
proceeded  he  was  everywhere  welcomed 
and  received  with  sincere  and  hearty  re- 
spect and  congratulation ;  and  when  he 
approached  Nuremberg,  he  was  met  on  the 
road  by  a  train  of  fifty  deputies  from  the 
magistrates  of  that  city  on  horseback,  and 
the  whole  populace  greeted  him  with  shouts 
of  joy,  while  at  the  same  time  many  were 
affected  even  to  tears.  When,  at  length, 
he  arrived  at  his  own  town  of  Coburg,  his 
beloved  wife  Sibella — who  had  now  thrown 
aside  the  mourning  robes  she  had  worn 
during  the  entire  five  years — on  finding 
that  the  wish  she  had  so  often  expressed 
had  now  become  fulfilled,  viz.,  that  before 
she  died  she  might  see  her  husband  re- 


leased from  his  captivity,  was  so  overpow 
ered  that  she  fell  into  his  arms  completely 
insensible.  On  his  arrival  at  Jena,  where 
his  sons  had  built  a  university  in  lieu  of 
that  taken  from  them  at  Wittenberg,  he 
was  especially  rejoiced  in  meeting  and 
once  more  holding  communion  with  the 
learned  professors  and  their  students.  His 
old. and  faithful  friend,  Lucas  Cranach, 
the  painter,  together  with  the  eldest  of  the 
princes,  sat  in  the  same  carriage  with  him  : 
"  Behold  !"  exclaimed  the  delighted  electoi 
to  his  son  ;  "  this  is  the  true  fraternal  study 
of  the  sciences;"  and  the  entire  body  of 
professors  having  now  advanced  to  weL 
come  him  with  an  address  of  congratula- 
tion, the  gratified  prince  listened  to  it  with 
uncovered  head.  Such  was  the  reception 
experienced,  and  such  were  the  feelings 
produced  on  the  reappearance  of  this  truly 
German  prince  among  his  subjects,  by 
whom  he  was  regarded  in  the  light  of  a 
father.  Charles  V.,  however,  was  unfor- 
tunately never  so  received  in  Germany. 

The  emperor  meantime  left  it  to  his 
brother  Ferdinand  to  negotiate  with  Mau- 
rice at  Passau.  He  himself  had  a  great 
objection  to  the  whole  transaction,  but  he 
was  nevertheless  very  desirous  to  make 
peace  with  Maurice,  in  order  to  be  enabled 
to  turn  all  the  power  of  his  arms  againsi 
the  enemy  he  most  hated — the  French ; 
who,  during  this  interval,  had  invaded  Lor- 
raine and  taken  one  city  after  another. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  treaty  of 
Passau  was  concluded  on  the  31st  of  July, 
1552.  Therein  it  was  stipulated  :  "  That 
the  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse  should  at 
once  be  set  at  liberty,  and  that  the  ban  of 
the  empire  pronounced  against  all  who 
had  joined  in  the  war  of  Schmalkald  should 
be  withdrawn.  That  with  respect  to  the 
other  religious  grievances,  a  new  diet 
should  be  convoked,  and  that  until  then  the 
imperial  chamber  of  justice  should  exer- 
cise its  judgment  with  equal  impartiality 
for  both  parties,  but  that  the  imperial 
council  should  be  composed  of  Germans 
only." 

After  the  conclusion  of  this  peace,  Mau- 
rice, in  order  to  prove  the  justice  of  his 
intentions,  disbanded  all  the  foreign  troops 
of  his  army,  and  marched  with  his  own 
soldiers  to  Hungary  in  aid  of  King  Ferdi 
nand.  Philip  of  Hesse  was  liberated,  ant, 
returned  to  his  family  and  country.  The 
long  and  severe  imprisonment  he  had  en- 


I 


DEATH  OF  MAURICE— DEATH  OF  ALBERT 


295 


dured  had  humbled  and  depressed  his  in- 
dependent spirit,  and  destroyed  all  farther 
inclination  for  great  undertakings  ;  he  cm- 
ployed  the  remaining  years  of  his  life  in 
the  praiseworthy  task  of  healing,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  wounds  inflicted  during  the  pre- 
vious unhappy  period  of  anarchy  throughout 
his  dominions. 

The  emperor  having,  in  the  mean  time, 
collected  an  army  from  Italy  and  Hungary, 
marched  against  Henry  II.,  king  of  France, 
and  sick  and  enfeebled  as  he  was,  he  fol- 
lowed it  in  a  litter  and  commanded  it  at 
the  siege  of  Mentz.  But  it  appeared  now 
as  if  fortune  had  abandoned  him  entirely; 
the  city  defended  itself  with  great  obsti- 
nacy, and  however  determined  the  em- 
peror and  his  army  might  have  been  to 
carry  on  the  siege,  they  were  nevertheless 
compelled  to  yield  to  the  severe  effects  of 
the  winter,  and  to  withdraw  from  its  walls. 
Much  discontented,  Charles  returned  to  the 
Netherlands,  and  commenced  making  pre- 
parations for  the  next  campaign,  1553. 
This,  however,  as  well  as  the  two  follow- 
ing expeditions  of  1554  and  1555,  produced 
nothing  decisive  for  the  two  nations :  the 
French,  when  Charles  sought  to  bring 
them  to  an  open  engagement  in  the  field, 
fortified  themselves  in  their  strongholds, 
and  the  entire  war  limited  its  operations  to 
merely  devastating  the  provinces  of  the 
frontiers.  Charles  was  accordingly  forced 
to  transfer  its  achievement  to  his  son  Phi- 
lip II. 

The  treaty  of  Passau  had  produced  in 
Germany  a  happy  state  of  repose  ;  one 
man  alone  appeared  determined  not  to  al- 
low its  uninterrupted  enjoyment — the  tur- 
bulent Margrave  Albert  of  Brandenburg. 
He  pursued  his  war  of  pillage  and  incen- 
diarism against  the  bishops  and  several 
cities  in  Franconia,  Swabia,  on  the  Rhine 
and  Moselle,  with  unheard  of  impudence 
and  daring,  and  as  at  length  all  the  warn- 
ings given  to  him  were  of  no  avail,  Duke 
Maurice,  to  whom  the  peace  of  Germany 
had  now  become  more  and  more  dear,  uni- 
ted with  Henry,  duke  of  Brunswick,  and 
both  made  a  combined  attack  upon  the 
margrave,  in  1553,  on  the  plain  of  Liine- 
6urg,  near  Silvershausen  ;  he  having  by 
this  time  extended  his  depredations  even  to 
Lower  Saxony.  The  battle  was  severe 
and  bloody ;  the  margrave,  however,  was 
completely  beaten ;  but  two  sons  of  the 
duke  of  Brunswick,  a  prince  of  Lujneburg, 


fourteen  counts,  and  nearly  three  hundrec 
of  the  nobility  besides,  were  left  dead  on 
the  field,  while  Maurice  of  Saxony  him- 
self was  mortally  wounded.  He  was  con- 
veyed to  a  tent  erected  close  to  a  hedge, 
and  there  he  received  the  captured  ban- 
ners and  papers  of  the  margrave,  which 
latter  he  examined  with  all  the  eager  cu 
riosity  his  sinking  state  would  permit. 
Two  days  afterwards  he  expired,  exclaim- 
ing with  his  dying  breath :  "  God  will 
come —  !"  the  rest  of  the  sentence  was 
unintelligible.  Although  only  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  he  had  already  acquired 
greater  authority  and  commanded  more 
influence  in  Germany  than  any  one  of  his 
contemporaries.  Hence  any  farther  testi- 
mony is  unnecessary  in  order  to  prove  the 
preponderating  power  of  his  genius.  The 
final  efforts  he  so  patriotically  made  for 
the  promotion  and  establishment  of  general 
tranquillity,  and  his  love  for  peace  and  or- 
der, which  he  sealed  with  his  own  blood, 
have  in  a  great  degree  served  to  throw  the 
mantle  of  oblivion  over  his  earlier  pro- 
ceedings, and  conciliated  the  critical  voice 
of  public  opinion.  He  was  succeeded  in 
the  electorate  by  his  brother  Augustus. 

Albert,  the  restless  margrave,  in  whom 
the  turbulent  spirit  of  the  times  of  the 
Faustrecht  was  revived  in  all  its  destruc- 
tive form,  still  continued,  in  spite  of  the 
severe  defeat  he  had  suffered,  to  harass 
the  country.  Completely  reduced  after 
this  last  battle,  he,  in  his  extremity,  sought 
the  aid  of  the  king  of  France,  and  support- 
ed by  the  money  he  received  from  that 
monarch,  he  immediately  began,  in  1556, 
to  collect  fresh  troops  and  make  arrange- 
ments for  another  campaign — or  rather  se- 
ries of  depredations.  Happily,  however, 
his  death,  which  occurred  suddenly  amid 
his  warlike  preparations,  prevented  him 
from  committing  further  devastation.  He 
was  likewise  a  prince  of  extraordinary 
powers,  and  resembled  very  much  his  an- 
cestor Albert,  the  Achilles  of  Germany  ; 
but  the  innate  wildness  of  his  disposition 
and  character  generally,  combined  with 
the  disordered  state  of  those  times,  which 
destroyed  all  principle,  however  firmly 
based,  had  operated  to  give  to  his  energies 
a  direction  fatally  destructive. 

In  the  treaty  of  Passau  it  had  been  fixed 
that  a  diet  should  be  held  in  order  to  regu- 
late  the  affairs  of  religion,  and  to  investi- 
gate the  accusations  of  the  Elector  Maurice 


300 


RELIGIOUS  PEACE 


against  the  emperor.  Charles  himself 
urged  its  assembling  with  great  zeal,  in 
order  that  it  might  not  appear  as  if  he  stood 
in  any  fear  of  the  inquiry ;  but  the  affairs 
of  Germany  having  now  become  altogether 
equally  indifferent  to  him,  nay — and  who 
could  blame  him — even  odious,  he  confided 
their  direction  to  his  brother  Ferdinand, 
who  devoted  all  his  energies  with  noble  and 
praiseworthy  zeal  to  the  undertaking.  In 
spite  of  the  lethargy  and  indolence  of  the 
German  princes,  and  not  discouraged  by 
several  vain  attempts  to  effect  his  object, 
he  at  length  succeeded,  in  1554,  in  forming 
a  diet  at  Augsburg.  A  committee  was 
immediately  named  to  examine  and  settle 
the  various  matters  of  religious  contention, 
composed  of  the  ambassadors  of  Austria, 
Bavaria,  Brandenburg,  Wurternberg,  Eich- 
st'tldt,  Strasburg,  Juliers,  Augsburg,  and 
Weingarten,  and  they  all  worked  with  sin- 
cere and  laudable  industry  in  the  great 
cause.  The  Roman  king  aided  them 
therein  most  strenuously ;  he  removed 
every  external  difficulty  presenting  itself 
in  the  progress  of  their  task,  and  when  he 
learned,  among  other  things,  as  is  related 
by  his  chancellor  Zasius,  "  that  several  oi 
the  spiritual  princes  were  engaged  in  fruit- 
less disputes,  that  they  were  occupied  in 
strewing  the  path  witS  every  sort  of  dis- 
quisition and  difficulty,  adapted  more  to 
destroy  altogether  even  to  the  foundation 
the  building  they  were  engaged  to  recon- 
struct, while  such  proceedings  must  pro- 
duce, on  the  other  side,  bitter  and  inimical 
feelings,"  he  dispatched  Zasius  and  his 
vice-chancellor  Jonas  to  them,  and  warned 
them,  in  most  grave  and  solemn  terms,  to 
desist  from  such  a  line  of  conduct ;  and  in 
thus  acting  he  effected  his  object. 

And  by  proceeding,  in  another  circum- 
stance, to  act  with  equal  firmness  towards 
the  Protestants,  he  caused  them  likewise  to 
yield  to  his  wishes.  The  point  was  one  of 
great  importance,  inasmuch  as  they  de- 
manded that  the  ecclesiastical  body  of  Ger- 
many should  be  at  liberty  to  adopt  the 
Augsburg  confession,  and  retain  at  the 
same  time  their  offices  and  lands  ;  but  the 
Catholic  party  rose  in  strong  opposition 
Rgainst  it :  "  If  this  demand,"  they  declared, 
"  was  conceded,  the  whole  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical possessions  in  Germany  would  very 
soon  be  transferred  into  the  hands  of  the 
Protestants.  Much  rather,  on  the  contrary, 
Night  the  law  to  be  thus  •  that  as  soon  as 


a  spiritual  prince,  in  his  own  person,  passed 
over  to  the  new  doctrine,  he  should  be  forth 
with  succeeded  by  a  Catholic."  Eventu 
ally  the  Protestants  were  obliged  to  cede 
the  point  for  the  moment,  but  they  held  i' 
in  reserve,  meantime,  to  be  discussed  on  a 
future  occasion  :  a  subject  of  dispute  which 
became  important  under  the  title  of  the 
"  Ecclesiastical  Reservation."  Thus  wa« 
concluded  at  length,  on  the  26th  of  Sep. 
tember,  1555,  at  Augsburg,  the  religious 
peace  which  for  a  time  put  an  end  to  the 
long  contest.  Free  exercise  of  religion 
was  granted  legally  to  the  Protestants 
throughout  the  whole  of  Germany,  and  they 
retained  possession  of  all  the  revenues 
hitherto  received  from  the  ecclesiastical 
institutions.  Neither  Protestants  nor  Cath- 
olics were  allowed  to  seek  proselytes  at  the 
expense  of  either  party,  but  every  person 
was  permitted  to  freely  follow  his  own  faith. 
And  while  every  reigning  prince  was  priv- 
ileged to  fix  and  establish  the  religion  of  his 
dominions,  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  force  any 
of  his  subjects  to  adhere  to  any  one  church 
beyond  another ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was 
left  open  to  any  one,  who  might  desire  to 
4o  so  from  religious  motives,  to  remove 
from  one  territory  into  another.  Hence, 
in  this  respect,  the  progress  of  reform  had 
not  as  yet  attained  that  degree  of  toler- 
ance  which  allowed  the  subject  professing 
a  faith  different  to  the  established  creed 
of  the  country,  equal  rights  to  those  en- 
joyed by  all  the  rest  of  his  fellow-subjects. 
Another  law,  however,  by  which  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Protestants  were  beneficially 
promoted,  was  that  their  co-religionists 
became  now  likewise  members  of  the  im- 
perial chamber  of  justice. 

After  the  conclusion  of  this  religious 
peace,  the  subject-matter  of  the  accusations 
brought  by  Prince  Maurice  against  the 
emperor  came  on  for  discussion  in  the  col- 
lege of  the  electoral  princes  ;  but,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  Charles,  none  of  the  other 
states  of  the  empire  would  join  in  the  in- 
vestigation, and  consequently  the  whole 
question  was  abandoned. 

The  division  of  the  twc  religious  parties 
in  Germany  was  now  established  forevei 
by  this  peace.  Charles,  who  had  devoted  i 
great  portion  of  his  existence  and  powe] 
towards  their  reunion,  experienced  little  01 
no  satisfaction  when  he  contemplated  the 
present  state  of  things — so  different  to  the 
objects  he  had  in  view  ;  and  consequently 


IDICATION  OF  CHARLES 


301 


Germany  had  now  become  to  him  a  coun- 
try more  and  more  indifferent  and  estranged. 
Meantime,  the  war  with  France  proceeded 
at  a  very  slow  and  unsatisfactory  pace, 
•and  Charles  was  forced  to  witness  how 
increasingly  that  power  interfered  in  the 
nfluirs  of  Germany,  while  his  genius  saw 
beforehand  the  influence  that  government — 
to  him  so  hateful — would  gain  over  Europe, 
when  once  the  power  of  the  Spanish-Aus- 
trian house  became  divided,  and  which 
even  now,  while  united  under  his  reign, 
had  scarcely  been  able  to  confine  that  ambi- 
tious nation  within  its  boundaries.  Hence 
ho  already  beheld  all  the  grand  plans  cre- 
aied  within  his  comprehensive  mind,  either 
incompletely  executed  or  altogether  de- 
stroyed, and  accordingly,  the  greater  his 
desire  to  bring  them  to  bear,  the  greater 
>vas  the  mortification  he  was  forced  to  ex- 
perience  in  the  contemplation  of  their  fail- 
ure, and  more  especially  did  he  feel  this  in 
his  present  afflicted  state  of  body.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  country  towards  which  he 
had  ever  turned  his  eye  with  pleasurable, 
genial  feelings — Spain — had  now  found  in 
his  son,  Philip,  a  protector  who  possessed 
the  general  confidence  of  the  nation.  Ac- 
cordingly, every  thing  now  combined  to 
strengthen  the  motives  for  the  plan  deter- 
mined upon  by  Charles,  and  which,  in 
imitation  of  Diocletian,  he  had  some  time 
had  in  contemplation,  viz.,  to  abdicate  his 
throne,  and  end  his  days  in  the  retirement 
of  a  monastic  life. 

In  the  autumn  of  1555,  he  summoned 
his  son  Philip,  who  had  shortly  before  mar- 
ried Mary,  queen  of  England,  to  Brussels, 
and  on  the  25th  of  October  of  the  same 
year,  he  solemnly  transferred  into  his  hands 
the  dominion  of  the  Netherlands.  This 
ceremony  took  place  in  the  same  hall  in 
which  forty  years  before  Charles  had  been 
declared  of  age.  Here,  when  all  were 
assembled,  the  invalid  emperor,  having 
with  great  difficulty  risen  from  his  seat, 
and  supporting  himself  upon  the  shoulders 
of  Prince  William  of  Orange,  addressed 
the  princes  and  nobles  in  a  speech  so  touch- 
ing, that  all  were  deeply  affected,  some 
even  to  tears.  He  declared,  "  that  since 
the  seventeenth  year  of  his  age,  his  whole 
thoughts  had  been  occupied  in  promoting 
.he  glory  of  his  empire  ;  that  he  had  been 
always  anxious  to  be  personally  present  in 
all  his  undertakings,  that  he  might  be  an 
ey  5. witness  of  their  progress  and  results, 


for  which  reason  his  entire  reign  had  been 
almost  one  uninterrupted  scene  of  pilgrim- 
age and  travelling ;  that  he  had  been 
nine  times  to  Germany,  six  to  Spain,  four 
to  France,  seven  to  Italy,  ten  to  the  Nether- 
lands, twice  to  England,  twice  to  Africa, 
and,  finally,  that  he  had  made  eleven  voy- 
ages by  sea.  That  now,  however,  his 
sinking  body  warned  him  to  withdraw  fron 
the  tumult  and  vexation  of  temporal  affairs, 
and  to  transfer  the  burden  of  all  these  care« 
to  younger  shoulders.  That  if,  during  his 
many  long-tried  efforts,  he  had  neglected 
or  imperfectly  settled  any  matters  of  im. 
portance,  he  earnestly  besought  the  pardon 
of  those  who  might  thereby  have  suffered ; 
and  that,  finally,  he  himself  should  always 
remember  his  faithful  Netherlanders  with 
love  and  affection  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
and  continue  to  pray  to  God  for  their  pros, 
perity." — He  then  turned  to  his  son  Philip, 
who  had  dropped  upon  his  knees  and  kiss 
ed  the  emperor's  hand,  and  exhorted  him 
in  the  most  urgent  and  impressive  manner 
to  seek  by  every  effort  in  his  power  to 
render  his  reign  one  replete  with  glory  j 
and  overcome  with  fatigue  and  emotion, 
he  sunk  down  exhausted  upon  his  chair. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  in  the  ensuing 
year,  1556,  his  abdication  of  the  crowns  of 
Spain  and  Italy,  in  favor  of  his  son  Philip, 
took  place  in  Brussels  with  equal  solemni- 
ty ;  and  in  the  following  August,  that  of 
the  Germanic  empire,  in  favor  of  his  bro- 
ther Ferdinand,  was  effected  by  an  embas- 
sy, at  the  head  of  which  was  Prince  Wil 
Ham  of  Orange.  Ferdinand  assumed  the 
government  from  that  moment  on  his  own 
authority,  but  was  only  formally  acknow- 
ledged by  the  body  of  electoral  princes  in 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1558,  at  Frank- 
fort, where  he  swore  to  the  stipulated  terms 
of  his  election,  and  the  imperial  crown  was 
solemnly  placed  on  his  head  by  the  arch- 
chancellor  of  the  empire,  the  Elector  Joa- 
chim of  Brandenburg,  which,  together  with 
the  sceptre,  had  been  brought  from  Brus- 
sels at  Charles's  desire,  by  the  imperial 
deputation. 

Charles  embarked  with  his  two  sisters 
for  Spain,  on  the  17th  of  September,  1556, 
and  he  kept  them  with  him  until  he  reaches 
Valladolid ;  there  he  parted  from  them, 
and  now  left  entirely  alone,  he  proceeded 
to  a  small  building  near  the  convent  of  St. 
Just,  belonging  to  the  order  of  St.  Jerome, 
situated  in  the  beautiful  country  of  Estr«> 


302 


DEATH  OF  CHARLES  V.— FERDINAND  I 


madura,  and  which  he  had  caused  to  be 
built  expressly  for  himself.  Here  he  now 
dwelt  until  his  death,  two  years  afterwards ; 
living  quite  alone,  not  even  seeing  his  sis- 
ters. His  nours  were  divided  between 
pious  meditation  and  mechanical  inven- 
tions, to  which  latter  occupation  he  was  much 
attached  ;  he,  however,  still  continued  in 
correspondence  with  his  son,  and  interested 
himself  in  the  affairs  of  Spain.  He,  like- 
wise, employed  himself  in  his  garden, 
which  he  took  great  pleasure  in  cultivating. 
[t  is  related  of  him  that  he  once  made  two 
watches,  upon  which  he  bestowed  much 
ingenuity  and  labor,  and  placing  them  to- 
gether on  the  table,  he  endeavored  to  make 
them  go  exactly  alike.  Several  times  he 
thought  he  had  succeeded  in  his  object,  but 
all  in  vain — the  one  went  too  fast,  the  other 
too  slow.  At  length  he  exclaimed  :  "  Be- 
hold, not  even  two  watches,  the  work  of 
my  own  hands,  can  I  bring  to  agree  with 
each  other  according  to  a  law,  and  yet, 
Tool  that  I  was,  I  thought  I  should  be  able 
co  govern,  like  the  works  of  a  watch,  so 
many  nations,  all  living  under  a  different 
sky,  in  different  climes,  and  speaking  a 
different  language !" 

Finally,  shortly  before  his  death,  in 
order  to  celebrate  in  the  most  awe-striking 
manner  the  renouncement  of  life,  and  the 
mortification  and  corruption  of  all  sense 
and  feeling,  he  caused  a  solemn  rehearsal 
to  be  made  of  his  own  funeral.  Being 
placed  in  the  coffin  he  had  already  pre- 
pared, the  monks  of  the  neighboring  con- 
vent carried  him  in  solemn  procession  to 
the  church,  where  they  performed  over 
him  the  service  of  the  dead.  It  was  now 
that  the  mortal  fever  which  had  been  so 
long  raging  in  his  body  broke  out.  Medi- 
cine it  was  useless  to  offer  him,  his  only 
desire  being  now  to  take  the  holy  sacrament, 
which  he  received  from  the  hands  of  the 
archbishop  of  Toledo.  Shortly  afterwards 
he  died,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1558,  in 
the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 

In  his  youth,  and  before  he  was  bowed 
down  with  illness,  Charles  was  of  a  noble 
manly  figure,  full  of  majesty  and  dignity. 
Me  spoke  but  little,  and  a  laugh  or  smile 
was  rarely  seen  upon  his  countenance, 
which  was  extremely  pale ;  the  color  of 
his  hair  was  blond,  and  his  eyes  blue  ;  and 
in  his  whole  appearance  there  was  a  mix- 
ture of  the  Flemish  and  Spanish  charac- 
.er. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Ferdinand  I.,  1556-1564— His  industrious  Habits— Mod- 
eration and  Tolerance— The  Calvinists  and  Luther- 
ans—Their Hostility  towards  each  other— Ferdinand 
and  Protestantism — The  Foundation  of  the  Order  of 
Jesuits  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  1540— Its  rapid  and  uni- 
versal Dissemination— The  Council  of  Trent— Fer- 
dinand's Ambassadors — Their  Propositions  refused— 
Their  Letter  to  the  Emperor— Death  of  Ferdinand  I. 
1564— Maximilian  II.,  1564-1576— His  Qualifications 
and  good  Character — Bohemia — Poland — State  ot 
Tranquillity— William  of  Grumbach  in  Franconia— 

•  His  Revolt  and  Excommunication— Gotha— The 
young  Prince  of  Saxony — Joins  Grumbach — His  per- 
petual Captivity  and  Death  in  Styria— Grumbach's 
Execution— The  mercenary  Troops— Evils  they  pro- 
duce— German  Soldiers  in  Foreign  Service — Death 
of  Maximilian  II.,  1576— Rudolphus  II.,  1576-l(il'2— 
His  Indolence  and  Irresolution— Bad  Counsellors- 
Religious  Excitement  renewed — The  Netherlands-* 
The  Duke  of  Alba— The  Elector  Gebhard  of  Cologne 
and  Agnes  of  Mansfeld,  Canoness  of  Gerresheim— 
Gebhard  excommunicated — John  Casimir  the  Count 
Palatine — Calvinism — Donauwerth— Austria— Ru- 
dolphus against  the  Protestants— Deprives  them  of 
their  Churches— Hungary— Rev9ltof  Stephen  Botsch- 
kai — The  Emperor  an  Astro!  ogist  and  Alchyrnist — 
Neglects  his  Government  more  and  more— Tycho 
Brahe  and  Keppler— Rudolphus  resigns  Hungary  to 
his  brother  Matthias— Bohemia— The  Letter  of  Ma- 
jesty—The Palatinate— The  Evangelical  Union— Ju- 
liers— Henry  IV.  of  France  joins  the  Union— The 
Catholic  League— Prague— Revolt— The  Emperor  a 
Prisoner— His  Death,  1612. 

FERDINAND,  when  he  became  sovereign, 
continued  to  exhibit  the  same  spirit  of 
peace  and  justice  he  had  shown  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  V.  All  his  actions  and 
his  whole  character  expressed  a  special 
goodness  of  heart,  and  the  most  kindly  in- 
clinations. Experience  had  rendered  his 
mind  more  and  more  mature  and  settled, 
while  he  never  swerved  from  his  word,  and 
occupation  and  activity  were  to  him  so 
necessary,  that  his  vice-chancellor,  Wai- 
dersdorf,  says  of  him :  "  His  club  might 
have  been  more  easily  wrested  from  the 
hands  of  Hercules,  than  affairs  of  business 
from  the  emperor."  He  had  read  with 
great  attention  when  a  youth,  the  celebra- 
ted work  by  Erasmus  on  the  education  of 
princes,  and  he  knew  almost  by  heart  the 
treatise  of  Cicero  on  our  duties. 

This  excellent  prince,  who  was  a  Cath- 
olic with  his  whole  soul,  and  in  his  last 
will  addressed  the  most  urgent  exhortations 
to  his  sons,  to  be  firm  and  constant  to  the 
ancient  and  true  religion,  as  their  ances- 
tors had  been  before  them,  including  the 
Roman  emperors  and  kings,  as  likewise 
the  glorious  princes  of  Austria  and  Bur- 
gundy, together  with  the  kings  of  Spain — 
whence  they  had  drawn  down  upon  them- 
selves the  blessing  of  God — this  prince, 
nevertheless,  maintained  and  cherished 
within  his  heart  a  firm  and  unchanged  to] 


THE  CALVINISTS  AND  LUTHERANS. 


303 


e ranee  and  generosity  towards  those  of  a 
different  opinion,  which  is  innate  in  every 
well-disposed  mind.  In  his  own  hereditary 
hinds  the  new  doctrine  spread  more  and 
more,  owing  principally  to  the  great  want 
felt  there  for  educational  institutions,  which 
obliged  all  those  who  were  desirous  of  giv- 
ing education  to  their  children,  more  espe- 
cially the  nohility  and  higher  classes,  to 
send  them  in  foreign  countries,  and  gene- 
rally in  preference  to  the  university  of 
Wittenberg,  which  was  distinguished  above 
all  the  rest  for  its  learning  and  science. 
Nevertheless,  it  never  for  a  moment  enter- 
ed the  mind  of  the  emperor  that  it  was 
necessary  to  prevent  this  from  taking 
place  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  only  sought  the 
means  to  produce  reconciliation  and  union, 
and  for  this  purpose  he  was  especially 
anxious  to  avail  himself  of  the  council  of 
Trent. 

Religious  peace  had,  it  is  true,  restored 
ihe  tranquillity  of  the  empire  externally; 
but  internally,  after  such  mighty  storms, 
it  could  only  proceed  with  difficulty  and 
by  slow  degrees.  The  two  parties  con- 
tinued to  watch  each  other  with  fear  and 
doubt ;  and  the  most  absurd  reports  as  to 
their  hostile  intentions  were  eagerly  caught 
at  and  believed  by  either  side.  "  If  a 
prince  happens  to  take  into  his  service," 
says  Zasius,  the  emperor's  chancellor, 
"  either  a  general  or  a  cavalier,  then  dis- 
trust is  immediately  awakened  ;  and  every 
rustling  leaf  gives  rise  to  suspicion." 

The  division  among  the  Protestant  party 
added  materially  to  that  already  existing 
in  Germany.  The  Calvinists,  who,  coming 
from  Switzerland  and  France,  became 
more  and  more  distributed  throughout  the 
empire,  gained  increasing  numbers  of  ad- 
herents, and  were  objects  of  hatred  to  the 
Lutherans,  while  the  latter  were  equally 
so  to  the  former.  Among  the  princes  the 
drctor  palatine  was  the  first  to  declare  in 
their  favor.  The  Lutherans,  however,  di- 
vided themselves  into  two  parties,  that  of 
the  moderate  and  that  of  the  extreme  party. 
The  former  followed  the  spirit  and  princi- 
ples of  Melanchthon,  the  latter  held  to  the 
very  letter  the  doctrine  of  Luther,  for 
which  they  battled  with  fiery  zeal,  because 
they  venerated  that  alone,  and  believed 
they  possessed  its  whole  nature  in  words 
and  forms.  All  those  who  at  this  time 
raised  their  voices  so  loudly  in  the  Protest- 
ant church,  only  gave  another  proof  how 


difficult  it  is  for  the  human  mind  to  main- 
tain  itself  within  the  strict  limits  of  mod- 
eration, and  when  it  has  exceeded  them  to 
resume  its  former  equanimity.  Instead  of 
entering  upon  those  calm  and  peaceful  re- 
searches  so  desirable  to  enlighten  the  mind, 
or  those  Christian  discussions  in  which  the 
first  principle  is  to  pay  homage  to  truth, 
they  rendered  Christianity  the  vehicle  of 
the  most  furious  passion,  and  employed  it 
as  a  vent  of  the  severest  language  against 
each  other — produced  often  by  the  criti- 
cism of  a  sentence  and  even  of  a  word. 
The  emperor  Ferdinand  was  but  too  cor- 
rect, too  well  justified  when,  in  his  will,  to 
which  we  have  already  referred,  he  thus 
expressed  himself  to  his  sons  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  the  numerous  Protestants  of  his 
time :  "  While,  instead  of  being  of  one  mind 
among  each  other,  they  are  so  disunited, 
so  unenlightened  in  their  opinions  and  feel- 
ings, how  can  they  be  assured  that  what 
they  put  so  much  faith  in  is  good  and  just  ? 
It  is  not  the  many  beliefs,  but  only  the  one 
that  can  hold  good.  As  they  themselves, 
therefore,  do  not  deny  that  they  have 
among  them  so  many  different  beliefs, 
the  God  of  truth  cannot  surely  be  with 
them." 

It  has  often  been  matter  of  astonishment, 
that  the  Protestant  doctrine  did  not  spread 
with  equal  rapidity  throughout  the  whole 
of  Germany,  considering  the  favorable  dis- 
position evinced  by  the  people  to  receive 
it ;  but  the  enigma  is  in  a  great  measure 
explained  by  the  speedy  degeneration  of 
Protestantism  itself.  How  was  it  to  be  ex- 
pected that  a  doctrine  which  so  soon  dis- 
solved into  a  frivolous,  spiritless  dispute  of 
words,  and  the  converts  to  which  over- 
whelmed each  other  with  maledictions, 
could  possibly  succeed  in  gaining  the 
hearts  of  the  multitude  ?  On  the  contrary, 
many  parties  were  found  in  various  direc- 
tions, who,  having  gone  over  to  the  cause, 
in  the  course  of  a  short  time  abandoned  it, 
and  returned  to  their  ancient  faith. 

Another  great  obstacle  to  the  rapid  pro- 
gress of  the  stream  was,  at  this  moment, 
presented  in  the  institution  of  the  order  of 
Jesuits,  founded  in  1540  by  a  Spaniard. 
Ignatius  Loyola,  a  man  glowing  with  zeal, 
and  of  a  very  profound  mind.  This  or- 
der, which  was  established  more  properly 
with  the  object  of  supporting  the  pontifical 
chair,  spread  its  principles  more  and  more 
widely  throughout  the  whole  of  Europe. 


304 


THE  JESUITS— COUNCIL  OF  TRENT. 


Its  constitution  was  based  upon  the  unity 
and  powerful  co-operation  of  its  members, 
and  the  most  rigid  obedience  was  its  law. 
The  head  of  the  order  lived  in  Rome  j  to 
him  were  addressed,  with  the  most  minute 
detail,  the  reports  made  by  the  directors  or 
chief  agents  established  in  the  provinces, 
and  who  again  had  under  their  control 
many  sub-agents :  thus  descending  gradu- 
ally to  the  last  member,  whence  the  entire 
fraternity  were  governed  by  one  spirit. 
The  superiors  examined  each  member's 
qualifications  strictly,  and  during  a  suffi- 
cient length  of  time  to  enable  them  to  place 
him  in  the  office  considered  by  the  order 
as  the  most  calculated  to  promote  its  views. 
Thus  was  formed  a  finely  woven  net,  the 
meshes  of  which  were  laid  with  cunning 
and  sagacity,  and  extended  all  over  Eu- 
rope. When,  in  1540,  Loyola  received 
the  approbation  of  the  pope,  he  had  ten  dis- 
ciples ;  in  1608,  they  numbered  more  than 
ten  millions,  and  in  1700,  they  had  aug- 
mented to  twenty  millions.  As  the  mem- 
bers of  the  order  were  exempt  from  all  ec- 
clesiastical functions,  and,  indeed,  even 
from  clerical  duties  altogether,  they  were 
enabled  to  devote  their  whole  time  to 
science,  and  thus  it  resulted  that  they  soon 
included  in  their  ranks  a  considerable 
number  of  excellent  teachers  and  writers, 
distinguished  preachers,  enthusiastic  mis- 
sionaries, and  professors  of  every  depart- 
ment of  science.  It  was  they  who  were 
enabled  to  enter  the  lists  against  the  Pro- 
testants, defending  the  Catholic  system 
with  all  their  zeal,  and  rivalling  them  in 
powers  of  spiritual  eloquence  from  the  pul- 
pit. All  their  efforts  were  directed  against 
the,  new  doctrine  ;  they  worked  against  it, 
whether  in  the  character  of  confessors  and 
governors  of  princes,  or  teachers  among 
the  people  ;  and  the  efficient  management, 
produced  by  the  cordial  co-operation  so 
zealously  exercised  by  the  order,  rendered 
their  exertions  successful.  This  institu- 
tion, indeed,  promoted  materially  the  de- 
velopment of  modern  ages.  It  must  not 
be  forgotten  that,  in  its  day,  this  order  ren- 
dered essential  service  in  the  education  of 
youth  ;  and  if  the  civilization  of  the  Cath- 
olic world  in  subsequent  times  has  become 
far  more  perfect,  and  has  ranked  far  above 
that  existing  at  the  end  of  the  middle  ages, 
it  is  to  be  ascribed  alone  to  the  exertions 
of  the  society  or  order  of  Jesuits.  If,  there- 
fore, the  operations  of  its  members  had 


been  less  devoted  to  external  matters;  if 
they  had  been  more  limited  to  the  domin 
ion  of  the  mind  ;  if  the  morality  of  the  or- 
der  had  been  equally  simple  and  sincere 
in  proportion  as  its  wisdom  was  great  and 
comprehensive  ;  and  if  it  had  not  attempt- 
ed to  grasp  with  invisible  hand  at  the  di- 
rection and  government  of  states,  then  tho 
entire  world  of  Catholicism  would  have 
had  just  cause  to  bless  unanimously  its 
memory.  We  shall  have  occasion  more 
than  once  in  the  course  of  our  history  to 
refer  to  the  influential  actors  belonging  to 
this  order,  whose  operations  in  important 
moments  produced  great  effect. 

The  emperor  Ferdinand  already  learned 
to  know  their  influence  in  the  most  clear 
and  decided  manner  at  the  Council  of  Trent, 
although  to  his  disadvantage.  Matters  did 
not  proceed  here  as  he  wished.  In  ordei 
to  appease  the  minds  of  his  subjects  in  his 
hereditary  lands,  and  in  the  hope,  perhaps, 
of  being  able  to  avoid  all  division,  he  caused 
his  ambassadors  at  the  council  to  argue 
with  great  zeal  in  favor  of  certain  proposi- 
tions, whence  he  anticipated  the  most  hap- 
py results.  These  points  embraced  the 
service  of  the  holy  communion  under  both 
forms  and  the  marriage  of  priests,  the  sanc- 
tion of  which  depended,  as  he  said,  only  up- 
on the  indulgence  of  the  church.  The  am- 
bassadors, likewise,  of  France  and  Bava- 
ria spoke  on  the  same  side,  and  the  latter 
especially,  concluded  their  arguments  thus : 
"  We  can  assure  this  assembly,  with  the 
most  sincere  and  conscientious  feeling,  that 
nothing  could  or  would  prove  more  ser- 
viceable and  beneficial  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, towards  reconciling  the  minds  of 
Christians  with  each  other,  terminating  the 
disputes  of  religion,  preserving  our  own 
party  in  their  faith,  and  restoring  to  it 
those  that  may  have  deserted  from  it,  than 
the  accordance  of  these  legitimate  and 
Christian  demands  of  the  emperor's  ambas- 
sadors." But  an  equitable  and  acute 
judgment  upon  the  subject  of  our  affairs 
was  not  to  be  expected  from  an  assembly 
composed  for  the  greater  part  of  foreigners 
and  men  totally  unconversant  with  that 
which  was  peculiar  to  Germany,  and  what 
was  best  adapted  for  it  under  those  circum- 
stances ;  this,  indeed,  is  sufficiently  con- 
firmed by  the  reports  made  to  the  emperor 
by  his  ambassadors,  among  whom  were 
four  bishops :  "  We  now  behold  quite 
clearly,"  they  write,  "  and  the  facts  stare 


DEATH  OF  FERDINAND  I.— MAXIMILIAN  II. 


us  in  the  face,  although  we  can  scarcely 
bring  ourselves  to  acknowledge  it  withou 
real  pain  and  mortification,  that  nothing 
can  be  effected  here  without  having  re- 
course to  intrigue.  The  Spaniards  wil 
not  swerve  an  inch  from  the  instructions 
of  their  king,  while  the  Italians  watch  wit! 
eager  eye  the  slightest  signification  made 
by  the  pope  and  his  cardinals.  The  bish- 
ops from  the  other  countries,  who  per- 
chance are  best  aware  of  the  present  state 
of  things,  comprise  the  minority,  and  con- 
sequently can  do  nothing ;  because  the 
majority  of  voices  decide  all  things. 
From  Germany  itself  we  have  only  had 
the  bishop  of  Louvaine,  who  attends  in  the 
name  of  the  archbishop  of  Salzburg,  and 
a  few  days  since  he  was  joined  by  the 
grand- vicar  of  Eichstadt.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Italian  archbishops  and  bishops 
continue  to  arrive  in  troops,  especially  such 
as  are  highborn  and  wealthy.  All,  how- 
ever, are  dependent  upon  the  nod  of  the 
pope's  legate  Simonetta ;  while  it  is  gen- 
erally known  that  a  few  good  and  pious 
bishops  who  spoke  warmly  in  favor  of  a 
reform  in  the  church,  have,  in  consequence, 
been  marked  down  in  Rome  on  the  con- 
demned list.  If,  therefore,  no  end  be  put 
to  these  secret  machinations  and  human 
passions,  truly  we  know  not  what  good  can 
be  expected  from  this  quarter." 

Such  complaints  were  repeatedly  made, 
and  thence  this  last  effort  made  by  the 
emperor  Ferdinand  to  restore  the  peace  of 
Christendom  by  a  searching  investigation 
of  ecclesiastical  affairs,  made  under  the 
sanction  of  the  Church,  completely  failed. 
The  cause  of  this  ill  success,  however, 
was  the  same  as  that  which  had  prevailed 
at  Constance,  and  which  rendered  all  at- 
tempts of  the  same  kind — suggested  by  the 
German  representatives  with  the  most  sin- 
cere and  honest  intentions — perfectly  use- 
less. This  evil  consisted  in  the  mixture 
of  foreigners  presiding  at  these  councils, 
whose  knowledge  of  our  nation  was  little 
or  nothing,  but  whose  influence,  from  the 
commencement  of  our  history,  in  all  ex- 
ternal as  well  as  internal  affairs,  always 
deprived  us  of  peace. 

Meantime,  however,  the  council  of  Trent, 
besides  a  great  number  of  dogmatical  de- 
cisions, has  pronounced  some  most  excel- 
lent principles  upon  the  morals  of  Chris- 
tianity, which  operate  even  to  this  day  as 
rules  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  church. 
39 


It  is  in  this  field  of  the  service  of  God  that 
all  parties  are  united  ;  it  is  the  same  for 
all,  and  indicates  equally  to  all  the  means 
by  which  they  may  show  themselves  io  be 
true  Christians  in  mind,  word,  and  deed. 

The  council  closed  its  sitting  on  the  9th 
of  December,  1563  ;  and  shortly  after- 
wards the  emperor  Ferdinand  died,  on  the 
15th,  of  July,  1564,  in  the  sixty-second 
year  of  his  age.  The  convincing  testi- 
mony in  his  favor  recorded  in  history  is, 
that  during  the  difficult  period  when  hatred 
and  violence  so  often  decided  opinions,  he, 
nevertheless,  carried  with  him  to  his  grave 
the  glory  of  being  praised  as  an  excellent 
monarch  by  all  parties,  Catholics  as  well 
as  Protestants. 

Ferdinand  had  already  proposed  his 
eldest  son,  Maximilian,  as  his  successor, 
at  the  assembly  of  electoral  princes  in 
Frankfort,  in  1560,  and  they  had  acknow- 
ledged him  as  such.  The  father  recom- 
mended his  son  in  language  worthy  of 
record  :  "  Endowed,"  he  says,  "  with  con- 
siderable intellectual  powers,  great  ad- 
dress, mildness,  and  goodness  of  heart,  he 
is  likewise  gifted  with  all  the  other  prince- 
ly virtues  and  good  morals  ;  possessing  a 
disposition  open  to  all  that  is  truly  just, 
good,  and  honorable,  together  with  a  sin- 
cere love  for  the  holy  empire  of  the  Ger- 
man nation,  the  glory  and  prosperity  of 
which  it  was  his  earnest  desire  to  promote. 
Finally,  he  was  master  of  the  six  princi- 
pal languages  usually  spoken  in  Chris- 
;endom,  and  was  consequently  enabled  to 
regulate  in  person  all  transactions  with 
foreign  powers."  Another  honorable  tes- 
imonial  was  rendered  him  by  his  Bohe- 
mian subjects  when  they  recommended 
lim  to  the  Poles  as  their  king :  "  Our  Bo- 
lemia,"  they  said,  "  is  far  better  under  his 
government  than  if  it  were  ruled  even  by 
a  father  born  among  us  ;  our  rights,  our 
"iberties,  and  our  laws  are  protected  by 
him  ;  he  allows  every  thing  to  take  its 
course  without  making  any  change.  And 
what  we  justly  regard  as  almost  a  work  of 
miracle,  is  the  generous  impartiality  and 
olerance  he  evinces  towards  all  classes 
)f  believers,  by  which  he  leads  them  to 
reciprocal  love  and  harmony."  And  let 
t  be  remembered,  that  he  exercised  this 
spirit  of  peace  in  a  period  when  the  word 
olerance  was  scarcely  understood  or  per 
laps  known  ;  nay,  he  publicly  avowed  the 
>rinciple,  "  that  God  alone  could  hold  do 


too 


THE  FAUSTRECHT. 


minion  over  the  conscience."  Such  was 
the  glorious  character  of  this  emperor,  and 
it  was  by  meritorious  and  praiseworthy 
conduct  such  as  this,  after  the  example  of 
his  good  father,  that  he  happily  succeeded 
in  establishing  generally,  throughout  Ger- 
many, that  tranquillity  which,  until  that 
moment,  it  had  never  enjoyed  since  the  re- 
ligious divisions  ;  a  circumstance  rendered 
still  more  striking,  as  it  was  effected  at  a 
period  when,  in  the  cause  of  religion,  vio- 
lent and  sanguinary  scenes  were  taking 
place  in  the  Netherlands,  and  more  espe- 
cially in  France,  where  the  most  dreadful 
acts  were  committed,  and  the  universal 
massacre  (on  the  eve  of  St.  Bartholomew) 
of  the  Protestants,  excited  a  feeling  of  hor- 
ror throughout  Europe. 

The  imperial  chamber  of  justice,  origin- 
ally instituted  for  the  purpose  of  eradi- 
cating the  system  of  the  Faustrecht,  now 
succeeded  completely  in  gaining  the  upper 
hand,  and  abolishing  forever  that  brutal 
law.  We  find  that  the  last  expiring  effort 
made  to  exercise  its  power  was  attempted 
about  this  time  by  a  Franconian  knight, 
William  of  Grumbach,  who,  with  the  re- 
mains of  the  savage  horde  formerly  col- 
lected by  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  resumed 
operations  in  Franconia  and  spread  devas- 
tation in  different  parts  of  that  country. 
His  attacks  were  more  especially  directed 
against  the  territory  of  the  bishop  of  Wurz- 
burg,  and  which  prelate  he  actually  shot 
in  his  own  city.  The  imperial  chamber 
pronounced  the  ban  of  the  empire  against 
the  murderer,  who  took  to  flight  and  sought 
refuge  in  Gotha  at  the  hands  of  the  son  of 
the  unfortunate  Elector  John  Frederick. 
He  had  succeeded,  it  appears,  in  filling 
that  young  and  weak-minded  prince  with 
hopes  of  being  able  to  reconquer  for  him 
the  electorate  of  Saxony,  .and  he  was  thus 
the  means  of  leading  the  young  duke  to 
experience  a  fate  far  more  distressing  than 
that  undergone  by  his  father.  The  Elector 
Augustus,  the  brother  of  Maurice,  march- 
ed with  his  army  to  execute  the  imperial 
ban,  laid  siege  to  Gotha  during  the  entire 
winter,  until  both  the  duke  and  Grumbach 
were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  surren- 
dering themselves.  The  young  prince  was 
conveyed  a  prisoner  to  Vienna,  where,  on 
his  arrival,  a  straw  hat  was  placed  on  his 
head,  and  he  was  led  through  the  streets  in 
an  open  cart  as  a  show,  amid  the  mockery 
ind  derision  of  the  populace.  He  was 


then  taken  to  Styria,  in  Austria,  where  hs 
died  after  a  close  imprisonment  of  twenty 
eight  years ;  Grumbach,  however,  wag 
executed  at  once  by  being  torn  into  quar- 
ters by  four  horses,  after  having  previously 
undergone  the  most  dreadful  torture. 

In  lieu,  however,  of  the  Faustrecht, 
which  contributed  so  much  to  degenerate 
the  art  of  war  under  the  feudal  system, 
other  evils,  caused  by  those  who  regarded 
war  merely  in  the  light  of  a  lucrative 
employment,  now  produced  much  calamity 
throughout  the  empire,  as  if  to  make  the 
people  feel  the  injurious  results  of  all  mili- 
tary  institutions  in  which  every  free  man 
is  not  required  to  arm  and  fight  for  his 
country.  Those  troops  of  mercenaries 
whose  reckless  ravages  commence  the  mo- 
ment they  have  sold  themselves  to  a  par- 
ticular standard ;  the  numerous  depots  es- 
tablished for  recruiting  and  mustering  the 
men  ;  the  continual  marching  to  and  fro  in 
all  parts  of  the  land  ;  together  with  the 
billeting  of  the  wild  and  uncouth  men 
thus  suddenly  collected  together — all  com- 
bined to  create  great  discontent  and  irrita- 
tion. The  same  complaints  were  now 
made  as  in  the  time  of  Maximilian  I.  In 
the  representations  made  by  Maximilian 
II.  to  the  diet,  he  says :  "  The  present 
system  pursued  by  our  German  soldiers — 
in  former  times,  distinguished  beyond  those 
of  any  other  nation  for  their  discipline, 
loyalty,  and  devotion — renders  them  more 
fit  to  be  regarded  in  the  character  of  bar- 
barous savages  ;  so  much  so  that  in  the  end 
their  wanton  and  dissolute  conduct  will  be 
carried  on  to  such  an  extent  that  no  honest 
man  will  be  able  to  remain  in  his  dwelling, 
nor  will  either  house  or  farm  be  left  longer 
in  possession  of  their  owner." 

These  complaints  were  met  by  creating 
new  and  more  stringent  laws  for  the  disci- 
pline of  the  army  ;  but  the  adoption  of  the 
most  essential  means  of  reform,  and  which 
lad  been  suggested  by  the  emperor  himself, 
viz.,  the  prohibition  against  the  enlistment 
of  troops  in  Germany  by  foreign  princes, 
was  not  agreed  to.  The  princes  maintain- 
d  :  "  That  from  time  immemorial  to  serve 
for  the  honor  and  distinction  of  accomplishi- 
ng chivalrous  feats  at  arms  in  the  armies 
of  foreign  princes,  had  ever  continued  to 
be  regarded  as  an  honorable  privilege  of 
national  liberty,  so  long  as  such  practice 
aused  no  injury  to  their  native  country  ; 
and  that  if  this  custom  was  abolished,  the 


RUDOLPHUS  II.— RELIGIOUS  EXCITEMENT. 


307 


warlike  spirit  of  the  empire  would  be  an- 
nihilated  at  once,  and  in  the  moment  of 
danger  no  warriors  would  be  at  hand 
to  aid  in  the  general  defence."  In  this 
language  may  be  traced  that  of  the  time 
of  Tacitus,  when  the  youth  of  Germany, 
during  the  period  of  peace  in  their  own 
tribe,  incited  to  deeds  of  valor,  entered  the 
ranks  of  such  other  races  as  at  that  mo- 
ment were  engaged  in  war  with  each  other. 

In  1575  the  emperor  Maximilian  suc- 
ceeded in  having  his  son  Rudolphus  elect- 
ed king  of  the  Romans,  and  he  died  in  the 
following  year  in  Ratisbon,  on  the  same  day 
and  in  the  same  hour  that  the  conclusion  of 
ihe  imperial  diet  was  made  public. 

The  long  reign  of  his  successor,  Rudol- 
phus II.,  whose  government  accumulated 
over  Germany  fresh  tempests  and  violent 
disorder,  serves  as  another  melancholy 
proof,  that  in  difficult  times  irresolution 
and  indolence  may  operate  with  greater 
evil  than  is  produced  even  by  a  disposition 
the  most  wicked.  The  emperor  Rudol- 
phus cannot  certainly  be  reproached  with 
the  latter  feeling,  neither  can  he  be  charg- 
ed with  ignorance  or  mental  incapacity, 
but  his  mind  was  much  more  occupied 
with  other  subjects  than  the  duties  he  had 
to  fulfil  as  emperor,  and  consequently, 
almost  every  thing  that  occurred  took  place 
without  his  knowledge,  and  often  against 
his  wish.  He  was  in  fact  in  the  hands, 
and  entirely  under  the  influence  of  bad 
counsellors. 

The  state  of  excitement  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  which  had  recently  become 
somewhat  allayed,  began  now  to  resume 
its  former  violence  when  the  Catholic 
princes,  by  the  advice  of  the  Jesuits,  com- 
menced the  task  of  reforming  their  own 
dominions  by  forcing  their  Protestant  sub- 
jects either  to  return  to  their  ancient,  faith 
or  quit  the  country.  According  to  the 
treaty  of  the  Augsburg  peace  of  religion, 
the  other  princes  could  not  venture  to  re- 
proach or  condemn  them  for  this  proceed- 
ing ;  at  the  same  time,  however,  the  Pro- 
testants perceived  but  too  clearly  that  in  so 
acting  the  Catholics  had  made  a  violent 
attack  upon  their  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  had  given  a  fresh  proof  of  their  hostile 
intentions  towards  the  Protestant  party. 
France  and  the  Netherlands  presented  a 
melancholy  instance  of  the  result  to  which 
these  inimical  acts  must  lead.  The  con- 
test carried  on  by  the  latter  country  against 


Philip  and  the  merciless  duke  of  Alba,* 
for  the  sake  of  its  religious  liberty,  pro- 
duced not  only  the  greatest  excitement 
throughout  Germany,  on  the  frontiers  of 
which  the  most  dreadful  scenes  took  place, 
but  transferred  by  degrees  the  horrors  of 
war  and  rapine  to  the  empire  itself,  whither* 
the  Spanish  army,  impelled  by  disease  and 
want,  took  refuge,  and  retreating  from  the 
Netherlands,  marched  into  the  Westphalian 
territory,  where  it  extended  its  devastation 
throughout  the  land. 

In  addition  to  this,  serious  events  took 
place  at  this  moment  in  the  German  portion 
of  the  frontier  countries.  At  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  a  body  of  emigrants  from  the  Nether- 
lands, with  their  Protestant  minister,  had 
augmented  the  number  of  their  adherent? 
to  such  an  extent,  that,  emboldened  by  theif 
success,  they  considered  themselves  justi- 
fied in  claiming  the  same  rights  as  those 
enjoyed  by  the  Catholics.  They  chose 
from  among  their  number  two  burgomasters, 
and  when  their  adversaries  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge their  authority,  they  flew  to  arms, 
and  making  themselves  masters  of  the  arse- 
nal,  they  succeeded  in  obtaining  what  they 
demanded  by  force.  In  the  neighboring 
district  of  Cologne  scenes  of  still  greater 
revolt  took  place.  The  Elector  Gebhard 
was  at  this  time  enamored  with  the  beauti- 
ful Agnes  of  Mansfeld,  canoness  of  Ger- 
resheim,  and  in  order  to  make  her  his  wife, 
he  adopted  the  Protestant  religion,  a  pro- 
ceeding insisted  upon  by  the  counts,  her 
brothers.  The  chapter  of  the  cathedral  and 
the  corporation  of  Cologne,  immediately 
appealed  to  Rome  and  the  emperor,  and  ob- 
tained from  both  the  ban  of  excommunica- 
tion against  the  archbishop.  As  his  succes- 
sor, the  chapter  selected  Prince  Ernest  of 
Bavaria,  who,  by  means  of  the  Bavarian 
and  Spanish  troops,  took  immediate  posses- 
sion  of  the  land. 

Gebhard  took  refuge  at  first  in  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  subsequently  he  removed  to 
Strasburg,  where  he  became  dean  of  the 
chapter,  and  died  in  1601.  The  Protest- 
ant princes  quietly  submitted  to  his  depo- 
sition and  expulsion,  although  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  new  vote  in  the  electoral  council 


*  The  duke  of  Alba  boasted,  on  his  return  to  Spain, 
that  lie  had  put  to  death  with  the  sword  more  than 
eighteen  thousand  men  in  the  Netherlands,  and  he 
vowed  that  he  would  willingly,  old  as  he  was,  sacrifice 
one  of  his  own  legs  if  the  king— who  was  not  endowed 
with  too  much  indulgence-^  would  only  show  a  greater 
desire  for  war  and  its  sanguinary  accompaniments. 


308 


CALVINISM— HUNGARY. 


would  have  been  to  them  of  ihe  utmost  con- 
sequence. Possibly,  they  may  have  been 
induced  to  act  this  neutral  part  from  their 
respect  for  religious  peace,  a  principle 
both  honorable  and  noble  ;  but  the  public 
voice  reproached  them  with  having  refused 
to  assist  Gebhard,  because  being  themselves 
strict  Lutherans  they  disapproved  of  his 
adopting  the  Calvinistic  doctrine,  which 
they  hated  almost  as  much  as  Catholicism 
itself.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  only  one  prince — a  Calvinisi — 
stepped  forward  to  assist  Gebhard  :  John 
Casimir,  the  count  palatine,  who  advanced 
with  a  few  troops  against  Cologne,  and 
blockaded  that  city  for  a  short  time,  but 
the  return  of  the  Bavarians  and  the  want 
of  money  to  pay  the  men  very  soon  pro- 
duced their  dispersion. 

This  prince,  John  Casimir,  was  a  zeal- 
ous partisan  of  his  church,  and  would  hear 
nothing  of  the  Lutheran  doctrine,  refusing 
it  admission  altogether  into  his  territory  ; 
whence  no  part  of  Germany  suffered  so 
much  from  the  melancholy  effects  of  the 
hatred  of  the  Protestant  parties  as  this  pala- 
tinate. The  Elector  Frederick  III.  had, 
previous  to  his  decease,  gone  over  to  the 
Calvinists ;  and  of  his  two  sons,  the  younger 
and  before-mentioned  palatine,  John  Casi- 
mir, adhered  to  his  father's  principles, 
while  the  elder,  Lewis  the  elector,  was  so 
devoted  to  the  Augsburg  confession,  that  he 
would  not  even  allow  the  Calvinistic  chaplain 
of  his  late  father  to  pronounce  the  funeral 
oration  over  his  remains.  In  accordance  with 
this  hostile  feeling,  he  deprived  the  Calvin- 
ists of  all  their  churches,  and  sent  all  their 
clergymen  as  well  as  teachers  out  of  the 
country  :  their  number  amounting  to  more 
than  two  hundred.  At  the  premature  death, 
however,  of  Lewis,  the  guardianship  of  his 
son  Frederick  IV.  devolved  upon  John 
Casimir,  whence  every  thing  underwent  an 
entire  change  ;  the  Lutherans  in  their  turn 
were  treated  as  his  brother  had  treated  the 
Calvinists,  and  young  Frederick,  then  only 
nine  years  old,  was  forthwith  removed  from 
all  connection  with  Lutheranism,  and  strict- 
ly educated  in  the  catechism  of  Calvin.  This 
was  called  Christian  zeal  of  faith  !  Through 
such  zeal,  however,  the  palatinate  was 
forced  to  change  its  religion  three  times 
in  the  course  of  sixty  years.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  if  the  old  church  felt  itself  justi- 
fied in  proceeding  as  it  did  against  the  new 
one,  since  the  latter  was  so  zealous  against 


its  own  disciples.  Subsequently,  indeec^ 
this  very  dissension  of  Cologne  producea 
a  similar  contest  in  Strasburg,  whithei 
Gebhard  had  withdrawn  with  three  can- 
ons of  his  chapter,  Protestants  like  him. 
self;  and  the  town  of  Donauwerth,  which 
until  then  had  remained  a  free  imperial 
town,  and  had  adopted  the  reformed 
principles  of  faith,  brought  upon  itself  the 
ban  of  the  empire  on  account  of  its  reli- 
gious disputes,  and,  in  1607,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  duke  of  Bavaria,  who  exe* 
cuted  the  sentence  of  excommunication  pro. 
nounced  against  it. 

But,  during  the  reign  of  Rudolphus  II., 
Austria  itself  was  more  especially  the 
scene  of  great  agitation  and  discord.  Maxi- 
milian II.  had  granted  to  the  Protestant 
states  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion, 
and  even  allowed  them  to  supply  themselves 
with  a  form  of  church  service  which  was 
prepared  for  them  by  a  theologian  of  Ros- 
tock, David  Chytriius ;  as,  however,  the 
emperor  wished  at  the  same  time  to  exclude 
their  style  of  worship  from  Vienna  altogether, 
he  furnished  them  with  various  churches 
situated  in  the  vicinity  of  that  city.  Their 
number  became  very  soon  considerbaly  aug- 
mented, several  of  their  teachers,  particu- 
larly a  certain  Doctor  Opicius,  were,  very 
unjustifiably,  most  zealous  in  their  endeav- 
ors to  gain  over  to  their  side  all  they  coulc? 
of  such  as  were  of  an  opposite  or  different 
faith ;  and  the  complaints  against  them 
growing  more  and  more  numerous,  Rudol- 
phus, swayed  as  he  always  was  by  the  in- 
fluence of  party  counsellors,  proceeded  in 
his  measures  against  the  Protestants  to  such 
extremes,  as  to  deprive  them  altogether  of 
the  churches  so  recently  given  to  them,  and 
withdrew  from  them  even  their  right  of 
citizenship  throughout  all  the  town's  of  Aus- 
tria. These  proceedings,  however,  very 
soon  excited  so  much  discontent  and  indig- 
nation, while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
ternal disorders  of  Hungary,  together  with 
the  troubles  produced  by  the  presence  ol 
the  Turks  in  that  country,  were  so  great, 
that  he  was  forced  to  return  to  measures  of 
a  more  mild  and  pacific  nature. 

In  Hungary  itself  great  discontent  was 
produced  by  his  government,  partly  be 
cause  he  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  that  country,  but  more  especially 
because  he  not  only  never  attended  in  per- 
son  at  any  of  the  states'  assemblies,  and 
had  never  even  once  visited  that  kingdom 


BOHEMIA— THE  EVANGELICAL  UNION 


30& 


*ut  permitted  his  German  soldiers  to  com- 
mit every  sort  of  insolence  and  violence 
without  control.  Thence,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  seventeenth  century,  a  most 
serious  revolt  took  place  there,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  a  nobleman,  Stephen  Botsch- 
kai,  who  united  with  the  Turks,  and  took 
possession  of  the  greater  portion  of  the 
country.  Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  this 
dangerous  state  of  his  Kingdom,  the  empe- 
ror grew  more  and  more  indifferent  and 
negligent,  and  took  no  longer  the  least  in- 
terest in  its  government.  Celestial  and 
natural  science  occupied  his  attention 
much  more  than  the  affairs  of  his  dominion, 
and  this  application  very  soon  brought  him 
into  the  association  of  those  who  pretended 
to  teach  him  the  prophecies  of  the  stars  and 
the  art  of  making  gold.  Thence,  while 
his  court  comprised  a  mixture  of  such  de- 
ceivers, and  the  most  learned  men  of  the 
day — such  as  Tycho  Brahe  and  Keppler — 
so  likewise  in  the  mind  of  the  emperor, 
trivial  and  puerile  indications  became  pro- 
portionably  confounded  with  sentiments  of 
a  nobler  nature.  Productions  of  ancient 
art,  statues,  chiselled  stone  work,  as  well 
as  pictures,  were  objects  of  his  greatest  de- 
light, and  he  devoted  large  sums  of  money  in 
their  collection  ;  while,  however,  on  the  other 
hand,  his  alchymical  laboratory,  where  he 
sought  to  produce  his  manufacture  of  gold, 
possessed  no  less  attraction  for  him,  and 
such  members  of  his  government  as  wished 
to  communicate  with  him  upon  important 
and  pressing  affairs  connected  with  the  em- 
pire, were  often  forced  to  extend  their  re- 
searches after  him  to  the  retirement  of  his 
stables,  where  he  was  accustomed  to  pass  a 
portion  of  the  day.  This  inactivity  and 
carelessness,  the  revolution  in  Hungary, 
together  with  the  disorders  prevailing  in  the 
hereditary  Austrian  provinces  themselves, 
could  not  be  regarded  with  an  eye  of  indif- 
ference by  the  brothers  and  cousins  of  the 
emperor,  more  especially  as  he  himself  had 
no  family.  They  accordingly  deliberated 
together  what  was  best  to  be  done  for  the 
well-being  of  their  house,  and  they  finally 
concluded  a  treaty,  in  1606,  according  to 
the  terms  of  which  Matthias,  the  eldest 
brother  of  the  emperor,  was  empowered  to 
restore  order  forthwith  both  in  Hungary  and 
Austria.  At  first,  the  emperor  was  much 
dissatisfied  with  this  arrangement ;  after  a 
few  years,  however,  he  yielded  his  consent, 
and  voluntarily  resigned  to  Matthias  the 


upper  and  lower  portions  of  the  Austrian 
territory  along  the  Ens,  together  with  the 
kingdom  of  Hungary  :  •<  in  order  that  this 
country  which,  in  the  absence  of  the  em- 
peror, had  endured  so  much  during  a  war 
of  sixteen  years,  might,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  Matthias,  recover  its  tranquillity 
and  prosperity."  And,  in  reality,  this 
prince  did  succeed  in  restoring  peace  in 
Hungary,  and  shortly  afterwards,  on  the 
death  of  Botschkai,  in  subjecting  it  alto- 
gether to  his  authority. 

Beyond  his  imperial  dignity,  nothing  was 
now  left  to  the  emperor  Rudolphus  but  the 
kingdom  of  Bohemia.  The  Protestant  states 
of  this  country,  anxious  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  favorable  moment  in  which  their 
sovereign  was  placed  without  power,  and  at 
variance  with  the  other  members  of  his 
family,  left  him  no  peace  until  they  at 
length  obtained  from  him,  in  1609,  the  per- 
mission for  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion, 
the  establishment  of  their  own  consistoryf 
the  surrender  of  the  academy  of  Prague, 
together  with  the  right  of  building  fresh 
churches  and  schools  in  Bohemia,  in  ad- 
dition to  those  they  already  possessed.  This 
important  document  is  called  the  letter  of 
majesty,  and  it  was  this  said  document  which 
formed  the  first  pretext  for  the  thirty  years' 
war. 

Feelings  of  distrust  and  doubt  had  now 
gradually  resumed  their  sway  among  the 
religious  parties  of  Germany.  At  the  same 
time,  the  division  existing  in  the  house  of 
Austria,  which  had  been  the  support  of  the 
Catholics,  produced  a  more  immediate  alli- 
ance .  between  the  Protestant  states,  and 
urged  them  to  form  a  new  league,  offen- 
sive and  defensive.  The  palatine  house 
was  more  especially  active  in  the  promo- 
tion of  this  object,  and  zealously  contribu- 
ted all  its  influence  ;  their  efforts  in  the 
cause,  however,  only  produced  a  fatal  re- 
sult to  the  league,  for  as  the  palatinate  ad- 
hered so  closely  to  the  Calvanistic  doctrine, 
the  Lutherans  were  induced  to  think  un- 
favorably of  the  alliance,  and  the  majority 
of  their  party  refused  to  join  it.  When, 
therefore,  Frederick,  the  elector  palatine, 
succeeded  in  the  year  1608,  after  great  ex- 
ertion, in  constituting  a  new  alliance,  to 
which  the  name  of  the  Evangelical  Union 
was  given,  he  found  himself  joined  only  by 
the  margraves  of  Brandenburg,  the  Count 
Palatine  Philip  Lewis,  of  Neuburg,  the 
duke  of  Wurtemberg,  and  the  margrave  o/ 


310 


HENRY  IV.  OF  FRANCE  A  UNIONIST. 


Baden,  together  with  the  three  principal 
cities:  Strasburg,  Nuremberg,  and  Ulm. 
This  union  was  based  upon  the  principle 
of  mutual  support  in  council  and  arms,  and 
its  especial  object  was  to  protect  religion ; 
the  palatine  to  have  the  direction  of  affairs 
during  peace,  and  its  term  to  extend  to  ten 
years.  Endeavors  were  made  to  enrol 
several  other  members,  and  the  elector  of 
Brandenburg  was  not  altogether  unwilling 
to  join  it,  but  Saxony  was  most  decided  in 
its  refusal  to  do  so,  replying,  "  That  if  the 
nature  of  the  affair  was  gravely  considered, 
it  would  be  found  on  the  one  hand,  that  the 
union  was  not  at  all  necessary  ;  and  on  the 
other,  that  in  reality  its  results  must  be 
nothing  else  but  a  separation  and  dissolu- 
tion of  the  whole  empire."  In  truth,  if  the 
palatine  house  was  really  influenced  in  the 
affair  by  ambitous  and  impure  motives,  it  had, 
subsequently,  but  too  much  reason  to  regret 
it,  for  it  suffered  severely  in  consequence. 

In  the  following  year,  1609,  an  event 
took  place  in  which  the  Evangelical  Union 
took  an  immediate  and  active  share.  Duke 
John  William  of  Juliers,  who  possessed 
the  beautiful  lands  of  the  Lower  Rhine, 
Juliers,  Cleves,  Berg,  and  Mark,  died  the 
25th  of  March  in  that  year,  without  leav- 
ing any  children.  He  had  four  sisters, 
who  were  all  married  to  German  princes, 
and  not  only  their  husbands,  but  likewise 
other  distant  relations,  laid  claim  to  the 
inheritance.  Two  of  the  claimants,  how- 
ever, the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  the 
count  palatine  of  Neuburg,  took  first  pos- 
session and  signed  a  treaty  at  Diisseldorf, 
by  which  they  agreed  to  govern  the  coun- 
try in  conjunction  -until  the  matter  was 
definitively  settled.  The  emperor,  however, 
displeased  with  the  arbitrary  conduct  of 
these  two  princes,  sent  his  brother,  the 
Archduke  Leopold,  bishop  of  Passau,  in 
order  to  take  possession  of  the  land  as  a 
vacant  fief  of  the  empire.  He  arrived 
with  some  troops,  but  could  gain  nothing 
more  of  the  country  than  the  city  and  for- 
tress of  Juliers,  where  he  was  admitted  by 
the  governor.;  he,  however,  caused  fresh 
bodies  of  soldiers  to  be  raised  in  Alsace, 
and  resolved  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the 
emperor  by  force.  The  Evangelical  Union, 
finding  the  house  of  Austria  mixing  itself 
up  in  this  affair,  came  forward  and  pre- 
pared to  march  to  the  aid  of  the  two  princes 
thus  threatened  ;  while  Henry  IV.  of 
France  now  joined  the  league,  and  prom- 


ised to  give  the  cause  his  support.  It  is 
well  known  with  what  grand  projects  this 
monarch  was  constantly  occupied,  even  to 
the  entire  transformation  of  the  whole  of 
Europe,  and  how  desirous  he  was  to  re- 
duce  the  Austrian  house  in  order  to  form 
Europe  into  a  federative  republic,  which  it 
was  his  intention  should  furnish  one  com- 
mon army  wherewith  to  drive  the  Turks 
out  of  Europe.  His  alliance  with  the  Evan- 
gelical Union  had  these  objects  in  view ; 
and  he  fixed  the  year  1610  for  the  com- 
mencement of  his  plans  against  Austria. 
The  army  of  the  union  accordingly  march- 
ed into  Alsace  in  the  spring  of  this  same 
year,  attacked  and  defeated  the  few  thou- 
sands collected  there  by  the  Archduke 
Leopold,  and,  in  order  to  justify  these  pro- 
ceedings, accused  the  emperor  of  Jhaving 
acted  illegally  in  the  affair  of  Juliers.  The 
emperor,  it  was  said,  according  to  the  an- 
cient right  of  the  empire,  ought  not  to  have 
attempted  to  decide  this  matter  alone,  but 
in  conjunction  with  an  appointed  number 
of  electoral  and  other  princes. 

The  sudden  assumption  of  arms,  and  the 
hostile  measures  pursued  by  the  union 
wherever  their  army  appeared  throughout 
the  territories  of  the  spiritual  princes,  ex- 
cited the  most  bitter  feeling  among  the 
Catholics  ;  for  their  troops  had  now  dis- 
tributed themselves  throughout  all  the  sees 
of  the  Rhine  :  Mentz,  Treves,  Cologne, 
Worms,  Spires,  and  others,  levying  contri- 
butions, and  exercising  the  greatest  vio- 
lence  in  every  direction.  The  Catholics, 
however,  now  determined  to  unite  together 
likewise,  and  concluded  an  alliance  al 
Wiirzburg,  in  1610,  for  nine  years  against 
the  union,  which  they  called  the  Catholic 
League.  The  members  it  comprised  in- 
cluded all  the  spiritual  princes,  together 
with  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Bavaria  ; 
and  in  order  to  ensure  uninterrupted  unity 
among  them,  the  chief  direction  over  the 
entire  body  was  confided  into  the  hands  of 
Maximilian,  duke  of  Bavaria.  Thus  this 
Catholic  League  was  rendered  much  more 
firm  than  the  Evangelical  Union,  which, 
not  having  any  especially  chosen  head 
during  the  war,  was  forced  to  appoint  a 
general,  to  which  honor,  as  they  all  con- 
sisted of  lay  princes,  each  considered  him- 
self  entitled.  In  other  respects  the  Catho- 
lic League  was  based  nearly  upon  the 
same  principles  as  the  Evangelical  Union, 

This  league  now  took  to  arms  likewise ; 


DEATH  OF  RUDOLPHUS  II.— MATTHIAS  I. 


311 


but  as  Henry  IV.  of  Franco  was  assassi- 
nated about  this  time,  the  members  of  the 
union  showed  themselves  more  disposed  to 
terminate  matters  in  an  amicable  way,  and 
both  parties  shortly  afterwards  laid  down 
their  arms. 

The  old  emperor  embittered  his  few  re- 
maining years  with  vexatious  quarrels  with 
his  family.  He  was  much  dissatisfied  with 
his  brother  Matthias,  nor  was  he  indeed 
attached  to  any  other  of  his  relations  ex- 
cept the  aforesaid  Archduke  Leopold,  bish- 
op of  Passau.  He  felt,  therefore,  desirous 
of  giving  him  his  kingdom  of  Bohemia — 
the  last  in  his  possession — and  in  the  year 
1611,  according  to  a  plan  calculated  very 
badly  for  the  promotion  of  his  object,  he 
empowered  hirn  to  march  with  his  troops 
from  Passau  and  enter  Bohemia  at  their 
head.  The  states  of  the  kingdom,  who 
naturally  imagined  that  in  this  proceeding 
hostile  'intentions  were  directed  against 
their  religion,  took  to  arms,  and  making  the 
emperor  a  prisoner  in  his  own  castle  of 
Prague,  they  summoned  to  their  aid  Mat- 
thias, who  for  a  considerable  time  had  cal- 
culated upon  the  crown  of  Bohemia.  He 
obeyed  their  call  at  once,  and  entered  the 
city  amidst  their  acclamations,  while  Ru- 
dolphus  was  obliged,  after  a  bitter  and 
mortifying  negotiation,  to  yield  the  crown 
to  his  brother.  It  is  said,  that  during  this 
time  of  trouble,  and  in  the  irritation  of  the 
moment,  he  burst  open  the  window  of  his 
room  and  exclaimed,  in  words  fatally  pro- 
phetic— as  they  turned  out :  "  Prague,  un- 
grateful Prague  !  through  me  you  became 
elevated,  and  to-day  you  ungratefully  de- 
sert and  turn  your  back  upon  your  benefac- 
tor !  May  you  be  pursued  by  the  vengeance 
of  God,  and  may  His  curse  fall  upon  you 
and  throughout  Bohemia  !" 

Of  all  his  crowns,  the  last  and  only  one 
remaining  to  him  now  was  that  of  the  em- 
pire ;  death,  however,  which  soon  after- 
wards delivered  him  from  all  his  troubles, 
feaved  him  likewise  from  the  final  disgrace 
of  resigning  this,  which  mortification,  it  is 
but^too  probable,  he  would  have  been  forced 
to  undergo  ;  he  died  on  the  20th  of  Janua- 
ry, 1612,  aged  sixty  years. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Matthias  I.,  l€!2-lG19—IIis  Coronation— Its  Pomp  and 
Splendor  deceptive— The  Protestants— Increase  of 


( inieral  Discontent— Austria—  A ix-la-Chapelle— Co- 
logne—The Prince-Palatine  WoUjgung  William,  and 
the  Elector  of  Brandenburg— Their  Quarrel— Box  on 
the  Kar— Baneful  <  'onsequences—  Foreign  Allies— 
The  young  Archduke  Ferdinand — Elected  King  of 
Bohemia— His  Character— His  Devotion  to  Catholi- 
cism and  Hatred  of  the  Protestants—  Banishes  tho 
New  Faith  from  his  Lands— The  Electoral  Princes- 
Ferdinand  warned  against  his  Proceedings  hy  the 
Elector  of  Saxony — Bohemia — The  Letter  of  Ma- 
jesty shamefully  infringed— The  Protestant  Churches 
destroyed— Indignation  and  Revolt  of  the  Protest- 
ants—Their Defender,  Count  Matthias  of  Thurn— 
Counts  Martinitz  and  Slavata— Their  Hostility  to  the 
Protestants— Prague— The  Council- Hall— Martiuit/. 
and  Slavata  thrown  out  of  the  Window — General 
Revolution— The  Emperor's  Alarm  and  Desire  for 
Peace— Ferdinand's  Declaration  iu  Reply— Com- 
mencement of  the  Thirty  Years'  War— Count  Ernest 
of  Mansfeld,  the  Leader  of  the  Protestants— Ilia 
great  Military  Genius  and  Heroic  Character— Death 
of  Matthias  I.,  1019— Ferdinand  II.,  1G19  to  1637— 
Count  Thurn  and  the  Bohemians  in  Vienna — Sur- 
round the  Emperor  in  his  Palace— Ferdinand  unex- 
pectedly rescued— The  Bohemians  depose  him— The 
Elector- Palatine  Frederick  V.,  Son-in-law  of  James 
I.  of  England,  King  of  Bohemia,  1619— His  Irresolu- 
tion and  Pusillanimity — Ferdinand  and  Maximilian 
of  Bavaria — Their  Alliance — Superiority  of  the  Im- 
perialists over  the  Bohemians— Battle  of  Weissen- 
berg,  near  Prague,  16-20— The  Bohemians  defeated 
and  their  King  put  to  flight— His  Abdication— Prague 
capitulates— Bohemia  severely  punished  by  Ferdi- 
nand—Thirty thousand  Families  banished  the  Coun- 
try. 

MATTHIAS,  the  eldest  brother  of  the  late 
emperor,  was  now  chosen  successor  to  the 
imperial  crown,  and  was  crowned  at  Frank- 
fort, on  the  24th  of  June,  1612.  The  cere- 
mony was  performed  amid  a  display  of 
stately  pomp  and  splendor  such  as  had  not 
been  witnessed  for  a  length  of  time — if, 
perhaps,  at  all.  All  the  electors,  except 
the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  were  present, 
and  a  host  of  the  other  princes  of  the  em- 
pire. "  It  seemed,"  says  an  historian,  "  as 
if  they  had  assembled  in  such  numbers  in 
order  to  take  a  final  leave  of  each  other, 
for  after  this  occasion  they  never  again 
collected  in  a  body  so  numerous."  Mat- 
thias himself  had  in  his  suite  alone  three 
thousand  persons,  two  thousand  horses,  and 
one  hundred  carriages,  drawn  each  by 
four  horses ;  and  the  other  princes  ap- 
peared equally  well  attended,  in  proportion 
to  their  means.  Festival  succeeded  festi- 
val, and  foreigners,  witnessing  all  the 
grand  and  brilliant  scenes  that  passed,  and 
all  the  joy  and  hilarity  that  everywhere 
prevailed,  must  have  regarded  Germany  as 
the  first  country  in  the  world,  especially 
when  they  beheld  this  assemblage  of  all 
its  princes  thus  met  in,  apparently,  friend- 
ly association.  But  behind  this  galaxy  of 
royal  and  noble  personages  hovered  the 
spirit  of  dissension  ;  the  profound  observer 
might  have  recognised  in  the  joy  expressed 
by  the  Catholics  the  hopes  they  entertained 


312 


ELECTORS  OF  COLOGNE  AND  BRANDENBURG. 


for  their  party,  based  upon  the  activity 
and  firmness  of  the  new  emperor ;  and  in 
the  delight  evinced  by  the  Protestants,  he 
might  have  perceived  the  expectations  they 
formed,  founded  upon  the  illness  expressed 
in  his  appearance.  Prince  Christian  of 
Anhalt,  one  of  the  most  active  among 
the  latter  party,  made  rather  a  humorous 
observation  in  reference  to  the  double 
meaning  in  which  this  festival  must  be  re- 
garded :  "  If  it  should  come  to  a  dance, 
our  emperor  Matthias  will  make  no  very 
high  springs." 

In  truth,  the  new  emperor  did  not  by 
any  means  show  the  activity  and  energy 
which  had  been  anticipated  from  him ;  it 
appeared  as  if  he  had  only  compelled  his 
late  brother  to  resign  his  crowns  in  order 
to  perpetuate  his  indolence  and  irresolu- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  the  passions  of 
the  multitude  continued  to  operate  more 
and  more  seriously,  and  prepared  the  way 
for  those  violent  and  disastrous  eruptions 
which  burst  forth  again  even  during  the 
reign  of  Matthias.  In  the  Austrian  terri- 
tories, the  religious  parties,  excited  by 
their  preachers  from  the  pulpit,  resumed 
their  violence  towards  each  other  with  re- 
doubled fury,  all  human  relationship  be- 
tween the  contending  parties  disappeared 
and  became  annihilated,  for  such  hatred 
as  adheres  to  that  which  is  held  most  sa- 
cred in  man  remains  the  most  implacable 
of  all. 

In  other  parts  of  Germany,  some  very 
serious  occurrences  took  place  about  this 
time.  Fresh  disturbances  broke  out  in 
Aix-la-Chapelle  as  well  as  in  Cologne,  be- 
tween its  inhabitants  and  the  two  princes, 
governors  of  the  territory  of  Juliers,  be- 
cause the  latter,  to  the  injury  of  the  for- 
mer, had  raised  the  small  town  of  Muhl- 
heim,  on  the  Rhine,  to  the  rank  of  a  city. 
In  both  these  cases,  the  emperor  decided 
in  favor  of  the  Catholic  party,  and  conse- 
quently excited  fresh  anxiety  in  the  minds 
of  the  Protestants.  His  judgment,  how- 
ever, in  the  cause  of  the  Muhlheim  dispute 
would  have  produced  but  little  effect,  had 
not  both  the  princely  houses  who  had  pos- 
session of  the  patrimonial  estates  of  Juliers, 
become  divided  with  each  other.  The 
prince-palatine,  Wolfgang  William,  had 
been  accepted  as  the  future  husband  of  a 
princess  of  the  house  of  Brandenburg,  and 
he  paid  a  visit  to  the  court  of  Berlin  upon 
business  connected  with  this  affair.  There. 


however,  while  at  dinner,  and  heated  witk 
wine,  a  dispute  arose  between  him  and  the 
elector;  both  forgot  each  other,  and  the 
latter  gave  the  prince-palatine  a  blow  on 
the  ear.  Never,  perhaps,  did  such  an  in- 
significant  circumstance  produce  more 
grave  and  serious  results  in  the  history  of 
the  country  ;  they  operated  upon  the  whota 
system  of  the  empire  down  to  the  lates4. 
period  of  its  records.  The  indignant  prince 
quitted  Berlin  immediately ;  and  out  of 
hatred  to  the  house  of  Brandenburg,  he 
allied  himself  with  the  house  of  Bavaria, 
by  marrying  one  of  its  princesses,  and 
adopted  the  Catholic  religion.  The  elector 
of  Brandenburg,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
was  in  dread  lest  Wolfgang  William,  with 
the  aid  of  the  league  or  the  Spaniards, 
should  attack  his  portion  of  the  Juliers 
territory  and  wrest  it  from  him,  claimed 
the  assistance  of  the  Netherlanders,  who 
were  still  at  war  with  the  Spaniards ;  and 
in  order  to  satisfy  them  and  ensure  their 
aid,  he  abandoned  the  Lutheran  church 
and  adopted  that  of  the  Calvinists.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Juliers  possessions  were  at- 
tacked by  the  allies  of  both  sides ;  the 
Netherlanders  occupied  Juliers  itself,  and 
the  Spaniards,  commanded  by  Spinola, 
held  possession  of  Wesel ;  and  thus  both 
these  armies  brought  into  effect  the  decree 
of  the  emperor  pronounced  against  Aix-la- 
Chapelle  and  Muhlheim.  Accordingly, 
the  dissensions  throughout  the  empire  be- 
came more  and  more  confirmed  in  their 
hostility,  and  the  German  states  commenced 
forming  alliances  with  foreign  countries. 

The  uneasiness  and  anxiety  of  the  Pro- 
testants  became  now  much  increased  by 
the  selection  which  was  made  of  a  succes- 
sor to  the  imperial  throne.  Matthias  him- 
self, as  well  as  his  two  brothers,  Maxi- 
milian and  Albert,  were  without  any  chil- 
dren, and  as  the  affairs  of  the  empire  pre- 
sented no  attraction  sufficiently  great  to 
induce  the  latter  princes  to  undertake  the 
government,  they  renounced  all  claim  to 
the  succession  of  the  Austrian  states,  and 
proposed  as  their  substitute  their  cousin, 
the  young  Archduke  Ferdinand,  who  al- 
ready possessed  Styria,  Carinthia,  and  Car- 
niola.  The  emperor  was  very  much  op- 
posed  to  this  arrangement,  but  his  brothers 
were  so  urgent  in  their  representations  that 
he  was  obliged  finally  to  yield.  Accord- 
ingly, Ferdinand  was  acknowledged  at  the 
diet  of  1617  as  future  king  of  Bohemia,  ana 


FERDINAND  OF  AUSTRIA  KING  OF  BOHEMIA. 


313 


three  weeks  afterwards  he  was  crowned 
as  such  with  great  pomp  at  Vienna.  The 
states  demanded  nothing  beyond  the  con- 
firmation of  the  rights  they  had  hitherto  en- 
joyed, and  the  non-interference  of  the  new 
lung  with  the  affairs  of  government  during 
the  lifetime  of  the  emperor. 

This  Ferdinand,  in  the  course  of  his 
reign,  became  a  principal  cause  of  all  the 
violent  commotions  and  revolutions  that 
were  produced  in  his  time,  and  as  he  has 
at  all  times  been  more  or  less  subjected  to 
severe  condemnation  or  impassioned  praise, 
his  acts  merit  here  a  more  impartial  inves- 
tigation and  equitable  judgment.  His  edu- 
cation, which  he  received  in  the  university 
of  Ingolstadt,  in  Bavaria,  was  superin- 
tended more  especially  by  the  Jesuits,  under 
the  eyes  of  William,  duke  of  Bavaria,  a 
zealous  Catholic,  and,  from  his  boyhood 
upward,  the  most  strict  principles  of  Ca- 
tholicism were  instilled  into  his  mind.  Con- 
sequently he  firmly  believed  in  that  one 
church,  by  which  alone  he  could  hope  to 
obtain  salvation,  and  he  held  it  to  be  the 
first  duty  of  his  life  to  use  every  means  at 
his  command,  whether  by  the  gentle  power 
of  reason,  or  by  the  more  definite  argument 
of  the  sword  to  bring  back  those  who  had 
renounced  the  faith,  and  support  all  who 
adhered  to  it — for  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
as  he  had  been  taught,  "  took  the  prece- 
dence of  every  other  human  consideration." 
Whence  the  faithful  maintenance  of  these 
principles  constituted  the  aim  and  direction 
of  his  whole  life  ;  he  looked  upon  himself 
as  appointed  by  God  to  be  the  champion  of 
the  Catholic  church  and  the  restorer  of  the 
ancient  faith.  And  of  this  conscientious 
belief  he  never  attempted  to  make  the  least 
mystery  ;  he  entered  the  arena  openly  and 
honestly,  and  herein  is  presented  a  grand 
and  noble  feature  in  his  history.  For  every 
man  who  undeviatinglyand  obstinately  pur- 
sues, with  all  the  power  and  energy  of  his  na- 
ture, that  which  he  has  recognised  as  just 
and  sacred,  is  assuredly  worthy  of  honorable 
appreciation.  And  if  Ferdinand,  throughout 
his  entire  career,  and  in  the  error  of  his  con- 
viction, did  continue  to  believe  that  that  same 
God  who  vouchsafes  to  spread  the  light  of 
his  sun  with  equal  mercy  over  nations  of 
every  faith,  was  only  to  be  worshipped  in 
one  exclusive  form,  and  persisted  in  his  ef- 
forts to  establish  with  fire  and  sword  this 
said  form  of  devotion  all  over  the  world, 
those  alone  were  answerable  for  such  re- 


sults who  filled  his  mind  while  yet  a 
child  with  such  intolerant  doctrines,  and 
which  they  only  strengthened  more  and 
more  in  the  youth,  and  matured  in  the 
man. 

The  young  prince  had  no  sooner  become 
lord  over  his  states  than  he  commenced  re- 
forming them,  by  reintroducing  the  an- 
cient form  of  divine  service.  He  maintained 
the  principle,  that  the  sovereign  of  a  coun. 
try,  in  order  to  promote  one  uninterrupted 
unity  of  thought  and  action,  ought  not  to 
tolerate  more  than  one  established  religion 
in  his  dominions ;  and  as,  by  the  treaty  of  the 
Augsburg  religious  peace,  no  other  resource 
was  left  to  the  Protestants  but  expatriation, 
he  compelled  those  who  would  not  join  the 
ancient  faith  to  leave  the  country.  These 
measures  were  very  severe,  as  nothing  can 
be  more  trying  to  the  feelings  of  a  truly 
sincere  and  conscientious  man,  than  to  be 
forced  to  quit  the  soil  of  his  ancestors  and 
the  home  rendered  so  dear  to  him  from 
childhood  by  the  ties  of  love  and  affection. 
Such  harsh  proceedings  necessarily  pro- 
duced most  serious  consequences  through- 
out the  territories  of  Ferdinand.  Above 
all  others  of  his  subjects,  the  inhabitants  ol 
the  mountainous  districts  were  the  first  to 
rise  in  opposition  ;  accustomed  as  they 
were  to  live  uninterruptedly  amidst  their 
mountains,  and  existing  in  a  state  of  com- 
plete isolation  from  the  rest  of  their  fellow- 
subjects  in  the  lowlands — wholly  occupied 
as  they  were  with  the  grand  and  eternal 
creations  of  nature  around  them — they 
scarcely  troubled  themselves  with  the  scenes 
of  human  contention  and  dissension  occur- 
ring beyond  their  native  hills.  They  ad. 
hered,  therefore,  with  far  greater  obstinacy 
and  firmness  to  their  peculiar  habits  and 
opinions,  which  they  regarded,  like  the  soil 
they  dwelt  upon,  as  their  hereditary  birth- 
right. Nevertheless,  in  the  measures 
adopted  by  the  young  prince,  so  much  re- 
solution was  combined  with  temper,  and  he 
evinced  so  much  determined  seriousness, 
that  he  succeeded  in  quelling  the  distur- 
bances excited  by  this  discontent  almost 
before  their  outbreak  ;  and  although,  as  a 
warning,  he  had  caused  to  be  erected  in 
various  parts  places  of  execution  for  the 
most  turbulent,  still  tranquillity  was  effect- 
ed without  its  being  necessary  to  have  re- 
course to  them",  or  even  to  shed  a  drop  of 
blood.  Thence,  within  a  few  short  years, 
as  if  produced  by  a  miracle,  not  a  singlf 


311 


FERDINAND'S  DEVOTION  TO  C  V.THOLICISM. 


Protestant  church  was  left  standing,  nor  a 
Protestant  sermon  allowed  to  be  preached 
throughout  the  whole  of  those  dominions  in 
which,  until  then,  the  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants had  professed  the  Protestant  faith. 
Such  persevering  energy  displayed  by  so 
young  a  prince,  very  naturally  excited 
great  hopes  in  the  one  party,  while  it  pro- 
duced serious  alarm  in  the  other.  The 
united  states  of  Germany,  and  especially 
the  electoral-palatinate,  beholding  now,  in 
the  elevation  of  Ferdinand  as  chief  of  the 
Austrian  house,  fresh  cause  for  exertion, 
renewed  and  strengthened  their  bond  of 
union.  They  endeavored,  by  every  means 
in  their  power,  to  gain  over  to  their  party 
the  elector  of  Saxony  ;  but  all  in  vain. 
His  unwillingness  to  join  the  union  was,  no 
doubt,  produced  principally  by  his  dislike 
to  the  Calvinistic  doctrine ;  but  in  this  res- 
olution he  was  also  influenced  by  his  sin- 
cere desire  for  the  preservation  of  peace 
throughout  the  empire — a  desire  participa- 
ted in  by  all  the  Lutheran  princes,  more 
particularly  since  the  death  of  Maurice. 
A  letter  from  the  elector  of  Saxony  to  the 
Archduke  Ferdinand  proves,  at  least,  that 
this  feeling  was  sincerely  cherished  by  him ; 
he  therein  exhorts  him  thus  :  "  That  as 
things  had  reached  that  sad  state  that  little 
or  no  good  understanding  could  be  found  to 
exist  any  longer  among  the  states  of  Ger- 
many, and  all  confidence  had  nearly  van- 
ished, he  would  earnestly  recommend  him 
to  do  his  utmost  towards  the  re-establish- 
ment of  both,  if  only  in  a  partial  degree. 
For  if  matters  continued  to  remain  in  their 
present  dangerous  condition,  when  recourse 
was  had  to  measures  of  extreme  severity 
rather  than  to  those  of  a  more  mild  and 
simple  nature,  it  was  evident  these  attempts 
to  effect  a  cure  of  the  evils  existing  must 
lead  either  to  the  total  ruin  of  the  one  or  the 
other  of  the  two  parties  ;  or,  after  having 
caused  much  sacrifice  of  blood,  and  pro- 
duced the  destruction  of  the  country  and 
its  inhabitants,  end  in  adopting  that  middle 
course  which  might  now  still  be  made  avail- 
able without  any  violent  or  dangerous 
means."  The  import  of  these  words  was 
like  an  announcement  of  future  events,  and 
might  have  opened  the  eyes  even  of  Ferdi- 
nand himself  to  the  contemplation  of  the 
coming  struggles,  if  he  had  not  held  them 
immoveably  fixed  upon  one  point.  Circum- 
stances, however,  very  soon  indicated,  in 
Hill  more  expressive  and  forcible  colors, 


the  danger  which  threatened  even  the  prox- 
imity of  his  own  house. 

Since  the  nomination  of  Ferdinand  a? 
future  king  of  Bohemia,  the  whole  body  of 
Protestants  in  that  country  very  soon  had 
reason  to  observe  much  greater  activity  and 
assurance  among  the  Catholics.  Report, 
which  in  extraordinary  times  is  ever  more 
active  in  spreading  alarm  and  terror  than 
in  ordinary  periods,  was  now  busily  occu- 
pied in  announcing  the  most  arbitrary 
measures  against  the  Protestants.  "  The 
letter  of  majesty  which  guarantied  their 
security  and  liberty,  was  now  no  longer 
valid,  it  having  been  extorted  from  King 
Rudolphus," — such  was  the  language  of  the 
Catholics.  "  When  King  Ferdinand  ar- 
rived," they  said,  "  it  would  be  found  that 
with  their  new  king  they  would  receive 
likewise  new  laws ;"  while  some  again 
exclaimed,  "  Then  more  heads  must  be 
decapitated,  and  property  transferred  into 
other  hands,  and  many  a  beggar  would  be 
made  rich  therewith,"  &c.  In  addition  to 
this,  when  Ferdinand  did  homage  in  Mo- 
ravia, pictures  were  everywhere  circulated 
in  which  the  Bohemian  lion  and  the  Mo- 
ravian eagle  were  represented  bound  in 
chains,  while  a  sleeping  hare,  with  eyes 
open,  was  introduced  to  indicate  that  the 
states,  with  their  eyes  widely  opened  as 
they  were,  were  still  not  able  to  perceive 
the  fate  that  threatened  them  :  these,  and 
many  similar  demonstrations,  augmenting 
in  number  as  they  progressed  from  place 
to  place  and  mouth  to  mouth,  excited  in- 
creasing terror  and  dismay  in  the  minds  cf 
all. 

At  length  a  cause  was  soon  presented 
whereupon  to  base  the  foundation  of  open 
hostility.  In  the  aforesaid  letter  of  majesty 
the  Protestants  of  Bohemia  were  granted 
the  privilege  of  building  new  churches,  but 
the  present  government  restricted  its  mean- 
ing to  the  Protestant  provinces  of  the  king- 
dom, and  refused  its  application  to  the 
Catholic  provinces.  The  Protestant  party, 
nevertheless,  insisted  that  the  article  in- 
cluded all  their  co-religionists  throughout 
the  land.  Accordingly,  in  1617,  the  Pro- 
testants  residing  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
archbishop  of  Prague,  built  for  themselves 
a  church  in  the  small  town  of  Clostergrab, 
while  those  in  the  territory  of  the  abbot  of 
Braunau  also  erected  one  in  the  latter 
place.  The  archbishop  and  abbot  would 
neither  of  them  tolerate  their  existence 


_ 


MARTINITZ  AND  SLAV  ATA  EJECTED. 


31 


long   since    resided  in  Bohemia, 
their   cause    and  its   privileges 


and  they  both  appealed  to  the  emperor; 
and  as  soon  as  ever  the  buildings  were 
completed,  the  archbishop  put  into  execu- 
tion an  imperial  decree,  according  to  which 
the  church  in  Clostergrab  was  razed  to 
the  very  foundation,  and  that  in  Braunau 
was  closed  ;  and  as  in  consequence  of  this 
arbitrary  act  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
rose  up  in  opposition  against  it,  several  of 
them  wore  cast  into  prison. 

The  Protestants,  however,  now  loudly 
complained  of  this  violation  of  the  letter  of 
majesty,  and  they  found  a  determined 
champion  for  their  cause  in  Count  Matthias 
of  Thurn.  This  nobleman,  who  was  a  na- 
tive of  Gratz,  on  the  borders  of  Italy,  but 
who  had 
supported 

with  all  the  warmth  and  zeal  of  his  Italian 
blood,  and  being  chosen  at  once  as  defender 
of  the  Evangelists  in  Bohemia,  he,  as  such, 
convoked  the  Protestant  states  to  meet  in 
Prague.  Several  petitions  were  forwarded 
to  the  emperor,  in  which  his  majesty  was 
earnestly  besought  to  remove  the  causes  of 
complaint,  and  to  order  the  liberation  of  the 
imprisoned  citizens  of  Braunau. 

The  emperor's  reply  was  very  harshly 
worded.  Therein  he  characterized  the  resist- 
ance made  by  the  inhabitants  of  Braunau  and 
Clostergrab  as  a  revolt,  and  he  condemned 
the  states  for  having  occupied  themselves 
with  the  affairs  of  citizens  who  to  them 
were  strangers,  and  for  having  held  illegal 
meetings,  and  seeking,  by  the  false  reports 
they  made  of  the  danger  to  which  the  letter 
of  majesty  was  exposed,  to  alienate  from 
his  majesty  the  love  and  fidelity  of  his  sub- 
jects, &c.  ;  while  the  threat  with  which  it 
concluded,  "  that  the  matter  should  be  in- 
vestigated, and  each  should  be  treated  ac- 
cording to  his  merits,"  sufficed  to  produce 
in  the  minds  of  all,  excited  as  they  already 
were,  still  greater  cause  to  anticipate  and 
prepare  for  the  worst  results.  To  this 
was  now  added  the  report  that  the  said 
document  had  not  issued  from  Vienna,  but 
had  been  prepared  in  Prague  itself,  in  the 
office  of  the  imperial  governors,  and  more 
especially  superintended  by  two  Catholic 
privy-counsellors,  Martinitz  and  Slavata. 
The  indignation  of  the  Protestants  was  now 
directed  at  once  against  them,  as  the  more 
immediate  objects.  Both  these  noblemen 
aad  long  been  hated,  because  they  refused 
-o  take  any  part  in  the  procuration  of  the 
letter  of  majesty  nine  years  previously  ; 


while  many  cruel  acts  were  laid  to  their 
charge,  by  which  they  had  at  various  time? 
displayed  their  zeal  for  the  Catholic  church. 
Among  the  rest,  it  was  related  of  Martin- 
itz, that  he  had  caused  his  Protestant  de- 
pendents to  be  hunted  out  of  the  Catholic 
church  on  his  estate,  with  his  own  dogs  ; 
while  of  Slavata  it  was  said,  that  he  had 
compelled  his  people  to  adopt  the  Catholic 
faith  by  refusing  to  allow  them  the  service 
of  baptism  in  the  church,  or  burial  in  con- 
secrated ground. 

Rendered  more  indignant  and  furious 
by  these  reports,  the  deputies  of  the  states, 
armed  to  the  teeth,  presented  themselves, 
on  the  23d  of  May,  1618,  before  the  im- 
perial governors  and  such  of  the  council 
as  were  then  assembled  in  the  council-hall 
of  the  castle  of  Prague,  and  demanded 
whether  or  not  they  had  been  present  in 
council  when  the  imperial  document  in 
question,  so  harshly  and  inimically  worded, 
had  been  deliberated  upon,  and  if  they  had 
voted  for  it  1  And  when  the  governors  re- 
plied, that  in  order  to  decide  upon  the  an. 
swer  to  be  given  to  such  an  important 
question,  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  the 


presence  of  the 


council,  several 


absent 
of  the 


members  of  the 
deputies  stepped 
forward  and  exclaimed  :  "  We  know  full 
well  that  the  head  burgraves,  Adam  von 
Sternberg,  and  Diphold  von  Lobkowitz, 
now  present,  did  attend  during  the  compo- 
sition of  that  hated  writing,  but  we  are 
likewise  aware  that  they  did  so  unwillingly, 
and  did  not  sanction  its  adoption."  Say- 
ing which  they  advanced  and  conducted 
them  into  another  room  for  safety.  The 
other  deputies  meantime  rushed  upon 
Count  Martinitz,  and  dragging  him  to  the 
window,  ejected  him  forthwith  into  the 
court  below.  All  stood  now  aghast  and 
trembling;  when  Count  Thurn,  pointing 
to  Slavata,  exclaimed  to  his  confederates: 
Noble  friends,  yonder  you  behold  the 
other  !"  upon  which  they  immediately  seiz- 
ed him  and  precipitated  him  after  his  col- 
league. The  next  doomed  to  the  samo 
fate  was  the  private  secretary,  Fabricius, 
who  was  known  to  be  the  sycophant  of  the 
two  preceding  victims.  Wonderful  to  re- 
late,  however,  although  the  depth  of  their 
fall  was  more  than  fifty-six  feet,  they  es- 
caped with  life,  because,  in  their  descent, 
they  fell,  happily  for  them,  upon  an  im- 
mense pile  of  paper  shavings  and  other 
soft  materials ;  and  even  afterwards,  wliea 


316 


THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR  BEGUN 


.hey  were  assisted  to  their  homes,  they 
were  no  less  fortunate  in  getting  clear  of 
the  shots  that  were  f.red  at  them  as  they 
were  led  away. 

The  Bohemians  endeavored  to  justify 
this  act  by  referring  to  several  examples 
of  the  same  kind  in  ancient  history  ;  among 
the  rest  to  the  period  when  the  Romans 
precipitated  traitors  from  the  Tarpeian 
rock,  and  to  the  portion  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment in  which  it  is  found  recorded  that 
Queen  Jezebel  was  thrown  from  a  high 
window  for  having  persecuted  the  people 
of  God.  Nevertheless,  they  were  well 
aware  that  such  a  plea  of  justification 
would  not  secure  them  against  the  punish- 
ment that  must  follow,  unless  they  made 
immediate  preparations  for  self-defence. 
Accordingly,  the  castle  was  garrisoned 
with  their  own  troops  ;  all  persons  in  office 
took  the  path  of  fidelity  to  the  states ;  all 
the  Jesuits,  who  were  considered  as  the 
main  cause  of  the  hostile  feeling  evinced 
against  the  Protestants,  were  banished  from 
the  country ;  and,  finally,  a  council  of 
thirty  noblemen  was  established  for  the 
government  of  the  land.  All  this  indi- 
cated the  determination  of  the  people  to 
defend  themselves  to  the  last,  and  in  all 
these  preparations  the  chief  mover  and  di- 
rector was  Count  Thurn,  whose  whole  soul 
was  devoted  to  the  cause. 

The  emperor  was  not  a  little  discon- 
certed when  he  received  the  news  of  what 
was  passing.  For  whence  could  he  re- 
ceive the  aid  necessary  to  put  down  these 
revolutionary  acts  and  restore  order  in  Bo- 
hemia ?  Discontent,  indeed,  was  scarcely 
less  formidably  expressed  even  in  his  Aus- 
trian territories,  while  in  Hungary  its  de- 
monstration was  equally  as  serious. 

Conciliation  appeared  to  be  the  only 
means  of  preserving  to  the  house  of  Aus- 
tria that  important  country,  and  even  the 
confessor  and  usual  counsellor  of  the  em- 
peror, Cardinal  Klesel,  the  most  zealous 
opponent  of  the  Protestants,  advised  that 
course.  But  such  considerations  were 
most  strenuously  opposed  by  young  Ferdi- 
nand :  "  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
men  should  know,"  says  he,  in  writing  to 
?he  emperor,  "that  God  himself  has  ap- 
pointed the  troubles  of  Bohemia ;  for  he 
has  manifestly  struck  the  Bohemians  with 
blindness,  that  by  means  of  the  direful 
deed,  which  to  every  rational  being,  what- 
ever his  religion,  must  appear  to  be  hate- 


ful, unchristian,  and  culpable,  the  gram5 
pretext  of  the  rebels,  that  they  were  en 
gaged  in  the  cause  of  religion,  might  be 
completely  frustrated.  For  under  this  pre- 
text  they  have  hitherto  only  sought  to  rob 
their  rulers  of  all  their  rights,  all  thei? 
revenues,  and  all  their  subjects.  If,  there 
fore,  government  is  of  divine  authority,  the 
conduct  of  these  men  must  originate  with 
the  devil,  and  it  is  impossible  that  God 
should  approve  of  the  concessions  hereto, 
fore  made  by  the  government.  Possibly 
He  may  have  permitted  these  extremities 
to  come  to  pass  in  order  that  the  rulers 
may  at  once  break  loose  from  this  state  of 
bondage  to  their  own  subjects."  Accord- 
ingly, it  was  his  opinion,  that  nothing  rp 
mained  but  to  have  recourse  to  arms.  . 

From  this  epistle  of  Ferdinand  we  at 
once  perceive  the  firmness  of  his  princi- 
ples. From  words  he  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  action,  levied  soldiers  in  every 
quarter,  and  manifested  such  determina- 
tion, that  it  was  evident  he  would  not  suffer 
the  indecision  of  the  emperor  to  thwart 
his  career.  And  at  his  instigation,  and 
that  of  the  other  archdukes,  backed  by  the 
pope,  the  pacific  Cardinal  Klesel  was  un- 
expectedly arrested,  and  charged  with  a 
variety  of  crimes.  The  intention  was  to 
remove  him  from  the  presence  of  the  old 
and  weak  emperor,  who  was  now  without 
support,  and  obliged  to  resign  all  to  the 
archdukes.  From  this  moment  the  impo- 
tency  of  the  emperor  was  complete,  and 
all  hopes  of  an  amicable  pacification  of 
Bohemia  lost. 

The  Bohemians,  likewise,  took  to  arms, 
and  possessed  themselves  of  every  city  in 
their  country  as  far  as  Budweis  and  Pilsen, 
which  were  still  occupied  by  the  imperial 
troops.  They  obtained  assistance,  quite 
unlooked-for,  in  the  person  of  one  who  may 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
heroes  of  that  day,  and  furnishes  a  distin- 
guished example  of  a  single  individual, 
who,  without  territory  and  people,  by  the 
mere  celebrity  of  his  name,  gathered  round 
him  legions  of  brave  soldiers,  and,  like  the 
ancient  warrior-princes  of  Germany  in  the 
time  of  the  Romans,  conducted  them  as  his 
GefoJge  or  retinue,  for  hire  and  booty, 
whithersoever  his  prowess  was  needed.  Men 
of  this  character  came  forth  at  this  period 
likewise,  as  the  signs  of  an  extraordinary 
age  thrown  out  of  its  usual  course.  Theii 
armies  were  maintained  and  furnished  bv 


DEATH  OF  MATTHIAS  I.— FERDINAND  II. 


317 


the  war  ;  the  war  had  to  sustain  itself;  and 
therein  is  the  mystery  explained  how  it  con- 
tinued to  rage  on  upon  the  German  soil  for 
thirty  years.  Count  Ernest  of  Mansfeld,  a 
warrior  from  his  youth,  was  of  a  hold  and 
enterprising  spirit ;  he  had  already  encoun- 
tered many  dangers,  and  had  just  been 
raising  some  troops  for  the  duke  of  Savoy 
against  the  Spaniards.  The  duke,  who 
now  no  longer  required  them,  gave  him 
permission  to  serve  in  the  cause  of  the 
Evangelical  Union  of  Germany;  and  by 
that  body  he  was  dispatched  with  3000 
men  to  Bohemia,  as  having  apparently  re- 
ceived his  appointment  from  that  country. 
Me  appeared  there  quite  unexpectedly,  and 
immediately  took  from  the  imperial  army 
the  important  city  of  Pilsen. 

Meanwhile  the  emperor  Matthias  died  on 
the  10th  of  March,  1619,  after  having  wit- 
nessed in  quick  succession  the  interment 
of  his  brother  Maximilian  and  his  consort ; 
and  the  Bohemians,  who  acknowledged  his 
sovereignty  while  living,  now  resolved  to 
renounce  his  successor  Ferdinand,  whose 
hostile  intentions  were  already  too  clearly 
expressed. 

Ferdinand  attained  the  throne  under  cir- 
cumstances the  most  perplexing.  Bohemia 
in  arms,  and  threatening  Vienna  itself  with 
mvasion ;  Silesia  and  Moravia  in  alliance 
with  them  ;  Austria  much  disposed  to  unite 
with  them  ;  Hungary  by  no  means  firmly 
attached,  and  externally  menaced  by  the 
Turks  ;  besides  which,  encountering  in 
every  direction  the  hatred  of  the  Protest- 
ants, against  whom  his  zeal  was  undis- 
guised. But  in  these  circumstances  Ferdi- 
nand manifested  his  undaunted  firmness 
and  courage  :  "  Notwithstanding  these  im- 
minent perils,"  says  Khevenhliller,  "  this 
illustrious  prince  never  desponded  ;  he  still 
retained  his  religion  and  confidence  in  God, 
who  took  him  under  His  protection,  and, 
contrary  to  all  human  expectation,  deliv- 
ered him  through  this  Red  sea." 

Count  Thurn  advanced  upon  Vienna 
with  a  Bohemian  army,  and  when  he  was 
questioned  respecting  the  purpose  of  his 
expedition,  he  answered,  "That  he  marched 
in  search  of  any  collected  bodies  of  troops 
or  people,  and  wherever  he  found  them  he 
would  forthwith  disperse  them.  That  in 
future  there  must  be  perfect  equality  be- 
ween  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  the 
former  must  not,  as  heretofore,  hold  the  as- 
cendency, and,  as  it  were,  float  on  the  sur- 


face like  oil."  He  came  before  Vienna, 
and  his  men  fired  even  upon  the  imperial 
castle  itself,  where  Ferdinand,  surrounded 
by  opon  and  secret  foes,  had  taken  up  his 
quarters.  He  dared  not  leave  his  capital, 
for  by  so  doing,  Austria,  and  with  it  the 
preservation  of  the  empire,  itself,  must  have 
been  sacrificed.  But  his  enemies  looked 
upon  him  as  lost;  and  they  already  spoke 
of  confining  him  in  a  convent,  and  educa 
ting  his  children  in  the  Protestant  faith. 
At  this  most  critical  moment,  when  Thurn 
was  in  the  suburbs  of  Vienna,  encamped 
before  the  gate  of  Stuben,  on  the  10th  of 
June,  1619,  sixteen  members  of  the  Aus- 
trian states  appeared  before  Ferdinand,  and 
vehemently  demanded  his  consent  to  theh 
taking  arms,  and  to  the  treaty  which  they 
wished  to  conclude  with  Bohemia.  Nay, 
their  leader,  Thonradel,  went  even  so  far 
as  to  hold  the  king  by  the  button  of  his 
coat,  urging  their  demand,  that  he  would 
put  his  signature  to  the  proposed  articles, 
in  the  most  impressive  manner.  But  just 
then,  as  if  by  miraculous  interference,  five 
hundred  of  the  imperial  cavalry  arrived  in 
the  city  from  Krems,  and,  ignorant  of  what 
was  passing  in  the  castle,  with  a  flourish 
of  trumpets  marched  into  the  court-yard. 
The  deputies  immediately  retired  and  made 
their  exit  in  the  greatest  consternation  and 
alarm,  imagining  that  the  arrival  of  the 
cavalry  was  preconcerted,  and  thus  Ferdi- 
nand was  extricated  from  his  distressing 
situation.* 

Count  Thurn  was  obliged  soon  to  return 
to  Bohemia,  as  Prague  was  menaced  by  the 
armies  of  Austria,  and  Ferdinand  availed 
himself  of  this  moment  in  order  to  under- 
take another  hazardous  and  daring  project. 
Although  the  Austrian  provinces  had  not 
yet  declared  their  allegiance,  and  during 
his  absence  much  that  was  untoward  might 
occur,  he  nevertheless  resolved  to  proceed 
to  Frankfort  to  attend  the  election  of  em- 
peror. The  spiritual  electors  had  been 
gained  over;  Saxony  also  adhered  closely 
to  the  house  of  Austria  ;  Brandenburg  was 
not  unfriendly  ;  hence  the  opposition  of  the 
palatinate  alone  against  him  could  accom- 
plish nothing ;  accordingly  Ferdinand  was 
unanimously  chosen  emperor  on  the  2Sth 
of  August,  1619.  By  a  strange  reverse 

*  Since  this  period,  in  commemoration  of  that  im 
portant  event,  this  regiment  of  cavalry  has  permission 
^n  passing  through  Vienna,  to  ride  over  the  Burgplata 
which  others  are  not  allowed  to  do. 


318 


FERDINAND  DEPOSED  IN  BOHEMIA— FREDERICK  V 


of  fortune  it  happened,  that  at  the  very 
moment  when,  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
election,  he,  with  the  electoral  princes,  was 
retiring  from  the  hall  to  proceed  in  proces- 
sion to  the  church  of  St.  Bartholomew,  he 
received  the  intelligence  of  his  deposition 
in  Bohemia,  and  which  had  just  been  made 
public  among  the  people. 

The  Bohemians  having,  on  the  26th  of 
August,  1619,  at  a  general  assembly  of  the 
states,  deposed  Ferdinand,  "  for  having,  in 
opposition  to  the  fundamental  compact 
which  he  had  entered  into  with  them  be- 
fore the  emperor's  death,  intermeddled  with 
the  administration  of  state  affairs,  intro- 
duced war  into  Bohemia,  and  concluded  a 
treaty  of  alliance  with  Spain  to  the  preju- 
dice of  the  liberty  of  the  country  ;"  they 
proceeded  at  once  to  another  election. 
The  Catholics  proposed  the  duke  of  Savoy 
and  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  while,  in  the 
Protestant  interest,  the  Elector  John  George 
of  Saxony,  and  Frederick  V.  of  the  pala- 
tinate, were  put  forward.  The  latter  ob- 
tained the  election,  being  a  son-in-law  of 
King  James  I.  of  England,  from  whom 
they  expected  assistance,  and  who  person- 
ally was  regarded  as  resolute,  magnani- 
mous, and  generous.  The  incorporated 
provinces  of  Moravia,  Silesia,  and  Lusatia, 
supported  the  election,  and  even  the  Cath- 
olic states  of  Bohemia  pledged  their  fidelity 
and  obedience.  Frederick  was  warned 
against  accepting  so  dangerous  a  crown  by 
Saxony,  Bavaria,  and  even  by  his  father- 
in-law  ;  but  his  chaplain  Scultetus,  and 
his  own  consort  Elizabeth,  who  as  the 
daughter  of  a  king  aspired  to  a  royal  crown, 
persuaded  him  with  all  their  influence  to 
accept  it.  Frederick  was  accordingly  ruled 
by  them,  received  the  regal  dignity  in  Bo- 
nemia,  and  was  crowned  at  Prague  with 
great  pomp  on  the  25th  of  October,  1619. 
He  considered  it  to  be  his  duty,  as  he  him- 
self says,  not  to  desert  those  of  his  own 
faith  by  whom  he  had  been  appointed.  If 
this  youthful  king  of  twenty-three  years  of 
age  had  possessed  the  strength  of  mind  re- 
quisite for  a  successful  prosecution  and 
accomplishment  of  the  work,  history  would 
have  ranked  him  among  those  daring  men, 
who,  relying  upon  their  own  internal  re- 
sources, never  hesitated  to  venture  upon 
great  and  noble  enterprises  ;  but  fate  had 
decided  against  him,  and  in  adversity  he 
failed  to  show  that  energy  and  presence  of 
mind  which  must  ever  be  at  the  rommand 


of  him  who  has  resolved  to  wear  a  hazard- 
ous  crown. 

Ferdinand  in  returning  from  Frankfort 
passed  on  to  Munich,  and  there  concluded 
with  the  duke  of  Bavaria  that  important 
treaty  which  secured  to  him  the  possession 
of  Bohemia.  These  two  princes  had  been 
companions  in  youth,  and  the  Evangelical 
Union  had  by  several  incautious  proceed 
ings  irritated  the  duke.  Maximilian  un- 
dertook the  chief  command  in  the  cause  of 
the  Catholic  party,  and  stipulated  with  the 
house  of  Austria  that  he  should  be  indem- 
nified for  every  outlay  and  loss  incurred, 
to  the  extent  even,  if  necessary,  of  the  sur- 
render of  the  territories  of  Austria  itself 
into  his  hands. 

With  Spain  also  the  emperor  succeeded 
in  forming  an  alliance,  and  the  Spanish 
general,  Spinola,  received  orders  to  invade 
the  countries  of  the  palatinate  from  the 
Netherlands. 

Subsequently  the  elector  of  Mentz  ar- 
ranged a  convention  at  Miihlhausen  with 
the  Elector  John  George  of  Saxony,  the 
elector  of  Cologne,  and  the  Landgrave 
Lewis  of  Darmstadt,  wherein  it  was  deter- 
mined to  render  all  possible  assistance  to 
the  emperor  for  the  maintenance  of  his 
kingdom,  and  the  imperial  dignity. 

Frederick.,  the  new  Bohemian  king,  was 
now  left  with  no  other  auxiliary  but  the 
Evangelical  Union;  for  the  Transylvanian 
prince,  Bethlen  Gabor,  was,  notwithstand- 
ing all  his  promises,  a  very  dubious  and 
uncertain  ally,  while  the  troops  he  sent 
into  Moravia  and  Bohemia  were  not  unlike 
a  horde  of  savage  banditti.  Meanwhile  the 
union  commenced  its  preparations  for  war 
as  well  as  the  league.  The  whole  of  Ger- 
many resembled  a  grand  depot  for  recruit- 
ing. Every  eye  was  directed  to  the  Swa- 
bian  district,  where  the  two  armies  were 
to  meet ;  there,  however,  at  Ulm,  on  the 
3d  of  July,  1620,  they  unexpectedly  enter- 
ed into  a  compact,  in  which  the  forces  of 
the  union  engaged  to  lay  down  their  arms, 
and  both  parties  pledged  each  other  to 
preserve  peace  and  tranquillity.  The 
unionists  felt  themselves  too  weak  to  main- 
tain the  contest,  since  Saxony  was  no\i 
likewise  against  them,  and  Spincla  threat 
ened  them  from  the  Netherlands.  It  was. 
however,  a  great  advantage  for  the  em- 
peror,  that  Bohemia  was  excluded  fron- 
this  treaty,  for  now  the  forces  of  the  league 
were  at  liberty  to  aid  him  in  subjugating 


BOHEMIA— BATTLE  OP    WEISSENBERG. 


319 


fiis  royal  adversary.  Maximilian  of  Ba- 
varia, therefore,  immediately  took  his  de- 
parture, and  on  his  way  reduced  the  states 
i if  Upper  Austria  to  the  obedience  due  to 
Ferdinand,  joined  the  fmperial  army,  and 
made  a  spirited  attack  upon  Bohemia.  On 
the  other  side,  the  elector  of  Saxony  took 
possession  of  Lusatia  in  the  name  of  the 
emperor,  after  lying  four  weeks  before 
Bautzen,  which  he  subdued  after  a  smart 
resistance. 

Frederick  of  Bohemia  feil  now  the  dif- 
ficulty of  his  situation  ;  nevertheless,  with 
the  aid  of  a  faithful  and  courageous  people, 
who  had  already  two  hundred  years  before 
defended  their  country  in  the  Hussite  wars 
against  the  combined  power  of  Germany, 
he  might  still  have  maintained  his  ground. 
But,  either  from  ignorance  or  indifference, 
he  failed  completely  in  gaining  the  con- 
fidence of  the  nation.  His  life  was  care- 
less and  his  time  wasted  in  extraneous  mat- 
ters, and  his  mind  without  that  inward  dig- 
nity of  self-possession  and  calm  reflection 
so  necessary  at  a  moment  so  portentous ; 
while  he  even  made  the  Bohemians  sub- 
servient to  his  German  counsellors  and 
generals.  The  Bohemian  nobility,  who 
had  in  fact  brought  about  and  directed  the 
entire  movement,  availed  themselves  of 
their  preponderating  influence  for  their  own 
advantage,  inflicted  great  injury  upon  the 
citizens  in  their  trade,  and  transferred  to 
them  and  the  rural  districts  the  whole 
weight  of  taxation.  There  was  one  gen- 
eral complaint  against  the  imposts  and 
the  burden  and  oppression  of  the  soldiery, 
besides  which  the  Calvinistic  party,  by 
their  ecclesiastical  domination,  annoyed 
no  less  the  Lutherans  than  the  Catholics. 
Frederick  was  not  able  to  govern  these 
conflicting  elements,  and  this  weakness 
effected  his  ruin. 

As  the  imperialists  advanced,  the  Bohe- 
mian forces  marched  into  Prague  and  in- 
trenched themselves  on  the  Weissenberg 
(white  mountain)  near  the  city.  But  be- 
fore the  intrenchments  were  concluded,  the 
Austrians  and  Bavarians  advanced  and 
{jave  battle  at  once,  as  Maximilian's  impa- 
tience would  not  suffer  the  event  to  remain 
undetermined  for  a  single  hour.  And  in 
less  than  an  hour  the  fate  of  Bohemia  was 
decided.  Frederick's  troops,  in  spite  of  the 
bold  resistance  made  by  several  companies, 
were  beaten,  and  the  whole  of  his  artillery, 
together  with  one  hundred  standards,  were 


taken  by  the  enemy.  Fieilerick  himself, 
who,  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle, 
was  quietly  seated  at  his  dinner-table, 
which  he  would  not  leave,  saw  its  termi- 
nation only  at  a  distance  from  the  ramparts 
of  the  city,  and  with  it  lost  all  the  little  res- 
olution he  still  retained.  Against  the  ad 
vice  of  a  few  of  his.more.  intrepid  friends 
he  on  the  following  night,  with  Count  Thuri. 
and  some  others  of  his  suite,  fled  from 
Prague — which  otherwise  might  still  have 
defended  itself — into  Silesia ;  there,  how- 
ever, he  could  not  resolve  to  stay,  although 
he  might  have  rallied  his  friends  around 
him,  but  fled  still  farther  into  Holland,  and 
dwelt  there  without  a  kingdom,  and  with- 
out courage  to  reconquer  it — maintained  at 
the  expense  of  his  father-in-law,  the  king 
of  England.  The  emperor,  however,  pro- 
nounced the  imperial  ban  of  excommunica- 
tion against  him,  in  consequence  of  which 
all  his  estates  were  confiscated. 

Prague  at  once  yielded  submission  ;  the 
whole  of  Bohemia,  except  Pilsen,  which 
Mansfeld  bravely  defended,  followed  the 
example ;  the  countries  of  the  palatinate 
were  occupied  by  the  Spaniards,  under 
Spinola,  and  the  union,  alarmed  at  thei- 
proximity,  was,  in  1622,  quite  dissolved. 
Like  the  Schmalkaldian  league  it  termi- 
nated ingloriously,  and  both  were,  through 
a  concurrent  fatality,  destroyed  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Netherlands  ;  for  it  was  by 
means  of  the  Netherland  troops  under  Count 
Buren  that  formerly  Charles  V.  became  the 
vanquisher  of  that  league. 

Sad  for  Bohemia  was  the  punishment 
which  the  emperor  now  inflicted  upon  the 
country.  During  the  first  three  months 
nothing  took  place,  but  many  of  the  fugi- 
tives having  meantime  returned,  forty-eight 
leaders  of  the  Protestant  party  were  sud- 
denly taken  prisoners,  on  the  same  day 
and  in  the  same  hour,  and,  after  a  judicial 
investigation,  twenty-seven  of  their  number 
were  condemned  to  death;  of  whom  three 
belonged  to  the  nobility,  seven  were  knights, 
and  the  others  citizens.  The  property  of 
those  condemned  was  confiscated,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  absentees,  who  were  declared 
traitors,  among  whom  Count  Thurn  was 
included.  Afterwards  by  degrees  all  the 
Protestant  clergymen  were  banished  from 
the  country,  and  finally,  in  1627,  it  was 
declared  to  all  nobles,  knights,  and  citizens, 
that  no  subject  would  be  tolerated  in  Bohe- 
mia who  did  not  adhere  to  the  Catholic 


320 


MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS  IN  GERMANY. 


church.  It  is  calculated  that  the  number 
of  families  who  at  this  time  were  forced  to 
leave  Bohemia  amounted  to  thirty  thou- 
sand ;  they  for  the  most  part  resorted  to 
Saxony  and  Brandenburg.  The  lot  of  Si- 
lesia was  much  more  fortunate,  for  through 
the  intervention  of  the  elector  of  Saxony  it 
obtained  the  establishment  of  its  religious 
and  civil  liberties  and  a  general  amnesty, 
securing  Protestantism  within  its  borders. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 


litary  Expeditions  in  Germany,  1621-1624— Generals 
Mansfeld  and  Tilly— Successes  of  Mansfeld— Joined 
by  the  Margrave  of  Baden-Durlach  and  Christian, 
Duke  of  Brunswick— Tilly— The  Palatinate— The 
Heidelberg  Library— Ferdinand  resolves  to  continue 
the  War— The  Duke  of  Bavaria  made  Elector-Pala- 
tine— Tilly  defeats  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  in  Miin- 
ster— War  with  Denmark,  1624-1629— The  Protestant 
forces  under  Christian  IV.  of  Denmark,  the  Duke  of 
Brunswick  and  Mansfeld— The  Emperor  without  a 
Leader — Count  Wallenstein — His  extraordinary  Cha- 
racter —  Ambition  —  Astrological  Studies — Faith  in 
Destiny  —  His  Bravery— Weissenberg— Wallenstein 
Duke  of  Friedland— His  stately  Palace  and  royal 
style  of  living — Raises  an  Imperial  Army — His  Ap- 
pearance—Pursues Mansfeld— Death  of  Mansfeld, 
1626— Death  of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick— Christian 
IV.  of  Denmark— His  Flight— Dukes  Adolphus  and 
John  of  Mecklenburg  banished — Their  Estates  seized 
by  Wallenstein— Created  Duke  of  Mecklenburg  and 
a  Prince  of  the  Empire,  1628— Pomerania— Stralsund 
— Besieged  by  Wallenstein — Its  Brave  Resistance — 
Forces  Wallenstein  to  retire — Peace  between  the 
King  of  Denmark  and  the  Emperor,  1629— The  Edict 
of  Restitution,  1639— Its  Effect— Augsburg— The  Ca- 
tholic League — Tyranny  and  Cruelty  of  Wallenstein 
and  his  Army — Complaints  of  the  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants against  Wallenstein  to  the  Emperor— The 
Princes  and  the  Nation  insist  upon  his  Dismissal— 
His  Resignation. 

ACCORDING  to  all  human  calculation,  the 
contest  appeared  now  decided  ;  Bohemia 
was  subjugated,  the  Evangelical  Union  dis- 
solved, the  palatine  house  overthrown,  and 
the  elector  a  mere  fugitive.  Whence,  there- 
fore, could  resistance  be  apprehended  ? 
And  yet  it  came,  and  that,  too,  from  the 
restless  activity  of  Count  Mansfeld,  who 
would  not  abandon  victory  at  so  easy  a 
price,  and  who  knew  the  age  in  which  he 
lived  too  well,  not  to  calculate  upon  those 
unexpected  means  which  a  change  of  for- 
tune must  present  to  men  of  a  daring  and 
confident  disposition.  He  knew  how  high- 
ly the  minds  of  the  people  were  excited, 
and  that  they  were  only  waiting  for  leaders 
in  order  to  recommence  the  obstinate  strug- 
gle in  favor  of  their  faith.  Whoever  com- 
manded their  confidence  might  venture 


upon  the  adoption  of  extraordinary  meas. 
ures. 

Accordingly,  he  collected  quite  unex 
pectedly,  after  having  left  Pilsen,  new 
troops,  and  declared  that  he  would  still 
farther  maintain  the  cause  of  Frederick 
against  the  emperor.  In  a  short  time  he 
had  an  army  of  about  20,000  men,  and 
obliged  the  forces  of  the  league,  under  the 
Bavarian  general,  John  Tserklas  Tilly, 
(raised  by  the  emperor,  since  1623,  to  the 
dignity  of  count,)  to  keep  the  field  against 
him.  By  rapid  and  well-planned  marches 
he  deluded  his  antagonist,  and  in  his  course 
spread  desolation  among  the  Catholic  bish- 
oprics of  Franconia,  Wiirzburg,  Bamberg; 
and  Eichstadt,  together  with  those  of  Spires, 
Worms,  and  Mentz  on  the  Rhine  ;  and, 
finally,  in  the  beautiful  and  flourishing 
provinces  of  Alsace. 

His  example  was  followed  by  others. 
First  of  all,  George  Frederick,  margrave 
of  Baden-Durlach,  took  the  field  in  favor  of 
the  palatine  house,  collected  a  strong  army 
and  united  with  Mansfeld.  He  would  not 
fight  as  a  prince  of  the  German  empire, 
lest  his  land  should  be  made  to  suffer  for  it, 
but  as  a  knight  and  champion  in  that 
cause  which,  to  him,  appeared  the  most 
just ;  accordingly,  before  he  entered  into 
action,  he  transferred  into  his  son's  hands 
the  government  of  his  country.  For  him, 
united  with  Mansfeld,  Tilly  was  no  equal 
match  ;  but  when,  however,  they  separated, 
he  defeated  the  margrave  at  Wimpfen  on 
the  8th  of  May,  1622. 

Mansfeld  next  found  an  ally  in  Christian, 
duke  of  Brunswick,  brother  of  the  reigning 
duke,  who,  full  of  youthful  ardor,  likewise 
came  forward  in  the  cause  of  the  banished 
electoral  prince.  After  a  variety  of  adven- 
tures, he  at  length  joined  Mansfeld  with  a 
considerable  body  of  men,  and,  thus  united, 
they  entered  Alsace  once  more,  extending 
their  march  to  the  provinces  of  Lorraine, 
and,  in  fact,  made  even  Paris  itself  tremble 
for  the  moment,  as  they  threatened  to  ad. 
vance  thither  to  the  aid  of  the  Huguenots. 
After  devastating  all  the  neighboring  prov- 
inces, they  finally  marched  into  Holland, 
where  they  joined  the  Netherlanders  in 
their  struggle  against  the  Spaniards. 

Tilly,  meantime,  retained  possession  of 
the  entire  palatinate,  and  it  was  on  this  oc 
casion  that  he  seized  upon  the  magnificent 
library  of  Heidelberg,  of  which  the  duke 
of  Bavaria   made   a  present  to  the  pops 


CHRISTIAN  IV.  OF  DENMARK— WALLENSTEIN. 


Gregory  XV. ;  it  was  conveyed  to  Rome, 
and  placed  in  the  Vatican.* 

It  appeared  now  as  if  the  moment  had  once 
raore  arrived  when  peace  might  have  been 
restored  to  Germany,  if  the  victors  had 
been  at  all  inclined  to  act  with  moderation. 
But  Ferdinand  had  no  idea  of  halting  in 
the  midst  of  all  his  revolutionary  move- 
ments. He  considered  himself,  as  he  states 
in  a  letter  written  by  himself  and  sent  to 
Spain,  as  called  upon  by  Providence  "  to 
crush  all  the  seditious  factions,  which  had 
been  supported  chiefly  by  the  heresy  of 
Calvinism,  and  he  recognised  in  the  success 
which  had  hitherto  rewarded  his  efforts,  an 
intimation  from  God  that  he  ought  to  perse- 
vere in  the  course  he  had  entered  upon." 

A  grand  step  would  be  gained  towards 
*h?.  promotion  of  his  plans,  if  he  could  ar- 
range the  investiture  of  his  friend  the  duke 
of  Bavaria  as  electoral-palatine,  and  as  a 
recompense  for  his  faithful  services ;  a 
matter  upon  which  they  both  agreed  in  se- 
cret together.  In  the  aforesaid  letter  of 
Ferdinand,  he  says  :  "  If  we  could  gain 
one  more  vote  in  the  electoral  college,  we 
should  be  forever  secured  in  our  object  of 
placing  the  empire  in  the  hands  of  the 
Catholics,  and  ensuring  its  possession  to  the 
house  of  Austria." 

But  this  step  was  one  of  great  danger,  as 
!t  was  likely  to  bring  upon  him  the  most 
determined  opposition  of  all  the  Protestants, 
and  more  especially  might  make  an  enemy 
of  the  electoral  house  of  Saxony,  hitherto  a 
friend  so  faithful.  Nevertheless,  Ferdi- 
nand accomplished  his  wish ;  he  hastened 
to  summon  together  the  electors  at  Ratisbon 
in  1623,  in  order  to  confer  the  investiture 
upon  Maximilian,  and  after  many  negotia- 
tions Saxony  was  induced  to  give  its  con- 
sent by  the  concession  of  Lusatia. 

In  the  same  year,  Duke  Christian  of 
Brunswick  was  routed  by  Tilly  near  Stad- 
lov  in  Munster,  at  the  moment  when  he 
was  about  to  recommence  operations,  and 
thus  fortune  appeared  to  realize  the  antici- 
pations of  the  emperor,  and  crown  his  con- 
fidence with  continued  success.  Neverthe- 
ess,  many  links  were  still  necessary  to  form 
.he  chain  of  this  war. 

The  Protestants,  meantime,  considered 
that  they  could  not  remain  in  a  state  of  in- 
active expectation  of  the  fate  to  which  they 

*  This  library,  at  the  intercession  oi  the  emperor  of 
Austria  and  the  king  oi  Prussia,  was  restored  to  Hei- 
delberg in  the  yea:  1813 

41 


might  be  subjected,  but  felt  themselves 
bound  to  exercise  forthwith  the  little  energy 
and  self-possession  still  at  their  command. 
The  first  movement  was  made  in  the  states 
of  the  circle  of  Lower  Saxony,  on  the  fron- 
tiers of  which  Tilly,  the  terror-striking 
general  of  the  Bavarians,  had  taken  up  hia 
position  with  his  formidable  army.  After 
having  made  in  vain  their  representations 
for  his  recall,  they  took  to  arms,  and  chose 
the  king  of  Denmark,  Christian  IV.,  as  duke 
of  Holstein,  for  their  commander-in-chief. 
He  promised  them  considerable  aid,  and 
England  on  its  part  did  the  same.  Chris- 
tian of  Brunswick  and  Mansfeld  reappeared, 
and  enlisted  troops  with  English  money. 
Hitherto  the  war  in  Germany,  on  the  Catho- 
lic side,  had  been  carried  on  almost  wholly 
by  the  army  of  the  league ;  but  as  the  pre- 
parations of  the  Protestants  became  now 
more  extensive,  they  demanded  from  the 
emperor  supplies  of  troops  accordingly. 
At  the  same  time  it  was  likewise  the  em- 
peror's wish  to  furnish  an  imperial  army 
himself,  in  order  that  the  house  of  Bavaria 
might  not  claim  the  merit  of  performing 
every  thing  alone  ;  but  he  was  in  want  of 
the  necessary  means  to  effect  this  object, 
and  he  was  at  a  loss  how  to  raise  and  equip 
the  number  of  men  required.  Under  these 
circumstances,  however,  an  individual  pre- 
sented himself  to  his  notice,  who  contem- 
plated carrying  on  the  war  by  means  of  his 
own  resources,  and  single-handed — simi- 
larly to  Mansfeld  ;  and  offering  at  once  to 
relieve  the  emperor  from  his  difficulties,  he 
lost  no  time  in  bringing  his  plans  into  opera, 
tion. 

Albert  of  Wallenstein — more  properly 
Waldstein — the  descendant  of  a  noble  fami- 
ly in  Bohemia,  was  born  in  the  year  1583, 
in  Prague,  of  Lutheran  parents ;  as  they 
died  when  he  was  young,  he  was  sent  by  a 
maternal  uncle  to  a  celebrated,  convent  of 
Jesuits  at  Olmiitz,  and  was  thus  educated  in 
the  Catholic  religion.  Later  he  travelled  with 
a  wealthy  nobleman  from  Moravia  through 
a  great  part  of  Europe,  and  became  ac- 
quainted with  Germany,  Holland,  England, 
France,  and  Italy.  The  learned  compan- 
ion of  the  illustrious  pair,  the  mathematician 
and  astrologer  Peter  Verdungus,  (subse- 
quently a  friend  of  Keppler,)  encouraged 
Wallenstein's  predilection  for  astrology, 
and  in  Padua  he  was  initiated  in  cabalistic 
lore  and  the  other  occult  sciences  of  the 
stars  by  Professor  Argoli.  A  mysterious 


322 


WALLENSTEIN'S  EXTRAORDINARY  CHARACTER, 


inclination  of  his  nature  led  him  to  this 
dangerous  study,  which  at  that  time  was 
universally  pursued,  ana  occupied  even 
great  minds  like  that  of  Keppler ;  his  soul 
was  lost  in  its  dark  labyrinths ;  but  this 
much  he  saw  with  the  greatest  certainty  in 
the  stars,  since  he  intuitively  felt  it,  viz., 
that  he  was  destined  to  effect  something  ex- 
traordinary.  An  unbounded  ambition  pos- 
sessed his  whole  soul,  and  he  was  conscious 
of  an  energy  sufficient  to  carry  the  entire 
age  with  him ;  whence  he  regarded  as  within 
his  reach  the  accomplishment  of  the  greatest 
enterprise. 

He  attached  himself  to  the  Archduke 
Ferdinand,  whoso  firmness  and  determina- 
tion he  recognised,  and  set  out  in  1617, 
accompanied  by  200  cavalry,  raised  at  his 
own  expense,  to  render  him  aid  in  an  ex- 
pedition against  Venice.  By  way  of  re- 
muneration, Ferdinand  assigned  to  him  the 
rank  of  a  commander  of  the  militia  in 
Moravia.  During  the  troubles  of  Bohe- 
mia he  aided  the  Viennese  in  their  defence 
against  the  Bohemians,  fought  against 
Bethlen  Gabor  of  Transylvania,  who 
raised  his  pretensions  to  the  crown  of 
Hungary,  and  filled  the  situation  of  quar- 
ter-master-general in  the  imperial  forces 
under  Boucquoi,  when  he,  with  Maximilian 
of  Bavaria,  gained  the  battle  of  Weissen- 
berg  near  Prague.  After  this  battle  he 
had  another  engagement  with  Bethlen,  by 
whom  the  imperial  generals  Dampierre 
and  Boucquoi  had  been  defeated,  made 
him  retreat,  and  obliged  him  to  accede  to 
terms  of  peace,  and  to  relinquish  his  claims 
to  the  Hungarian  crown.  For  these  ser- 
vices, and  at  the  same  time  as  an  indemni- 
fication for  the  devastation  of  his  estates  in 
this  war  and  the  expenses  he  had  incurred 
— having  at  his  own  cost  furnished  and 
supported  several  regiments — Wallenstein 
received,  in  1622,  the  territory  of  Fried- 
land  in  Bohemia,  together  with  the  title  of 
prince,  and  later  that  of  duke.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  he  purchased  for  a  large  sum 
of  money  about  sixty  estates  of  the  Bohe- 
mian nobility,  which  had  been  confiscated 
by  the  emperor  after  the  battle  near 
Prague,  and  thus  came  into  possession  of 
more  than  princely  wealth.  The  duchy 
of  Friedland  alone  comprised  nine  towns 
and  fifty-seven  castles  and  villages.  Sub- 
sequently, and  while  Tilly  was  in  com- 
mand at  the  head  of  the  league,  he  lived 
retired  on  his  estates,  although  at  the  same 


time  he  felt  much  discontented  at  finding 
the  war  carried  on  without  him.  Now, 
however,  when  he  found  the  emperor  was 
anxious  to  raise  for  himself  an  army,  he,« 
as  we  have  already  seen,  offered  his  ser- 
vices to  levy  troops  of  his  own  for  the  im- 
penal  service,  taking  upon  himself  nearly 
the  whole  cost.  He  stipulated  only  that 
he  should  be  allowed  to  exercise  unlimited 
control  over  them,  and  possess  the  exclu- 
sive power  of  appointing  officers,  and  col- 
lecting a  force,  not  of  20,000  but  of  50,000 
men — as  such  an  army,  he  said,  would 
soon  be  enabled  to  maintain  itself.  He 
obtained,  accordingly,  the  full  authority 
required,  and  in  a  few  months  afterwards 
the  army  was  raised  and  completely 
equipped — such  was  the  influence  his  very 
name  already  produced. 

Wallenstein  was  born  to  command  ;  his 
acute  eye  distinguished  at  the  first  glance, 
from  among  the  multitude,  such  as  were 
competent,  and  he  assigned  to  each  his 
proper  place.  His  praise,  from  being  but 
rarely  bestowed,  animated  and  brought 
into  full  operation  every  faculty,  while  his 
steady,  reserved,  and  earnest  demeanor  se- 
cured obedience  and  discipline.  His  very 
appearance  inspired  reverence  and  awe  ; 
his  figure  was  lofty,  proud,  and  truly  war- 
like ;  his  jet-black  hair  was  cut  close 
above  his  high  and  commanding  forehead, 
while  in  his  bright  piercing  eye  was  ex- 
pressed profundity  of  thought,  combined 
with  gravity  and  mystery — the  character- 
istics of  his  favorite  studies  and  researche& 
in  the  language  of  the  stars  and  the  laby- 
rinths of  the  planets. 

He  marched  with  his  new  army,  in  the 
autumn  of  1625,  through  Svvabia  ano 
Franconia  into  Lower  Saxony.  Till} 
withheld  from  joining  a  rival  whose  ambi- 
tion he  saw  was  to  excel  him,  and  both 
conducted  the  war  apart.  Wallenstein. 
after  having  put  to  rout  a  body  of  armed 
peasantry  who  had  attempted  to  intercept 
his  march  near  Gb'ttingen,  advanced  to  the 
districts  of  Halberstadt  and  Magdeburg, 
which  had  not  as  yet  been  subjected  to  the 
devastations  of  the  war.  The  campaign 
of  1626  commenced  with  more  serious 
deeds  of  arms.  Count  Mansfeld,  who  ad- 
vanced along  the  Elbe  against  Wallen- 
stein, having  been  defeated  on  the  bridge 
of  Dessau,  directed  his  course  with  a  bold 
determination  towards  Silesia,  in  order  to 
join  Prince  Bethlen  Gabor,  and  carry  .he 


DEATH  OF  MANSFELD-  WALLENSTEIN  IN  DENMARK. 


323 


tvar  into  the  Austrian  dominions,  whither 
Wallenstein,  to  his  great  regret,  was  forced 
to  follow  him.  After  a  most  harassing 
and  difficult  march,  Mansfeld  arrived  in 
[[angary;  he  was,  however,  very  badly 
received  there,  because  he  had  not  brought 
with  him  the  sums  of  money  expected  by 
l  he  prince.  Pursued  by  Wallenstein,  his 
retreat  cut  off,  and  without  the  means  of 
procuring  supplies  in  such  a  remote  coun- 
try, he  was  forced  to  sell  his  artillery  and 
ammunition,  and  disband  his  soldiers  ;  and 
then  crossing  Bosnia  and  Dalmatia,  he 
proceeded  with  a  small  suite  along  the 
road  to  Venice.  Thence  it  was  his  inten- 
tion to  repair  to  England,  in  order  to  pro- 
cure the  necessary  supply  of  money  ;  but 
on  arriving  in  the  village  of  Urakowitz, 
near  Zara,  his  nature,  already  completely 
overwhelmed  by  the  superhuman  struggles 
and  fatigues  undergone,  finally  sank  be- 
neath these-  heavy  trials,  and  the  noble 
warrior  breathed  his  last  on  the  20th  of 
November,  1626,  in  the  forty-sixth  year 
of  his  age.  When  the  dying  man  felt  at 
length  the  approach  of  death,  he  had  him- 
self clothed  in  his  military  coat,  his  sword 
Ouckled  on,  and  thus  equipped,  and  stand- 
ing supported  by  the  arms  of  two  friends, 
he  patiently  awaited  the  final  moment  of 
his  mortal  career.  His  remains  were  in- 
terred in  Spalatro. 

In  this  same  year  died  likewise  his  friend, 
Duke  Christian  of  Brunswick,  who  was  only 
twenty -nine  years  of  age ;  and  thus  the 
Protestants  were  deprived  of  their  best  gen- 
erals. Christian,  king  of  Denmark,  was 
not  able  to  replace  them,  for  in  him  was 
wanting  all  that  warlike  spirit  and  energy 
so  necessary  in  a  commander ;  added  to 
this,  there  was  no  union  between  the  prin- 
ces of  the  circle  of  Lower  Saxony,  and  one 
of  whom,  indeed,  George,  duke  of  Celle,  a 
general  of  the  Saxon  army,  passed  over  to 
the  emperor,  whose  service  he  entered. 
Thence,  although  Lower  Saxony  was  much 
relieved  by  the  retreat  of  Wallenstein,  King 
Christian  was,  nevertheless,  not  only  unable 
to  defend  it  against  Tilly,  but  he  was  com- 
pletely defeated  by  him  on  the  27th  of  Au- 
gust at  Lutter  near  Barenberg,  in  Hanover, 
and  lost  all  his  artillery,  together  with  sixty 
ensigns. 

In  the  year  1627,  Wallenstein  marched 
oack  again  through  Silesia,  whence  he 
drove  all  his  enemies  before  him  into  the 
north  of  Germany,  crossed  Brandenburg 


and  Mecklenburg,  and  with  Tilly  entered 
Holstein,  in  order  to  force  the  king  of  Den- 
mark to  abandon  Germany  altogether. 
The  whole  of  that  country,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  fortifications,  was  speedily 
conquered.  Silesia  and  Jutland  were  next 
invaded  and  fearfully  devastated.  The 
king  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  his 
islands,  and  some  letters  of  Wallenstein 
even  mention  that  he  seriously  contemplated 
causing  the  emperor  Ferdinand  to  be  chosen 
king  of  Denmark,  having  been  informed 
that  the  states  were  dissatisfied  with  their 
own  king.  It  was  in  this  same  year  that 
Wallenstein  added  to  his  immense  posses- 
sions the  duchy  of  Sagan  and  the  territory 
of  Priebus  in  Silesia,  which  he  purchased 
of  the  emperor  for  150,000  florins. 

Meantime  the  army  of  Wallenstein  had 
gradually  increased  to  100,000  men,  and 
this  mysterious  and  incomprehensible  man 
continued  enlisting  fresh  troops  with  still 
greater  zeal  in  proportion  as  the  numbers 
of  the  enemy  diminished  and  disappeared. 
It  was  not  known  whether  it  was  for  him- 
self or  for  his  sovereign  that  he  was  thus 
paving  the  way  for  the  attainment  of  unlim- 
ited dominion.  The  Catholic  princes  them- 
selves regarded  him  with  suspicion  and 
doubt,  for  it  became  more  and  more  evident 
that  his  grand  object  was  to  abolish  their 
league,  while  Tilly  especially  hated  hiir 
because  he  monopolized  for  himself  all  the 
fruits  produced  by  their  victories.  The 
princes  of  Mecklenburg,  Pomerania,  and 
Brandenburg,  appealed  to  the  emperor  to 
remove  the  heavy  and  oppressive  burden  of 
war  from  their  lands ;  but  the  will  of  his 
general  was  more  powerful  than  that  of  the 
emperor  himself,  and  the  whole  of  North 
Germany  obeyed  his  slightest  nod,  and 
trembled  beneath  his  wrath.  He  himself 
lived  in  a  style  of  pomp  and  splendor  far 
beyond  his  imperial  master,  in  which  ex- 
ample he  was  imitated  by  ail  his  officers 
in  proportion  ;  while  around  him  thousands 
of  human  beings  were  forced  to  languish  in 
inexpressible  misery,  and  without  exagger- 
ation, literally  died  through  starvation.  In 
addition  to  all  this,  the  general  brought 
against  the  emperor  a  heavy  account  of  the 
sums  he  had  advanced  out  of  his  own  funds 
for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  and  which  he 
calculated  at  more  than  three  millions  of 
florins.  This  sum  the  emperor  found  it  im- 
possible to  pay,  and  resolved,  therefore,  to 
seize  the  territories  of  the  dukes  Adolphus 


SIEGE  OF  STRALSUND 


Frederick  and  John  Albert  of  Mecklenburg, 
and  transfer  them  into  the  hands  of  his  gen- 
eral, in  consideration  of  the  debt.  Thus 
Wallenstein  was  made  a  prince  of  the  em- 
pire, and  while  on  a  visit  at  the  castle  of 
Brandeis,  in  Bohemia,  put  into  immediate 
practice  the  privilege  he  now  commanded 
of  appearing  with  covered  head  in  the  im- 
perial presence. 

In  vain  did  the  inhabitants  supplicate  to 
have  their  rightful  dukes,  whose  family  had 
reigned  in  their  dominions  for  nearly  a 
thousand  years,  restored  to  them,  and  who, 
they  said,  had  not  committed  themselves 
more  than  the  princes  of  the  other  provin- 
ces in  the  circle  of  Lower  Saxony.  Ferdi- 
nand forgot  again,  this  time,  the  laws  of 
moderation  in  victory,  and  shamefully  vio- 
lated the  constitution  of  the  empire  in  thus 
banishing  these  princes  from  their  territo- 
ries without  legally  impeaching  them  before 
the  electoral  princes,  and  without  giving 
them  a  hearing  or  pronouncing  judgment 
against  them.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  to 
him  an  object  of  great  importance  to  secure 
for  himself  the  presence  of  a  Catholic  prince 
of  the  empire  on  the  coast  of  the  Baltic  Sea, 
who  would  thus  be  enabled  to  keep  in  check 
the  north  of  Germany,  and  form  a  protec- 
tive power  to  watch  the  proceedings  of  the 
Protestant  kings  of  Denmark  and  Sweden ; 
while  from  this  point  he  confidently  hoped 
to  be  enabled  to  re-establish  the  Catholic 
faith  throughout  the  north.  He  also  ap- 
pears to  have  contemplated  holding  com- 
plete dominion  over  the  maritime  commerce 
of  the  Baltic  from  this  quarter,  for  Wallen- 
stein even  assumed  the  title  of  admiral  of 
the  north  and  eastern  seas,  and  it  is  seen  by 
his  letters  addressed  to  Arnim,  general-in- 
chief  of  the,army  in  the  north  of  Germany, 
during  his  absence,  that  the  desire  he  had 
most  at  heart  was  to  burn  all  the  Swedish 
and  Danish  vessels  that  sailed  within  the 
range  of  his  dominion,  and  to  collect  and 
establish  a  fleet  of  his  own. 

From  Mecklenburg  Wallenstein  now 
turned  his  looks  towards  its  neighboring 
territory,  Pomerania.  The  old  duke,  Bo- 
gislas,  was  without  any  family,  and  after 
his  death  his  duchy  might  be  very  conve- 
niently united  with  that  of  Mecklenburg. 
What,  however,  was  to  this  ambitious  man 
of  the  utmost  importance,  was  the  possession 
of  Stralsund,  which,  it  is  true,  was  in  the 
dominion  of  the  duke  of  Pomerania,  but 
which,  at  the  same  time,  as  forming  part  of 


the  Hanseatic  league,  enjoyed  many  privi. 
leges,  and  an  independent  administration 
in  all  its  internal  affairs.  This  city,  as 
well  as  the  whole  country,  had  contributed 
very  large  sums  towards  the  maintenance 
of  the  imperial  troops ;  and  now  it  was  in- 
tended to  furnish  it  with  a  garrison.  This 
the  citizens  refused  to  receive ;  and  in  the 
spring  of  the  year  1628,  Wallenstein  gave 
orders  to  General  Arnim  to  march  against, 
and  lay  siege  to  the  place.  The  citizens, 
however,  defended  their  walls  with  deter- 
mined courage  and  perseverance,  while  the 
kings  of  Sweden  and  Denmark  furnisher) 
them  with  liberal  supplies  of  troops,  togethei 
with  ammunition  and  provisions  from  the 
sea-side.  Their  obstinate  resistance  exci- 
ted the  furious  wrath  and  indignation  of  the 
imperious  general,  and  he  exclaimed : 
"  Even  if  this  Stralsund  be  linked  by  chains 
to  the  very  heavens  above,  still  I  swear  it 
shall  fall !"  He  then  advanced  in  person 
against  the  city,  and  repeatedly  assaulted 
it;  but  he  now  learned  to  know  what  the 
heroic  courage  of  citizens  can  effect  under 
prudent  guidance ;  for  after  having  remained 
before  the  walls  for  several  weeks,  and  suffer- 
ed a  loss  of  at  least  twelve  thousand  men 
in  the  various  desperate  assaults  made,  he 
was  forced,  to  his  no  little  mortification,  to 
withdraw  without  accomplishing  his  object. 

Meantime,  the  king  of  Denmark  had  de- 
manded peace,  which,  contrary  to  all  ex- 
pectation, the  emperor  was  advised  by  Wal- 
lenstein to  conclude  ;  from  which  it  may  be 
presumed  that  as  he  was  now  a  prince  of 
the  empire  himself,  he  no  longer  considered 
it  desirable  to  destroy  farther  the  power  of 
the  German  princes.  The  king,  through 
the  mediation  of  the  general,  made  on  the 
12th  of  May,  1629,  in  Lubeck,  a  very  ad- 
vantageous peace,  and  he  received  back  all 
his  lands,  without  paying  the  expenses  of 
the  war.  But  this  peace  did  not  add  much 
to  the  glory  of  the  king,  inasmuch  as  for 
his  own  preservation,  he  sacrificed  in  the 
dukes  of  Mecklenburg  two  faithful  allies. 
He  promised  not  to  lake  any  share  in  the 
affairs  of  Germany,  otherwise  than  as  a 
member  of  the  imperial  states,  and  thus 
resigned  the  right  he  possessed  to  protect 
the  two  dukes.  Wallenstein  now  received 
from  the  emperor  the  investiture  of  the 
duchy  of  Mecklenburg,  and  was  thus  con- 
firmed in  his  rank  among  the  princes  of  the 
empire. 

How  rejoiced   must  the  peacefully  dip- 


PEACE  BETWEEN  DENMARK  AND  GERMANY. 


325 


posed  inhabitants  of  Germany  have  been, 
after  their  long  persecution,  when  they  re- 
ceived the  happy  tidings  of  peace !  The 
contest,  indeed,  could  not  now  be  continued 
any  longer,  for  no  enemy  was  left  to  oppose 
the  emperor ;  while  the  duke  of  Bavaria 
had  obtained  quiet  possession  of  the  electo- 
ral dignity,  and  that  portion  of  the  palatinate 
which  had  been  promised  to  him  as  an  in- 
Jrtniiification  for  his  expenses  in  the  war. 
The  Protestants  were  now  so  completely 
reduced  and  subdued,  that  there  was  no 
longer  cause  to  dread  fresh  hostilities  on 
their  part.  The  war  had  now  reached  its 
twelfth  year,  and  every  year  had  left  be- 
hind it  fresh  traces  of  the  ravages  produced 
throughout  the  whole  empire,  turning  flour- 
ishing  provinces  into  deserts,  and  rendering 
3nce  opulent  citizens  beggars  and  fugitives. 
The  war,  indeed,  might  now  have  easily 
been  brought  to  a  termination,  had  the  vic- 
torious party  only  known  whet  to  fix  the 
just  limits  of  their  course,  and  if  the  em- 
peror, after  having  thus  completely  purified 
his  states  of  the  new  doctrines,  and  re- 
established his  authority  therein  with  all 
its  original  power,  had  secured  religious 
peace  in  all  its  plenitude  to  all  the  other 
independent  states  of  the  empire,  disband- 
ed his  army,  and  thus  delivered  the  re- 
duced and  miserable  country  from  that  es- 
pecially heavy  burden.  But  nothing  is 
more  difficult  to  the  human  mind  than  to 
restrain  itself  in  its  course  amid  prosperity. 
The  Catholic  party  imagined  this  was  a 
moment  too  favorable  for  them  to  neglect, 
and  they  determined,  accordingly,  to  draw 
all  the  advantages  they  could  from  the  for- 
tunate state  of  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed.  They  demanded  of  the  Pro- 
testants the  restitution  of  all  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal benefices,  of  which  they  had  taken  pos- 
session since  the  treaty  of  Passau,  in  1552  : 
being  no  less  than  two  archbishoprics,  Bre- 
men and  Magdeburg,  twelve  bishoprics,  and 
a  multitude  of  inferior  benefices  and  con- 
vents. Until  this  moment,  the  restitution 
of  what  it  had  been  so  long  the  acknow- 
ledged right  of  the  Protestants  to  hold  pos- 
session, had  never  been  for  an  insfant  con- 
templated ;  but  now,  however,  urged  on  by 
the  Catholics,  the  emperor  published  a 
solemn  edict,  known  under  the  title  of  the 
Edict  of  Restitution,  dated  the  6th  of  March, 
1629.  "  The  Protestants,"  says  a  distin- 
guished historian,  "  were  completely  par- 
i  iyzed,  while  the  more  short-sighted  por- 


tion of  their  adversaries  hailed  it  with  ex- 
ultation."  The  cause,  however,  for  such 
exultation,  produced  eventually  unutterable 
calamity  all  over  Germany. 

Under  these  circumstances,  therefore,  it 
was  determined  not  to  disband  either  of  the 
two  grand  armies  at  this  moment  engaged 
in  their  devastations  throughout  the  empire  ; 
their  services  were  retained  in  order  to  bring 
into  effect  the  execution  of  the  edict  of  res- 
titution, and  orders  were  accordingly  issued, 
that  they  should  assist  if  necessary,  with 
the  force  of  their  arms,  the  various  impe- 
rial deputies  authorized  by  the  government 
to  witness  the  due  accomplishment  of  its 
decrees.  Operations  were  immediately 
commenced,  and  the  south  of  Germany 
was  selected  as  the  spot  to  receive  the  first. 
visitation.  The  city  of  Augsburg — where 
only  shortly  before  the  treaty  of  religious 
peace  had  been  signed — was  forced,  among 
the  rest,  to  acknowledge  the  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  of  the  bishop,  and  renounce  the 
Protestant  form  of  worship,  while  the  duke 
of  Wurtemberg  was  obliged  to  restore  all 
his  monasteries.  In  addition  to  all  this,  the 
Catholic  league,  in  a  meeting  which  took 
place  in  Heidelberg,  made  a  resolution 
"  not  to  restore  any  of  the  possessions  con- 
quered by  their  arms,  whether  spiritual  or 
temporal,  unless  they  were  indemnified 
beforehand  for  all  their  war  expenses." 
Thence  the  Protestants  were  threatened 
with  still  greater  danger  from  the  league 
party  than  even  from  the  emperor  himself. 

But  the  intolerable  tyranny  exercised  by 
Wallenstein's  army  produced  increasing 
indignation,  and  excited  still  more  loudly 
the  complaints  and  murmurs  of  both  par- 
ties, which  attained  at  length  that  degree 
of  irresistible  power,  that  the  emperor  could 
no  longer  shut  his  eyes  against  the  univer- 
sal ruin — no  respect  being  shown  for  either 
party,  friends  or  foes,  Catholics  or  Protest- 
ants— caused  by  those  ov  ,r bearing,  ruth- 
less violators  of  right  and  justice.  The 
emperor's  own  brother,  Leopold  himself, 
wrote  him  a  long  letter,  in  which  he  gave  a 
dreadful  and  harrowing  description  of  the 
pillage,  incendiarisms,  murderous  outrages, 
and  other  shameful  oppressions  inflicted  by 
the  imperial  troops  upon  the  peaceful  in- 
habitants. Such  testimony  overbalanced 
all  the  arguments  to  which,  hitherto,  the 
friends  of  Wallenstein  had  had  recourse, 
and  successfully  brought  to  bear  in  his  de- 
fence ;  while,  finally,  at  the  assembly  of 


326 


DISMISSAL  OF  WALLENSTEIN. 


the  electoral  princes  held  in  Ratisbon  in  the 
summer  of  1030,  the  emperor  found  himself 
overwhelmed  with  petitions  from  every 
quarter.  "  The  imperial  soldiers,"  com- 
plained the  Pomeranian  deputies,  "  marched 
into  our  country,  and  were  received  as 
rriends,  and  yet  they  have  already  exacted 
from  the  principality  of  Stettin  alone,  ten 
millions  of  dollars  as  a  contribution,  while 
in  spite  of  this  they  have  nevertheless  re- 
duced to  ashes  seven  of  our  towns,  and 
completely  devastated  the  whole  country 
around.  And  yet  in  the  moment  that  they 
were  scattering  such  dreadful  ruin  and 
misery  everywhere  around,  they  them- 
selves lived  in  such  an  expensive  style, 
that  every  captain  and  even  his  lieutenant 
exercised  more  princely  extravagance  than 
their  own  DukeBogislas  himself.  Besides 
all  this,  the  innkeepers  and  landlords  upon 
whom  the  troops  were  billeted  experienced 
the  most  brutal  treatment,  and  many  men 
were  constantly  being  murdered  in  cold 
blood,  and  their  bodies  thrown  to  the  dogs ; 
in  short,  no  act  of  cruelty  could  be  men- 
tioned or  even  thought  of  that  these  savages 
had  not  exercised,  and  many  hundreds  of 
the  wretched  inhabitants,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent these  horrible  acts  from  being  inflicted 
upon  themselves,  and  to  escape  from  dying 
through  starvation,  had  committed  sui- 
cide." 

This  frightful  picture  shows  us  the  ex- 
act nature  of  the  war  carried  on  by  these 
troops  serving  for  pay,  and  presents  us 
with  a  description  of  the  misery  existing  at 
this  period  of  our  history  :  nor  in  this  is 
there  any  exaggeration.  Count  Mansfeld, 
the  original  projector  of  this  system  for 
the  promotion  of  the  war,  has  himself  giv- 
en us  his  testimony  in  a  defence  he  was 
called  upon  to  make  against  similar  accu- 
sations upon  the  subject  of  the  license  given 
to  and  practised  by  his  own  army  :  "  When 
the  soldiers  do  not  receive  their  pay,"  he 
says,  "it  is  wholly  impossible  to  maintain 
them  in  their  discipline.  Neither  they  them- 
selves nor  their  horses  can  live  upon  air  ; 
while  what  they  wear,  both  in  clothing  and 
arms,  soon  becomes  ragged  and  useless. 
Thence  they  take  whatever  they  can  find, 
although  not  in  proportion  with  what  may 
be  due  to  them  ;  for  they  neither  calculate 
the  number  nor  weigh  the  amount  of  the 
articles  they  seize.  The  gate  once  opened 
to  them,  they  rush  through  and  proceed  to 
uct  upon  the  plan  they  have  laid  down  with 


unlicensed  fury,  and  from  which  they  are 
not  to  be  deterred.  They  seize  upon  every 
thing,  they  overcome  every  thing,  and 
strike  down  all  and  every  thing  that  may 
oppose  them.  In  short,  it  is  impossible  to 
imagine  the  disorder  and  riot  thus  pro- 
duced ;  for,  constituted  as  the  army  is  of 
all  nations,  they  all  vie  with  each  other  ii 
their  exercise  of  the  most  monstrous  acts 
The  German,  the  Netherlander,  the  French 
man,  the  Italian,  and  the  Hungarian,  each 
contributes  something  peculiar  to  his  own 
nation  in  violence  and  cruelty,  as  well  as 
in  cunning,  deceit,  and  invention.  I  am 
aware  of  this,  and  have,  I  confess,  even 
been  forced  to  witness  all  these  infamous 
acts,  while  my  heart  has  grieved  at  the 
sight.  But  what  is  to  be  done  ?  It  is  not 
enough  to  know  and  deplore  these  things  ; 
if  we  wish  to  remove  the  evil,  we  must 
adopt  such  measures  as  will  ensure  strict 
discipline  in  the  army,  but  which  cannot 
exist  unless  the  troops  receive  their  pay 
regularly." 

Ferdinand  could  no  longer  resist  the 
unanimous  voice  of  complaint  thus  urged, 
and  as  now  the  whole  body  of  princes  in- 
sisted that  Wallenstein — whom  they  all 
hated  without  exception — should  be  de- 
prived of  the  chief  command,  and  more 
especially  as  at  their  head  Maximilian  of 
Bavaria  expressed  himself  most  warmly  in 
favor  of  it,  the  emperor,  after  some  hesita- 
tion, gave  his  consent,  and  yielded  to  their 
wishes.  It  was,  however,  still  left  to  be 
seen  whether  or  not  the  proud  and  mighty 
chief  would  obey  the  summons :  to  the 
surprise  of  all,  however,  he  did  so.  His 
astronomical  calculations  appeared  to  have 
produced  their  tranquillizing  effects,  and 
mollified  his  haughty  spirit.  "He  by  no 
means  complained  against  or  reproached 
the  emperor,"  he  said  calmly  to  the  impe- 
rial deputies,  Count  Werdenberg  and  Bar- 
on Questenberg,  "  for  the  stars  had  already 
indicated  to  him  that  the  spirit  of  the  elec- 
tor of  Bavaria  held  its  sway  over  that  of 
the  emperor;  but,"  he  added,  "in  dischar- 
ging his  troops,  his  imperial  majesty  was 
rejecting  the  most  precious  jewel  of  his 
crown."  He  now  withdrew  to  his  duchy  of 
Friedland,  establishing  his  seat  of  govern- 
ment at  Gitschen,  which  he  considerably 
enlarged  and  beautified.  This  dismissal 
of  Wallenstein  took  place  in  September, 
1630. 

Such  of  the  imperial  troops   as  did  not 


GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS  OF  SWEDEN. 


327 


•eceive  their  discharge,  joined  those  of  the 
eague,  and  the  united  army  was  placed 
•under  tho  command  of  Tilly. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  king  of  Sweden,  in  Germany, 
n;:io-iii:t-.>— His  Character— Motives  and  Plans  in 
favor  of  Protestantism— Stralsund— Gustayus  declares 
War  against  Ferdinand— Lands  with  his  Army  in 
Pomerania— Stettin— The  Protestant  Princes  hesi- 
tate  to  join  Gustavus — Custrin  and  Spandau — The 
Elector  of  Brandenburg— The  Elector  of  Saxony— 
sirge  of  Magdeburg— Count  Tilly— Conquers  and 
bams  the  City— Dreadful  Massacre— Gustavus  and 
Tilly — Battle  of  Leipsic — Defeat  of  the  Imperialists — 
Glorious  Results  to  Gustavus— Surrender  of  the 
Cities  —  Ingolstadt— Tilly  wounded  — His  Death  — 
Munich  —  Prague  —  Ferdinand  and  Wallenstein  — 
Regal  Splendor  of  Wallenstein— His  Palace— Re- 
inbles  an  Army  for  the  Emperor— Extravagant 
Conditions — Appointed  Generalissimo — The  Camp  of 
Nuremberg— The  Swedish  and  Imperial  Armies— 
(iustavus  in  Saxony— Battle  of  Liitzen,  1632— Gus- 
tavus killed— His  Death  revenged  by  the  Swedes- 
Total  Defeat  of  Wallenstein— Portraiture  of  Gusta- 
vus Adolphus. 

THE  power  of  the  Protestant  princes  had 
now  become  much  weakened,  and  the  edict 
of  restitution  was  carried  into  effect  gener- 
ally. Those  who  knew  the  character  of 
Ferdinand  might  easily  foresee  what  were 
his  designs  against  the  new  church,  and  it 
was  scarcely  necessary  to  question  whether 
or  not  his  grand  object  was  to  annihilate 
its  entire  existence,  for  the  proceedings 
adopted  throughout  the  empire  clearly 
showed  what  its  party  had  to  expect.  But 
amid  this  growing  danger,  and  indeed  al- 
most in  the  very  moment  itself  when  the 
minds  of  the  Protestants,  as  they  beheld 
the  crisis  gradually  approaching,  had  sunk 
into  that  state  of  despondency  and  settled 
gloom,  which  the  sad  succession  of  events 
must  naturally  produce,  they  received, 
most  unexpectedly,  assistance  from  a  na- 
tion hitherto  but  little  known,  and  living  in 
uninterrupted  seclusion  within  the  frontiers 
of  their  northern  territory.  This  people — 
the  Swedes — were  nevertheless  distinguish- 
ed for  their  bravery,  while  they  were  stead- 
fast and  faithful  in  their  religious  prin- 
ciples, being  the  descendants  of  the  Goths, 
the  noblest  of  all  those  nations  most  justly 
entitled  to  boast  of  their  German  origin. 
In  the  year  1611,  Gustavus  Adolphus  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Swedish  throne,  and  he  it  was 
who  was  destined  to  lead  his  people  upon 
the  grand  scene  of  this  eventful  period.  It 


was  this  firm  conviction,  so  deeply  implant 
ed  in  his  mind,  by  which  Gustavus  fel 
inspired  to  undertake  the  mighty  contesl 
against  the  powerful  house  of  Austria. 

Opinions  equally  contrary  and  incon- 
sistent have  been  pronounced  upon  the 
character  of  this  great  monarch,  because, 
living  at  a  period  when  party  spirit  raged 
so  furiously,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that 
his  actions  could  undergo  a  more  impartial 
review  than  those  accomplished  by  his 
contemporaries.  On  the  one  hand  he  has 
been  regarded  only  as  a  conqueror,  com- 
pelled by  the  excitement  produced  by 
burning  ambition  to  cross  the  ocean  in 
order  to  vanquish  foreign  lands,  which  he 
sought  to  effect  more  securely  under  the 
cloak  of  religion,  and  whence  he  was 
enabled  to  conceal  his  desire  for  war ;  and 
again,  on  the  other  hand,  he  has  been 
viewed  only  as  an  enthusiastic  champion 
in  the  cause  of  his  faith,  while  the  ex- 
istence of  all  the  ambitious  motives  attri- 
buted to  him,  and  by  which  his  adversaries 
have  insisted  he  was  alone  influenced,  has 
been  denied,  and  the  charge  thus  made 
condemned.  In  either  case  there  is  a 
mixture  of  truth  and  falsehood.  Gustavus 
was  by  no  means  influenced  by  a  feeling 
of  ambition,  which  in  its  usual  sense  means 
the  vain  passion  of  personal  and  selfish 
glory,  although  assuredly  the  love  for  that 
reputation  which  is  inherent  in  all  men, 
and  which  in  the  mouths  of  people  adorns 
the  object  with  immortal  life,  occupied 
likewise  a  space  within  his  heart ;  neither, 
on  the  other  hand,  was  it  solely  in  order  to 
rescue  his  fellow  Protestants  in  Germany 
that  he  took  up  arms,  although  faith  and 
piety  exercised  sufficient  influence  over 
his  soul  to  inspire  him  to  fight  in  such  a 
cause.  Both  these  motives,  however,  acted 
in  concert  together  upon  his  mind,  united 
by  another  law  of  his  nature — that  which 
inspired  him  with  the  feeling  and  convic- 
tion of  being  destined  to  perform  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  that  eventful  epoch  of 
the  history  of  the  world.  He  felt  he  was 
called  upon  to  lead  forth  from  their  seclu- 
sion and  obscurity  his  noble  people — who, 
although  limited  in  number,  were  inferior 
to  none  in  courage  and  virtue — and  to 
place  them  in  the  ranks  of  the  other  na- 
tions of  Europe.  Hitherto,  in  connection 
with  the  other  states  of  Europe,  Sweden's 
position  had  been  similar  to  that  of  Mace- 
donia before  Philip  and  Alexander  in  the 


328 


GUSTAVUS  DECLARES  WAR  AND  LANDS  IN  GERMANY. 


ancient  world,  and  as  subsequently  that  of 
Russia  was,  previous  to  Peter  the  Great, 
in  mdoern  history  ;  and  as  the  lives  of 
those  great  men  can  only  be  thoroughly 
comprehended  when  they  are  viewed  in 
connection  with  the  historical  facts  alluded 
to,  so  likewise  in  the  same  point  of  view 
mus*:  the  life  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  of 
Sweden  be  regarded.  For  although  this 
monarch  left  behind  but  very  inconsidera- 
ble results  when  placed  in  contrast  with 
those  effected  by  the  sovereigns  with  whom 
we  have  compared  him,  it  must,  at  the 
same  time,  be  remembered  that  he  was 
snatched  away  by  death  at  the  age  of 
thirty-eight  years  only,  and  at  the  very 
moment  when  he  had  commenced  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  his  grand  work. 

His  great  plan  was  immediately  demon- 
strated in  the  first  moment  of  his  appear- 
ance upon  the  scene.  Previous  to  the  war 
in  Germany  he  had  already  conquered 
from  the  Russians  and  Poles  the  provinces 
along  the  coast,  Ingria,  Carelia,  and  Li- 
vonia, together  with  a  portion  of  Prussia. 
Various  important  motives  compelled  him 
now  to  take  a  share  in  the  affairs  of  Ger- 
many. He  had  been  very  seriously  pro- 
voked and  mortified  by  the  emperor  Fer- 
dinand ;  his  intercession  in  favor  of  the 
Protestants  and  his  cousins  the  dukes  of 
Mecklenburg,  as  well  as  his  mediation  for 
peace  with  Denmark,  had  been  treated 
with  great  contempt,  and  disdainfully  re- 
jected ;  while,  in  addition  to  this,  Wallen- 
stein  had  even  sent  10,000  imperial  troops 
to  the  aid  of  the  Poles  against  him.  Be- 
yond all  these  causes  of  complaint,  how- 
ever, which  might  perhaps  still  have  been 
peacefully  adjusted  by  negotiation,  his 
presence  was  summoned  by  the  danger 
which  now  hovered  over  the  Protestant 
church,  and  the  fear  he  entertained  lest,  in 
the  person  of  Wallenstein,  £  fresh  power 
might  usurp  the  coast  of  the  Baltic  sea, 
and  thus  strengthen  and  extend  the  cause 
of  Austria  and  Catholicism. 

The  danger  to  which  the  city  of  Stral- 
sund  was  exposed  had  already,  as  we  have 
before  shown,  produced  his  co-operation  in 
favor  of  that  place.  He  not  only  yielded 
to  its  wishes  in  this  respect,  but  formed  an 
alliance  with  it,  by  which  it  placed  itself 
under  his  protection,  and  it  was  indebted 
to  the  succor  he  afforded  especially  for  its 
preservation  when  besieged  by  Wallen- 
stein. Now,  however,  when  he  beheld 


that  the  cause  of  Protestantism  was  men- 
aced more  seriously  than  ever  throughout 
the  whole  of  Germany,  he  took  the  deci 
sive  step,  and  formally  declaring  wa. 
against  the  emperor,  he,  on  the  24th  o.< 
June,  1630,  landed  on  the  coast  of  Pome- 
rania  with  15,000  Swedes.  As  soon  as  he 
stepped  upon  shore,  he  dropped  on  his 
knees  in  prayer,  while  his  example  was 
immediately  followed  by  his  whole  army. 
Truly  he  had  undertaken,  with  but  small 
and  limited  means,  a  great  and  mighty  en- 
terprise ! 

When  the  emperor  was  informed  of  his 
landing,  he,  in  his  feeling  of  confidence, 
inspired  by  his  continual  success,  appeared 
to  treat  the  affair  with  so  much  indiffer- 
ence that  the  news  had  no  influence  what- 
ever in  the  dismissal  of  Wallenstein,  which 
just  at  this  moment  formed  the  subject  of 
discussion  in  the  diet  of  Ratisbon.  All 
the  Catholic  party  throughout  the  empire 
turned  the  fact  of  the  arrival  of  the  petty 
king  of  the  north,  as  they  termed  him,  into 
ridicule,  and  styled  him,  in  contempt,  the 
snow-king,  who  would  speedily  melt  be- 
neath the  rays  of  the  imperial  sun.  Bu' 
these  15,000  men  constituted  an  army  of 
heroes,  a  phalanx  of  hardy  warriors,  be 
longing  as  it  were  to  another  world ;  then 
ranks  were  regulated  by  strict  discipline 
and  religious  principles,  while  those  op- 
posed to  them  knew  nothing  of  war  but  its 
barbarism,  and  that  licentious  exercise  of 
its  worst  passions  which  under  no  circum- 
stances would  be  curbed  or  submit  to  rea- 
son. The  imperialists  were  a  mixture  of 
all  nations  and  creeds,  and  bound  together 
by  no  other  ties  but  those  of  mutual  war- 
fare and  pillage  ;  the  Swedes,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  strengthened  in  the  confidence 
they  felt  that  God  fought  on  their  side,  and 
to  him  they  offered  up  their  prayers  regu- 
larly twice  a  day,  each  regiment  possess- 
ing its  own  chaplain.  Besides  this,  the  in- 
ventive genius  of  Gustavus  had  introduced 
the  exercise  of  some  new  military  tactics 
in  his  army ;  and  in  this  he  may  bear 
comparison  with  many  great  men  of  an- 
tiquity, inasmuch  as  he  surprised  his  ene- 
mies by  the  novelty  and  boldness  of  his 
positions,  order  of  battle  attacks,  and  thus 
he  was  soon  enabled  to  throw  all  those 
who  still  adhered  to  the  old  system  into 
confusion.  Hitherto  they  had  made  a  prac- 
tice of  forming  their  line  of  battle  ten  rows 
deep,  but  Gustavus  reduced  it  to  six  in  tho 


THE  PROTESTANT  PRINCES  HESITATE  TO  JOIN  HIM. 


32U 


.nfantry,  and  four  in  the  cavalry;  whence 
nis  little  army  gained  considerably  in  ex- 
tension, and  was  more  easy  and  rapid  in 
its  movements  when  in  battle  ;  while  the 
balls  from  the  enemy's  artillery  committed 
less  damage  among  their  ranks,  thus  less 
densely  crowded.  The  Swedish  troops, 
especially  the  foot-soldiers,  were  likewise 
less  heavily  supplied  with  armor  and  other 
accoutrements,  *  by  which  they  were  en- 
abled to  fire  off  their  muskets  with  much 
more  ease  and  dispatch,  and  which  were 
constructed  too  of  far  lighter  materials 
than  those  of  the  imperialists. 

The  imperialists,  whose  forces  were  by 
no  means  strong  in  the  vicinity  of  the  coast, 
were  soon  driven  out  of  Riigen  and  the 
smaller  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Oder, 
and  Gustavus  now  marched  against  Stettin, 
the  capital  of  the  duchy  of  Pomerania. 
The  duke,  who  was  both  old  and  timid, 
would  not  venture  to  decide  upon  joining 
the  king  of  Sweden,  and  yet  he  could  not 
resolve  to  oppose  him.  After  long  hesita- 
tion, during  which  Gustavus  used 
means  of  persuasion  in  firm  but  mild  and 
consoling  language,  he  at  length  surren- 
dered to  him  the  city,  which  the  king  in- 
tended at  once  to  convert  into  a  principal 
military  depot  during  the  war. 

The  Protestant  princes  of  the  empire, 
like  the  duke  of  Pomerania,  appeared 
quite  undetermined  how  to  receive  their 
new  ally.  The  king  had  invited  them  all 
to  unite  and  form  one  grand  alliance ;  but 
many  felt  too  much  afraid,  and  dreaded 
the  vengeance  of  the  emperor :  others 
again  were  jealous  of  all  foreign  dominion 
in  case  of  success,  while  the  rest  felt  dis- 
posed rather  to  remain  faithful  in  their  al- 
legiance to  the  empire  and  government, 
than  to  risk  any  change  whatever.  Gus- 
tavus was  by  no  means  pleased  with  the 
disposition  thus  shown  :  "  We  evangelists," 
he  said,  in  his  address  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Erfurt,  "  are  placed  in  a  position  simi- 
lar to  a  vessel  when  in  a  storm.  In  such 
a  moment  it  does  not  suffice  for  a  few  only 
to  labor  with  zeal  for  the  general  safety, 
while  the  rest  of  the  crew  look  quietly  on 
with  their  arms  folded  ;  all  ought  to  work 
.ogether,  and  each  ought  to  assist  with  all 
lis  might  in  the  particular  part  assigned 
to  him."  The  Protestants,  however,  pos- 
sessed no  such  spirit  of  union,  neither  did 
they  cherish  that  conscientiousness  of  pur- 
pose  so  necessary.  As  usual,  they  were 


divided  among  themselves  by  jealousy  and 
prejudice.  The  palatinate  was  entirely 
subjected ;  and  Saxony,  which  for  a  length 
of  time  had  kept  aloof  from  the  Evangelists, 
and  at  times,  during  the  period  of  the  pal- 
atine's influence,  had  even  adhered  to  Aus- 
tria, was  now  vacillating  between  its  dread 
of  Austria  and  a  foreign  prince.  George 
William,  the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  a 
weak  prince,  was  guided  by  his  minister 
Schwarzonberg,  who  was  opposed  alto- 
gether to  an  alliance  with  Sweden.  Among 
the  petty  princes,  of  whom  many  were  in 
truth  much  more  determined,  but  were  at 
the  same  time  dependent  upon  the  power  of 
Austria,  there  were  only  two  who  joined 
the  king,  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel 
and  the  duke  of  Saxe-Weimar.  The 
others,  together  with  Saxony  and  Branden- 
burg, held  a  meeting  in  April,  1631,  at 
Leipsic,  and  resolved  to  raise  an  army  for 
themselves  in  defence  of  their  territories 
against  any  attack,  whether  proceeding 
from  the  Swedes  or  Austrians.  The  em- 
peror, who  perceived  clearly  that  the  grand 
struggle  must  be  decided  by  the  sword, 
and  would  not  for  a  moment  entertain  the 
idea  of  submitting  his  will  to  the  diet, 
commanded  the  immediate  dissolution  of 
the  Leipsic  alliance,  and  commenced  forth- 
with disarming  all  the  princes  and  cities 
in  the  south  of  Germany  forming  a  por- 
tion thereof. 

The  king  of  Sweden,  now  reinforced  by 
a  large  number  of  enlisted  troops,  advanced 
with  rapid  marches  direct  through  Pome- 
rania, and  completely  beat  and  put  to 
flight  the  whole  of  the  imperialists  before 
him.  The  latter  in  their  retreat  devastated 
the  country,  pillaged  all  the  towns,  many 


of  which  they  burnt,  and 
murdered  the  inhabitants. 
war  now  resumed  all  its 


ill-treated  and 
This  dreadful 
horrors.  The 


Swedes,  so  steady  and  strict  in  their  disci- 
pline, appeared  as  protecting  angels,  and 
as  the  king  advanced,  the  belief  spread  far 
and  near  throughout  the  land,  that  he  was 
sent  from  heaven  as  its  preserver. 

Gustavus  was  desirous  to  march  in  se- 
curity step  by  step,  and  not  to  leave  any 
fortified  place  in  his  rear  ;  whence,  after 
he  had  carried  by  assault  Frankfort  on  the 
Oder,  which  contained  a  garrison  of  8000 
imperialists,  he  desired  the  elector  of  Bran, 
denburg  to  surrender  into  his  hands  the 
fortified  towns  of  OuMrin  and  Spandau. 
The  latter,  although  related  by  marriage 


330 


C-)UNT  TJLLY— CONQUERS  AND  BURNS  MAGDEBI  RG. 


lo  Gustavus,  who  had  married  his  sister, 
hesitated ;  but  the  king  marched  on  towards 
Berlin,  and  invited  him  to  a  conference  on 
the  plain  between  Berlin  and  Cospenik. 
Here,  however,  the  prince  still  continued 
to  hold  out,  when,  at  length,  the  king  ex- 
claimed with  warmth :  "  My  road  leads  to 
Magdeburg — at  this  moment  closely  be- 
sieged by  Tilly — whither  I  must  hasten, 
although  not  for  my  own  advantage,  but 
solely  for  that  of  the  Evangelists.  If  none, 
however,  will  lend  me  their  aid,  I  will  free 
myself  from  all  reproach  and  return  to 
Stockholm ;  but  bear  in  mind,  prince,  that 
on  the  last  day  of  judgment  you  yourself 
will  be  condemned  for  refusing  to  do  aught 
in  the  cause  of  the  gospel,  and,  perhaps, 
even  in  this  world  you  may  receive  the 
punishment  due  from  God.  For  if  Magde- 
burg be  taken,  and  I  withdraw,  imagine  to 
yourself  what  must  happen  to  you !"  This 
appeal  produced  its  effects;  the  elector 
surrendered  Spandau  into  his  hands  at 
once.  The  distance  thence  to  Magdeburg 
was  but  short,  and  the  inhabitants  of  that 
hard  pressed  city  were  most  urgent  in 
their  prayers  for  assistance ;  unhappily, 
however,  Gustavus  found  it  quite  impossi- 
ble to  cross  the  Elbe  in  face  of  the  enemy 
so  as  to  proceed  by  the  direct  road.  Ac- 
cordingly he  requested  permission  from  the 
elector  of  Saxony  to  pass  through  his 
.erritory,  his  object  being  to  proceed  to 
Wittenberg;  but  the  prince  refused  to 
grant  the  accommodation  desired.  While, 
however,  the  king  was  engaged  in  en- 
deavoring to  prevail  upon  the  elector  to 
accede  to  his  request,  the  dreadful,  fatal 
day  of  conquest  arrived — and  the  devoted 
city  was  lost. 

The  city  of  Magdeburg,  which,  from 
the  commencement,  had  continued  to  dis- 
tinguish itself  for  its  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
the  Protestant  faith,  was  likewise  the  first 
:n  the  list  to  throw  itself  into  the  arms  of 
.he  preserver  of  religious  liberty.  They 
urgently  invited  him  to  direct  his  march 
towards  the  Elbe,  and  promised  not  only 
to  throw  open  their  gates  to  him,  but 
enlisted  at  once  a  number  of  soldiers  for 
his  service ;  while  Gustavus,  who  per- 
ceived the  great  importance  of  such  a 
grand  depot,  accepted  their  offers  with 
eagerness,  and  lost  no  time  in  endeavoring 
to  meet  their  wishes.  Tilly,  however,  who 
was  equally  aware  of  the  advantage  to  be 
derived  by  his  adversary  from  the  occupa- 


tion of  such  an  important  place,  used  all 
diligence  to  make  himself  master  of  i 
before  the  king's  arrival.  He  commenced 
the  siege  in  the  month  of  March,  1631, 
seconded  by  General  Pappenheim,  a  bravt 
and  determined  officer.  In  the  city  itsell 
there  were  only  two  hundred  Swedes,  un. 
der  the  command  of  Melcher  of  Falken- 
berg,  whom  Gustavus  had  shortly  before 
dispatched  as  commandant  of  the  city ; 
but  the  inhabitants,  full  of  courage  and  re- 
ligious zeal,  united  in  defending  the  place 
with  determined  perseverance.  They  had 
even  erected  two  strong  intrenchments  in 
front  of  the  city  walls,  which,  in  testimony 
of  their  undaunted  resolution,  they  styled 
Trutz-Tilly,  (defiance  to  Tilly,)  and  Trutz- 
Pappenheim,  (defiance  to  Pappenheim.) 

But  in  the  mean  time,  unhappily,  the 
want  of  provisions  increased  the  distress 
with  each  succeeding  day  more  and  more, 
for  the  old  general  left  no  means  untried 
to  bring  them  to  a  surrender.  Their  only 
hope  now  was  in  the  succor  they  expected 
to  receive  from  the  king,  who,  they  knew, 
was  close  at  hand;  and  on  the  19th  of 
May,  when  the  thunder  of  the  enemy's 
artillery  ceased,  and  the  guns  were  actual- 
ly wheeled  away  from  the  trenches,  they 
firmly  believed  their  deliverer  had  now 
arrived.  This,  however,  was  only  the 
signal  for  their  destruction,  and  the  prelude 
to  preparations  that  were  being  made  by 
the  iron-hearted  general  for  the  final  as- 
sault  he  had  now  determined  upon  making. 
In  the  silence  of  the  night  the  scaling  lad- 
ders were  all  fixed  ready,  and  the  attack 
ordered  to  be  made  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  The  sentinels  on  the  walls  hav- 
ing kept  watch  until  the  dawn  of  day, 
now  finding  all  quiet,  and,  as  they  un- 
suspectingly thought,  every  thing  secure, 
retired  to  get  a  brief  half  hour's  repose. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  dreadful,  fatal 
hour  struck.  The  signal  for  the  assault 
was  given,  and  the  division  of  the  imperi- 
alists under  Pappenheim  scaled  that  por- 
tion of  the  wall  next  to  'Jie  new  town,  and 
the  artillery  again  thundered  forth  against 
the  walls,  which  here  and  there  were  now 
soon  shattered  to  pieces.  The  enemy 
speedily  succeeded  in  mounting  the  ram- 
parts,  and  while  the  brave  commandant, 
Falkenberg,  was  hastening  to  tine  most 
dangerous  part,  he  was  shot  dead.  Tne 
terrified  citizens,  now  deprived  of  their 
commander,  and  completely  deadened  with 


GUSTAVUS  AND  TILLY. 


331 


if*  sound  of  the  roaring  cannon,  abandon- 
ed their  walls  and  hurried  to  their  homes. 
Many  were  mad  enough  to  imagine  that 
they  would  be  enabled  to  defend  them- 
selves more  securely  there,  and  fired  upon 
the  enemy  from  their  windows,  while  the 
females  themselves  hurled  stones  and  other 
missiles  from  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  But 
this  only  served  to  increase  the  rage  of  the 
imperialists,  and  neither  mercy  nor  pity 
was  shown.  Men,  women,  children,  the 
aged  and  the  young,  all  were  massacred 
alike,  the  very  infants  at  the  breast  of 
their  mothers  being  seized,  stabbed,  and 
hurled  into  the  flaming  mass  beside  them  : 
a  scene  of  horror  which  these  monsters  in 
human  shape  continued  from  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  during  the  whole  day 
until  night.  Every  possible  cruelty,  and 
torments  of  every  description  were  put  in- 
to practice  on  this  direful  day — the  insatia- 
ble imperialists  devoting  all  their  energies 
to  the  performance  of  their  sanguinary 
and  destructive  work.  It  is  related  that  a 
few  of  his  officers,  touched  with  a  little 
remorse,  repaired  to  Tilly,  who  had  re- 
mained in  the  camp,  and  inquired  whether 
he  would  not,  perhaps,  give  orders  to  close 
the  scene  of  pillage  and  murder  ?  But  he 
replied  :  "  No,  no  ;  let  them  go  on  for  an- 
other hour,  and  then  come  to  me  again. 
The  men  must  have  some  reward  for  the 
danger  and  fatigue  they  have  undergone." 

By  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  nothing 
more  was  left  of  this  ancient  and  magnificent 
city  but  the  cathedral,  one  solitary  convent, 
and  a  few  stray  fishermen's  cabins  on  the 
Elbe  ;  all  else  was  reduced  to  cinders  and 
ashes.  More  than  twenty  thousand  human 
beings  perished,  either  by  the  sword  or  in 
the  flames,  and  when,  two  days  afterwards, 
the  cathedral  was  opened,  more  than  a 
thousand  miserable  beings  were  found 
heaped  together,  who,  having  taken  refuge 
there,  were  now  sinking  and  dying  around 
from  starvation  and  mental  agony.  Such 
as  were  still  to  be  saved,  Tilly  supplied 
with  food ;  his  wrath  was  now  appeased, 
but  all  glory  and  good  fortune,  hitherto 
so  faithful  to  him,  abandoned  him  from  this 
day,  and  his  name  henceforward  was  never 
pronounced  without  a  malediction. 

After  the  conquest  of  Magdeburg,  Tilly 
was  very  desirous  of  having  a  drawn  battle 
with  the  king  of  Sweden,  for  his  troops  suf- 
fered much  in  that  ravaged  district  from 
want  of  supplies  ;  Gustavus,  however, 


considered  he  was  not  yet  in  sufficient  force 
to  risk  a  meeting,  and  he  continued  tr  keej. 
himself  intrenched  in  his  camp  of  Werben. 
in  Altmark.  He  was  likewise  extremely 
anxious  to  restore  his  cousins,  the  banished 
dukes  of  Mecklenburg,  to  their  hereditary 
possessions.  Accordingly,  he  furnished 
them  with  the  necessary  quantity  of  troopa 
with  which  they  reconquered  their  domin- 
ions, and  made  their  solemn  entry  in  theii 
town  of  Giistrow,  in  which  Wallenstein 
had  previously  established  his  court  resi- 
dence. The  king  heightened  the  interest 
of  the  grand  festival  given  upon  the  occa- 
sion by  attending  it  in  person,  and  he  order- 
ed that  every  mother  with  a  suckling  child 
should  attend  in  the  open  square,  and  thai 
each  infant  should  receive  some  of  the  wine 
there  generally  distributed,  in  order  that 
the  children  of  their  children  might  forever 
remember  the  day  of  the  return  of  theii 
own  legitimate  princes. 

Tilly,  meantime,  now  turned  his  eyes 
towards  the  rich  provinces  of  Saxony  which 
had  hitherto  escaped  the  devastation  of 
war,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  which  he  had 
now  taken  up  his  position.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  it  was  certainly  an  act  of 
injustice  and  ingratitude  to  inflict  the  bur- 
den of  war  upon  the  elector  of  Saxony, 
who  had  shown  so  much  fidelity  towards 
the  house  of  Austria  ;  but  Tilly  very  soon 
found  a  pretext  for  such  proceeding.  He 
referred  to  the  imperial  decree,  which  or- 
dered that  all  the  members  of  the  Leipsic 
league  should  throw  down  their  arms  ;  and, 
as  he  found  that  the  elector,  in  spite  of  this 
command,  still  continued  on  the  defensive, 
he  immediately  marched  into  Saxony  with- 
out even  making  any  declaration  of  war, 
and  taking  possession  of  and  pillaging  the 
cities  of  Merseburg,  Zeiz,  Naumburg,  and 
Weissenfels,  he  advanced  to  Leipsic  itself. 
This  unjust  act  of  violence  effected  more 
than  all  the  persuasive  eloquence  of  the 
king  might  have  produced,  for  the  elector 
threw  himself  immediately,  and  without 
any  reserve,  into  his  arms,  concluded  with 
him  a  firm  and  definitive  alliance,  offensive 
and  defensive,  and  joined  him  with  his 
army  at  Diiben  on  the  3d  of  September, 
1631. 

On  this  same  day,  the  imperial  general 
made  his  attack  upon  Leipsic,  which  had 
closed  its  gates  against  him,  and  he  took 
possession  of  it  the  next  day ;  but  the  king 
now  advanced  with  his  united  forces  1o  re- 


332 


THE    3ATTLE  OF  LEIPSIC. 


cover  the  city,  and  the  day  had  at  length 
arrived  on.  which  the  decisive  trial  was  to 
take  place  between  the  old  and  hitherto 
unconquered  general  of  the  emperor,  and 
the  royal  and  youthful  hero  of  Sweden. 
Gustavus,  who  knew  how  necessary  it  was 
that  he  should  succeed  by  a  grand  action 
to  secure  and  command  the  confidence  of 
Germany,  based  upon  his  genius  and  good 
fortune,  felt  deeply  the  importance  of  this 
day,  and  wavered  in  his  determination. 
He  still  doubted  the  prudence  of  staking 
the  fate  of  the  war  upon  a,  single  battle  ; 
for  there  was  too  much  reason  to  believe 
that  the  loss  of  this  action  must  put  an  end 
to  all  his  hopes  on  that  side  of  the  ocean, 
while  it  would  produce  the  ruin  of  the 
electors  of  Saxony  and  Brandenburg,  to- 
gether with  the  complete  and  final  destruc- 
tion of  the  Protestant  church  throughout 
the  whole  empire. 

The  elector  of  Saxony,  however,  who 
could  no  longer  endure  to  behold  his  coun- 
try thus  demolished  by  the  hands  of  a  piti- 
less and  ruthless  foe,  urged  the  king  in  the 
most  forcible  language  to  give  battle,  and 
Gustavus  accordingly  yielded  and  marched 
on  to  Leipsic.  The  two  armies  met  in  the 
fields  of  the  village  of  Breitenfeld,  on  the 
7th  of  September,  1631,  and  there  fought 
the  decisive  battle.  Gustavus  divided  the 
Saxons  from  the  rest  of  his  troops,  and 
posted  them  on  his  left  wing,  for  as  they 
were  only  recently  enlisted,  he  could  not 
put  entire  trust  in  them.  The  cannona- 
ding on  both  sides  commenced  about  mid- 
day, and  the  shots  told  with  far  greater 
precision  and  consequent  efFecc  among  the 
crowded  ranks  of  the  imperialists  than  on 
the  other  side  ;  and,  in  order  to  put  an  end 
at  once  to  this  opening  scene  of  destruction, 
the  right  wing  of  the  imperialists  fell  upon 
the  Saxons  with  such  force  that  they  were 
soon  overthrown  and  put  to  flight,  when, 
having  partially  rallied  again  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  scene  of  action,  they  re- 
assembled round  their  elector,  who  had 
withdrawn  to  Eilenburg,  where,  according 
to  Chemnitz's  account,  he  fell  into  a  state 
Df  despondency. 

At  the  same  moment  that  this  first  at- 
;ack  was  made,  Pappenheim,  who  was  dis- 
tinguished as  the  best  cavalrist  of  his  day, 
with  the  elite  of  his  cavalry,  threw  him- 
self upon  the  right  wing  of  the  Swedes, 
in  order  to  break  through  their  line.  Here, 
howover,  he  found  himself  opposed  by  an 


invulnerable  wall ;  se\\m  times  weie  his 
attacks  repulsed  by  the  brave  Swedish 
general,  Banner.  Tilly,  who  had  aban. 
doned  the  pursuit  of  the  Saxons,  now  di- 
rected his  attack  upon  the  exposed  flank 
of  the  Swedes ;  but,  here  again,  the  royal 
hero  promptly  turned  his  efforts  in  good 
time  against  the  old  warrior,  whose  troops 
were  forced  to  expend  all  their  fury  in 
vain  against  the  invincible  firmness  of 
their  Swedish  adversaries.  The  imperial 
general  found  himself  completely  puzzled 
and  put  out  of  his  way  by  this  new  order 
of  battle ;  the  system  was  entirely  changed, 
and  against  all  expectation  the  confidence 
he  usually  placed  in  all  his  plans  and  cal- 
culations now  deserted  him  for  the  first 
time  ;  he  found  he  had  to  deal  with  a  su- 
perior genius,  and  while  he  was  thu-s  struck 
with  embarrassment  and  mortification, 
Gustavus  availed  himself  of  this  moment 
of  hesitation,  and  making  an  attack  upon 
the  enemy's  artillery,  took  possession  of  it, 
and  turned  the  muzzles  of  the  guns  against 
the  imperialists  themselves. 

This  moment  was  decisive  ;  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy  fell  into  disorder  and  were 
put  to  rout ;  7000  were  left  dead  on  the 
field  of  battle,  and  Tilly  himself  was  in 
great  danger  of  his  life.  He  was  pursued 
by  a  captain  of  the  Swedish  cavalry,  who 
struck  him  several  times  upon  the  head 
with  the  handle  of  his  pistol ;  but  was 
himself  shot  dead  by  an  imperial  officer 
who  came  to  the  rescue  of  his  distressed 
leader.  The  sexagenarian  general  es- 
caped, at  length,  with  several  wounds,  and, 
completely  exhausted  in  body  and  spirits, 
reached  Halle,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Pappenheim,  who  was  the  last  to  quit  the 
field,  having  killed  with  his  own  hand,  ay 
Tilly  relates  in  his  bulletin  of  the  battle, 
fourteen  of  the  enemy.  Of  all  his  own 
brave  squadrons  of  cavalry,  formerly  so 
dreaded,  he  had  now  only  a  small  troop 
left. 

This  victory  proved  for  Gustavus  the 
grand  foundation  upon  which  was  based 
his  great  reputation  as  a  warrior  through- 
out Germany,  and  from  that  moment  was 
excited  that  veneration — almost  amounting 
to  adoration — for  his  person  and  character 
For  this  was  a  period,  as  in  all  extraordi- 
nary  epochs  of  history,  when,  properly 
speaking,  public  opinion  was  all-powerful 
when  the  faith,  confidence,  respect,  an 
enthusiasm  produced  in  the  minds  of  the 


DEATH  OF  TILLY. 


333 


pie  by  the  actions  of  one  man,  were 
sufficient  to  establish  him  in  their  favor, 
and  whoever  knew  how  to  avail  himself 
of  this  moral  force  must  be  certain  of  suc- 
cess. All  now  turned  towards  the  star 
thus  ascending  from  the  north  ;  and  he 
\va*  enthusiastically  received  by  zealots 
both  in  religious  and  superstitious  faith. 
Prophecies,  miracles,  and  dreams,  were 
all  made  to  refer  to  the  great  Gustavus ; 
and  wherever  he  appeared  the  Protestants 
received  him  as  their  deliverer,  with  inde- 
scribable transports  of  joy,  and  truly,  dur- 
ing the  whole  period  of  the  world's  exist- 
ence, the  royal  presence  of  a  king  was 
never  so  gratefully  honored  and  rever- 
enced as  was  that  of  the  heroic  and  nobly- 
born  champion  of  the  Protestant  faith, 
Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden. 

Gustavus  possessed  a  glance  too  keen 
and  comprehensive  not  to  perceive  and 
fully  understand  the  power  which  was 
now  contributing  all  possible  strength  to 
his  cause  ;  and,  although  formerly  he  ex- 
ercised the  greatest  and  most  anxious  cau- 
tion in  the  steps  he  took,  marching  his 
army  slowly  through  the  country,  and  se- 
curing his  safe  retreat  by  making  himself 
master  of  all  the  fortified  places  in  his 
route,  he  now  pressed  boldly  onward 
through  the  empire,  his  progress  present- 
ing one  triumphant  march.  Proceeding 
through  Thuringia  and  across  the  Thurin- 
gian  forest,  he  arrived  in  Franconia,  and 
thence  continued  his  course  to  the  Rhine ; 
where,  having  fixed  his  quarters  during  a 
short  winter's  rest,  he  resumed  his  pro- 
gress, and,  returning  to  Franconia,  march- 
ed on  direct  to  Bavaria.  The  most  im- 
portant cities  fell  into  his  hands,  some 
after  a  slight  resistance,  and  most  of  them 
yielded  themselves  voluntarily,  including 
Halle,  Erfurt,  Wurzburg,  Frankfort, 
Mentz,  Nuremberg,  &c.  Tilly,  whose 
army  was  now  so  reinforced,  that' he  found 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  much  more  numer- 
ous body  of  troops  than  the  king  himself 
had  under  his  command,  nevertheless 
would  not  venture  to  oppose  his  march ; 
for  since  the  battle  of  Leipsic  he  found  it 
impossible  to  recover  that  confidence  with- 
in himself  which,  until  then,  he  had  al- 
ways had  at  his  command. 

The  Elector  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  hav- 
ing, however,  summoned  him  to  march  to 
his  aid  in  order  to  protect  his  own  heredi- 
tary estates,  the  old  general  advanced  to 


the  river  Lech,  in  the  passage  across  which 
he  was  to  oppose  the  king,  and  to  assist  in 
which  object  Maximilian  himself  joined 
him  near  Rain.  But  Gustavus,  before 
whom  every  thing  now  yielded,  surmount- 
ed likewise  this  obstacle.  After  a  vigor- 
ous cannonade,  the  imperial  army  being 
forced  to  quit  the  position  it  had  taken,  the 
king  crossed  the  river  and  marched  in 
pursuit  of  the  enemy.  But  in  the  early 
part  of  the  action,  Tilly  himself  was 
struck  in  his  right  knee  by  a  cannon-ball 
weighing  three  pounds,  and  fell  from  his 
horse ;  he  was  conveyed  to  Ingolstadt, 
followed  by  Maximilian.  Thither,  after 
he  had  taken  and  placed  a  garrison  in 
Augsburg,  Gustavus  repaired  and  imme- 
diately laid  siege  to  that  town.  The  gar- 
rison defended  the  place  bravely,  and  the 
king  himself  narrowly  escaped,  his  horse 
being  shot  dead,  and  overthrowing  its  royal 
rider.  Tilly,  although  sinking  fast,  still 
encouraged  the  garrison  to  the  last ;  he 
died  twenty-five  days  after  he  received  his 
mortal  wound,  in  the  seventy-third  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  a  stern,  iron-hearted 
man,  who  made  a  merit  of  boasting  that 
he  had  never  once  known  the  feeling  of 
love  or  affection ;  at  the  same  time  he  was 
of  a  firm  and  incorruptible  character,  and 
a  good  general.  In  personal  appearance 
he  bore  a  great  resemblance  to  the  duke 
of  Alba,  under  whom  he  had  served  in  the 
Netherlands.  He  was  of  middle  height, 
and  very  thin ;  his  eyes  were  large,  bul 
their  expression,  together  with  the  contour 
of  his  whole  countenance,  indicated  the 
stern  and  rigid  nature  of  the  man.  He 
was  the  descendant  of  a  noble  family  in 
Liege. 

The  Swedish  king  raised  the  siege  of 
Ingolstadt  and  marched  to  Munich,  which 
trembled  at  his  approach.  The  inhabitants, 
and  the  Bavarian  people  generally,  in  their 
hatred  against  the  Swedes,  had  treated 
many  of  that  nation  with  great  cruelty, 
putting  them  to  death  and  then  mangling 
their  remains  ;  by  which  inhuman  conduct 
they  had  excited  the  greatest  indignation  in 
the  king.  Nevertheless,  he  received  the 
deputies  of  the  city  graciously  when  the) 
presented  the  keys  to  him :  "  You  have 
done  well,"  he  said,  "  and  your  submission 
has  disarmed  me.  I  should  have  been  jus 
tiffed  in  making  an  example  of  your  cit} 
in  revenge  for  the  unhappy  fate  of  Mag. 
deburg  ;  however,  fear  nothing,  depart  ic 


334 


THE  EMPEROR  AND  VVALLENSTEITs. 


peace,  and  fear  not  for  your  property  or 
religion.  My  word  is  more  valuable  than 
all  the  signed  capitulations  in  the  world." 

The  greater  portion  of  the  Bavarian  tef- 
ritory  was  now  in  the  hands  of  Gustavus, 
and  the  elector  was  forced  to  seek  refuge  in 
Ratisbon. 

The  Saxons,  meantime,  agreeably  to  the 
plan  of  war  drawn  up  by  Gustavus,  had 
marched  into  Bohemia,  under  the  command 
of  Field-marshal  Arnim — who  had  quitted 
the  service  of  the  emperor  and  passed  over 
into  that  of  the  elector  of  Saxony — and 
very  easily  made  themselves  masters  of 
Prague,  which  was  but  slightly  defended  ; 
there,  on  the  llth  of  November,  1631,  the 
elector  made  his  solemn  entry. 

Thus  that  single  battle  of  Leipsic  snatch- 
ed from  the  hands  of  the  emperor  the  en- 
tire  fruits  of  a  twelve  years'  war,  and  he 
now  saw  himself  threatened  even  in  his 
own  patrimonial  estates  ;  this  was  a  crisis 
for  which  he  was  by  no  means  prepared, 
and  which  came  upon  him  like  a  clap  of 
thunder.  In  such  a  critical  moment  he, 
with  his  council,  saw  but  one  means  of  ex- 
trication, and  this  was  the  recall  of  that 
proud  and  ambitious  man,  Wallenstein, 
who,  offended  and  indignant  at  being  dis- 
missed from  the  imperial  service,  now  lived 
in  mortified  retirement  brooding  on  the  past. 
No  other  was  now  left  who  could  venture 
to  enter  the  lists  against  the  powerful  king  ; 
no  other  who  was  capable  of  again  raising 
an  army  for  the  emperor's  service. 

But  the  task  of  winning  him  over  to  the 
imperial  cause,  seemed  now  more  difficult 
than  ever.  He  lived  upon  his  estates  in 
Bohemia  in  a  style  of  luxury  truly  royal, 
and  appeared  to  bid  defiance  to  emperor 
and  kings ;  and  it  was  thus  the  millions  he 
had  gained  in  the  war  enabled  him  to  live. 
His  palace  in  Prague  was  erected  with  royal 
magnificence,  and  which  even  at  the  pre- 
sent day  bears  the  stamp  of  its  original 
character.  While  his  enemies  congratu- 
lated themselves  upon  having  reduced  him 
to  this  condition  of  a  private  individual,  he 
had  his  own  figure  represented  in  -fresco  on 
the  walls  of  the  state  saloon  of  his  palace, 
by  artists  whom  he  procured  from  Italy  and 
Germany,  in  the  character  of  a  conqueror 
seated  on  a  triumphant  car  borne  along  by 
four  milk-white  steeds,  while  over  his  lau- 
rel-crowned head  was  placed  a  star.  Sixty 
pages,  each  of  noble  family,  in  their  rich 
costume  of  blue  and  gold  velvet,  attended 


upon  him,  and   some 
chamberlains  had 


of  his  officers  and 
even  previously  served 
the  emperor  himself  in  the  same  rank  they 
held  under  Wallenstein.  Three  hundred 
horses  of  choice  breed  filled  his  magnili. 
cent  stables,  and  the  assemblies  in  his  pal- 
ace rivalled  in  character  the  imperial 
court  itself,  for  he  was  always  visited  by 
the  most  distinguished  men  of  the  day,  too 
eager  to  seek  and  enjoy  intercourse  with 
such  extraordinary  genius.  Outwardly  he 
observed  the  greatest  ease  and  tranquillity 
of  manner,  but  internally  he  was  still  agi- 
tated with  burning  ambition.  He  had  be- 
held the  progress  made  by  Gustavus  with 
inward  joy,  because  therein  was  satiated 
his  revenge  against  the  emperor  and  the 
hated  elector  of  Bavaria,  and  all  eyes  would 
soon  again  be  directed  towards  him  as  the 
only  friend  in  need.  And  in  reality,  us  he 
expected,  the  imperial  deputies  did  arrive. 

Wallenstein  received  them  coldly,  and 
it  was  only  after  being  most  urgently  press- 
ed by  them  that  he  yielded  the  promise  to 
raise  for  the  emperor  an  army  of  30,000 
men  ;  but  he  would  not  engage  to  take 
command  of  it.  And  now  the  mighty  man 
sent  forth  his  followers  in  all  directions  to 
erect  his  recruiting  standard.  Thousands 
rallied  around  it,  for  it  had  ever  led  to  pil- 
lage and  fortune  ;  and  in  this  stormy  age 
it  was  easier  to  gain  a  livelihood  in  wai 
than  in  the  workshop  or  behind  the  plough. 
The  heavy  horsemen  under  Wallenstein 
received  each  nine  florins  monthly  pay, 
the  light  cavalry  six,  the  infantry  four,  be- 
sides daily  rations  of  meat,  bread,  and  wine. 
The  30,000  men  were  collected  together 
already  by  March  in  the  year  1632  ;  bu 
he  alone  who  had  raised  them  was  capa- 
ble of  conducting  them. 

Of  this  the  emperor  was  well  aware, 
and  he  accordingly  submitted  to  the  incred- 
ible degradation  of  permitting  Wallenstein 
to  dictate  to  him  the  following  conditions 
"  The  duke  of  Friedland,  generalissimo  of 
the  emperor,  shall  have  the  supreme  com 
mand  of  the  whole  archducal  house,  and  of 
the  crown  of  Spain  without  any  limitation 
whatever,  (in  absolutissima  forma  ;)  neithej 
the  emperor,  nor  king  Ferdinand  (son  of 
the  emperor,  whom  the  adverse  party  would 
fain  have  made  general-in-chief)  shall  ap- 
pear in  person  with  the  troops;  to  secure  the 
remuneration  of  his  services  he  shall  receive 
as  a  guarantee  a  portion  of  the  Austrian 
patrimonial  estates,  and  with  it  he  shall  be 


WALLENSTEIN  REAPPOINTED  GENERALISSIMO. 


335 


entitled  to  exercise  an  exclusive  and  irre- 
sponsible control  over  the  conquests  he  shall 
make  in  the  empire,  and  command  the  priv- 
ilege of  conferring  distinctions  as  he  may 
deem  best.  Mecklenburg  or  some  other 
indemnification  shall  be  made  over  to  him 
during  peace,  and  during  the  war,  if  ne- 
cessary, he  shall  be  at  liberty  to  choose 
any  of  the  hereditary  provinces  of  the 
empire  for  his  seat  of  retirement." 

Clothed  with  such — almost  imperial — 
•)ower,  Wallenstein  again  appeared  upon 
he  stage,  increased  his  army  to  40,000 
tien,  conquered  Prague  once  more  on  the 
1th  of  May  in  the  year  1632,  and  with 
little  difficulty  expelled  the  Saxons  from 
Bohemia. 

The  elector  of  Bavaria,  who,  in  the 
mean  while,  was  sorely  pressed  at  home, 
applied  to  Wallenstein  in  the  most  urgent 
terms  for  help,  which  the  latter,  appearing 
to  enjoy  thoroughly  his  distress  and  hu- 
miliation, for  a  long  time  hesitated  to  af- 
ford ;  at  length,  after  the  elector  had 
engaged  to  comply  in  an  unqualified  man- 
ner with  all  his  instructions  in  the  conduct 
of  the  war,  he  sent  him  an  invitation  to 
join  him  at  Eger,  intending  thence  to  make 
an  advance  upon  Nuremberg,  one  of  the 
most  considerable  places  of  defence  the 
king  possessed.  But  Gustavus,  who  per- 
ceived the  design,  anticipated  him,  and 
made  his  appearance  quite  unexpectedly 
with  an  army  near  the  city,  which  he  in- 
benched,  being  vigorously  aided  by  the 
devoted  and  enthusiastic  inhabitants,  whose 
youths  filled  the  ranks  of  his  army,  and 
thus  he  was  prepared  for  the  enemy.  The 
latter  advanced  and  likewise  made  an 
intrenchment  on  the  heights  of  Zirndoj-f 
and  Altenberg,  in  full  view  of  the  Swedish 
encampment.  Both  parties  had  formed 
the  plan  of  forcing  each  other  by  famine 
and  disease  to  leave  their  strong-hold. 
They  maintained  this  position  eleven  weeks, 
and  neither  would  stir.  But  the  distress 
of  tne  whole  surrounding  country  had  now 
become  very  great ;  every  thing  was  con- 
sumed or  laid  waste.  In  Wallenstein's 
camp  alone,  in  addition  to  the  large  army 
itself,  there  were  about  15,000  servants  and 
attendants  upon  the  baggage,  and  an  equal 
number  of  women  whom  he  had  permitted 
.o  follow  their  husbands,  together  with 
30,000  horses,  which  had  been  employed 
chiefly  in  removing  the  immense  quantity 
of  iwiggage.  The  licentiousness  of  this 


vast  multitude  increased  daily,  for  ihey 
subsisted  upon  rapine  and  plunder.  In 
Gustavus's  army,  likewise,  strict  order 
was  no  longer  maintained  as  at  first,  it  be- 
ing now  considerably  increased  by  recruits 
and  German  auxiliaries.  These  he  could 
not  restrain  as  he  wished,  although  he 
adopted  the  severest  measures  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  disorder  however  was  produced 
mainly  through  their  own  leaders,  who 
were  negligent  of  all  discipline.  The 
pious  mind  of  the  king  was  sorely  pained 
and  indignant  when  he  heard  of  the  out- 
rages perpetrated  by  his  troops  upon  the 
poor  inhabitants  of  the  country.  He  called 
the  leaders  together,  sharply  rebuked  them, 
and  exclaimed  :  "  They  made  him  so  mis- 
erable, that  he  was  weary  of  having  longer 
any  thing  to  do  with  such  a  perverse  set." 
Unfortunately  his  eye  could  not  be  every- 
where, and  the  mischief  had  already  be- 
come too  deeply  rooted.  He  then  resolved 
to  bring  this  undecided  and  ruinous  state  oi 
affairs  to  a  conclusion  by  making  a  darinp 
attempt.  On  the  24th  of  August  he  storm- 
ed  the  heights  of  Wallenstein,  but  found 
the  undertaking  too  formidable  ;  the  most 
determined  courage  availed  nothing  against 
these  fastnesses  defended  by  their  thunder- 
ing artillery  ;  the  king  was  therefore  obli- 
ged, after  serious  loss,  to  give  up  the  as- 
sault. He  waited  fourteen  days  longer  in 
his  encampment,  and  as  Wallenstein  still 
continued  immoveable,  he  retired  and  re- 
turned to  Bavaria  on  the  8th  of  September, 
marching  with  sounding  trumpets  past  the 
enemy,  who  would  not  venture  to  attack 
him. 

Wallenstein  now  abandoned  his  encamp- 
ment likewise,  set  fire  to  it,  and  unexpect- 
edly formed  the  resolution  of  carrying  a 
determined  war  once  more  into  northern 
Protestant  Germany  ;  he  marched  at  once 
for  Saxony,  and  his  approach  was  indica- 
ted by  carnage  and  conflagration.  The 
king  hastened  to  afford  relief,  and  reach- 
ed  Naumburg  on  the  llth  of  November. 
The  people  welcomed  -him  as  their  guar- 
dian angel,  gathered  around  him  as  he  en- 
tered, and  kissed  his  feet.  A  sad  misgiving 
possessed  his  soul  at  this  excessive  venera- 
tion :  "  Our  cause  is  good,5'  said  he  to  his 
chaplain  Fa'oricius,  "  but  I  /ear  that  God 
will  punish  me  for  the  folly  of  these  peo- 
ple. Does  it  not  seem  as  if  these  people 
were  actually  making  an  idol  of  me  ?  How 
easily  could  that  God,  who  abases  the  prou.l 


336 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LUTZEN— DEATH  OF  GUST AV US. 


cause  them  and  myself  to  feel,  that  I  am 
nothing  but  a  feeble  and  mortal  man  !" 

As  just  about  this  time  the  weather  was 
intensely  cold,  and  the  king  had  intrenched 
himself  near  Naurnburg,  Wallenstein  did 
not  deem  it  advisable  to  commence  hostili- 
ties before  the  spring,  and  dispatched  Count 
Pappenheim  to  the  Rhine  with  instructions, 
first  of  all  to  drive  the  Swedes  out  of  Halle 
and  the  contiguous  town  of  Moritzburg. 
Gustavus  immediately  took  his  departure, 
advanced  to  Weissenfels,  and  in  the  evening 
of  the  15th  of  November  took  his  position 
in  front  of  Wall  en  stein's  army  near  Liitzen. 
Both  made  immediate  preparation  for  bat- 
tle, and  the  imperial  general  summoned 
Pappenheim,  who  was  still  engaged  in  the 
siege  of  Moritzburg,  to  return  with  all 
possible  speed. 

The  king  spent  the  cold  autumnal  night 
in  his  carriage,  and  advised  with  his  gen- 
erals about  the  battle.  The  morning 
dawned,  and  a  thick  fog  covered  the  entire 
plain ;  the  troops  were  drawn  up  in  battle 
array,  and  the  Swedes  sang,  accompanied 
by  trumpets  and  drums,  Luther's  hymn  : 
"Eine  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott,"  (A 
mighty  rock  is  our  God  ;)  together  with 
the  hymn  composed  by  the  king  himself: 
"  Verzage  nicht,  du  Hiiuflein  klein,"  (Fear 
not,  thou  little  flock.)  Just  after  elev- 
en o'clock,  when  the  sun  was  emerging 
from  behind  the  clouds,  and  after  a  short 
prayer,  the  king  mounted  his  horse,  placed 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  right  wing, — 
the  left  being  conducted  by  Bernard  of 
Weimar, — and  cried,  "  Now,  onward  ! 
May  our  God  direct  us !  Lord  !  Lord  ! 
Help  me  this  day  to  fight  for  the  glory  of 
thy  name  !"  and  throwing  aside  his  cuirass 
with  the  words,  "  God  is  my  shield  !"  he 
led  his  troops  to  the  front  of  the  imperials, 
who  were  well  intrenched  on  the  paved 
road  which  leads  from  Liitzen  to  Leip- 
sic,  and  stationed  in  the  deep  trenches  on 
either  side.  A  deadly  cannonade  saluted 
the  Swedes  ;  many  here  met  their  death, 
but  their  places  were  taken  by  others,  who 
leaped  over  the  trench,  and  the  troops  of 
Wallenstein  made  a  retreat.  In  the  mean 
while,  Pappenheim  had  come  up  with  his 
cavalry  from  Halle,  and  the  battle  was 
renewed  with  the  utmost  fury.  The 
Swedish  infantry  fled  in  trepidation  behind 
the  trenches.  In  order  to  render  them  as- 
sistance, the  king  hastened  to  the  spot  with 
a  company  of  horse,  and  rode  in  full  speed 


considerably  in  advance  to  descry  the  weak 
points  of  the  enemy  ;  a  few  of  his  attend- 
ants only,  and  Francis,  duke  of  Saxe- 
Lauenburg,  followed  him.  His  short  sight- 
edness  led  him  too  near  a  squadron  of 
imperial  horse ;  he  received  a  shot  in  his 
arm,  so  that  he  nearly  fell  to  the  ground 
powerless ;  and  just  as  he  was  turning 
round  to  be  led  away  from  the  tumultuous 
scene,  he  received  a  second  shot  in  the 
back.  With  the  exclamation,  "  My  God  ! 
my  God  !"  he  fell  from  his  horse,  which 
had  likewise  been  shot  in  the  neck,  and 
hanging  by  the  stirrup  he  was  dragged 
some  distance  along  the  ground.  The 
duke  of  Lauenburg  abandoned  him,  but  a 
faithful  page,  Leubelfing,  endeavored  to 
raise  him  up ;  the  imperial  horsemen, 
however,  shot  him  also,  killed  the  king 
with  several  wounds,  and  completely  plun- 
dered him ;  the  page  died  of  his  wounds 
five  days  after  at  Naumburg. 

The  corpse  of  the  king  was  so  much 
trampled  upon  by  the  hoofs  of  the  horses 
that  it  was  quite  disfigured.  His  bleeding 
horse  returning  without  its  rider,  conveye'd 
to  his  friends  the  sad  news ;  this  kindled 
in  their  breast  a  feeling  which  thirsted  for 
revenge,  and  under  the  leadership  of  Duke 
Bernard  of  Weimar,  who  with  heroic 
firmness  now  rallied  and  cheered  on  the 
troops  afresh,  they  again  pushed  forward 
over  the  trenches  and  rushed  upon  the 
ranks  of  the  enemy.  These  could  no  long- 
er make  resistance ;  Piccolomini,  already 
covered  with  blood,  mounted  his  fifth  horse, 
and  Pappenheim,  who  had  fought  nobly, 
fell  mortally  wounded  by  a  ball.  Many 
fled,  and  disorder  prevailed  :  "  The  battle 
is  lost,  Pappenheim  is  dead,  the  Swedes  are 
upon  us!"  was  the  cry.  Wallenstein  gave 
orders  to  sound  a  retreat.  A  thick  fog,  to- 
gether with  night  coming  on,  prevented  the 
Swedes,  no  less  than  their  own  weariness, 
from  making  pursuit ;  they  spent  the  night 
on  the  field  of  battle,  and  kept  possession 
of  the  imperial  artillery.  Wallenstein 
marched  with  the  remains  of  his  army  to 
Bohemia,  although  he  had  formerly  deter- 
mined to  winter  in  Saxony.  Thus  the  is- 
sue unequivocally  declared  the  Swedes 
victorious,  although  Wallenstein  represent- 
ed the  battle  as  undecided,  and  the  empe- 
ror ordered  a  Te  Deum  to  be  sung  in  all 
his  cities. 

On  the  following  day  the  Swedes  made 
a  search  for  the  body  of  their  beloved  king, 


PORTRAITURE  OF  GUSTAVUS  ADOLPHUS. 


337 


among  the  thousands  which  covered  the 
wide  battle-field ;  they  found  it  at  length, 
among  many  others,  so  disfigured  by  the 
hoofs  of  the  horses,  and  covered  with  the 
blood  issuing  from  eleven  wounds,  that 
they  could  hardly  recognise  it.  It  was 
carried  to  Weisscnfels,  and  thence  by  the 
desire  of  the  queen,  Maria  Eleanor,  who 
had  followed  her  consort  to  Germany,  at- 
tended by  weeping  multitudes,  it  was  re- 
moved to  Stockholm,  where  it  was  interred. 

The  collar,  also  saturated  with  blood, 
and  which  the  king  had  worn  in  battle, 
was  brought  to  the  emperor  Ferdinand  at  Vi- 
enna ;  it  is  said,  that  when  he  saw  it  he  shed 
tears,  by  which  he  did  honor  to  his  fallen 
enemy  and  himself.  Ferdinand's  soul  was 
great  enough  to  admire  heroism  even  in  a 
foe. 

Thus,  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  life, 
in  the  midst  of  a  career  of  victory,  was 
Gustavus  Adolphus  called  away  ;  the  pre- 
ponderating influence  of  his  mind  gave 
another  character  to  the  constitution  of 
Germany  and  the  progress  of  our  devel- 
opment. He  had  already  conceived  the 
idea  of  getting  himself  nominated  king  of 
Rome,  and  his  design,  the  extent  of  which 
is  known  to  none,  may  also  have  compre- 
hended other  countries  of  Europe.  He 
often  expressed  his  astonishment  that  the 
present  age  did  not  produce  generals  like 
those  of  antiquity  ;  and  when  he  was  told 
that  the  altered  character  of  the  weapons 
and  tactics  of  war,  and  the  existence  of 
strong  fortifications  were  the  cause,  he  re- 
plied :  "  The  difference  is  not  in  the  nature 
of  the  weapons,  but  in  the  degeneration  of 
men  ;  if  we  could  again  meet  with  the 
heart  of  an  Alexander,  the  courage  of  a 
Hannibal,  and  the  enterprising  spirit  of  a 
Caesar,  we  should  see  renewed  the  deeds 
of  Alexander,  the  conquests  of  Hannibal, 
and  the  successes  of  Coesar."  Such  lofty 
conceptions  of  human  life,  such  a  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  agencies  which  gov- 
ern the  world,  and  with  history,  did  he 
possess  ;  and  who  will  venture  to  deter- 
mine what  limits  a  mind  like  this  had  pre- 
scribed to  itself?  A  contemporary,  whose 
judgment  may  be  regarded  as  impartial, 
Count  Galeazzo  Gualdo,  a  Venetian  and  a 
Catholic,  who  spent  several  years  in  the 
imperial  as  well  as  in  the  Swedish  armies, 
describes  the  personal  and  mental  qualifi- 
cations of  the  king  thus  :  "  Gustavus  was 
tall,  stout,  and  of  such  a  truly  royal  de- 
43 


meanor,  that  he  universally  commanded 
veneration,  admiration,  love,  and  fear.  His 
hair  and  beard  were  of  a  light  brown  color, 
his  eye  large,  but  not  far-sighted.  War 
had  great  charms  for  him,  and  from  his 
earliest  youth  honor  and  glory  were  his 
passion.  Eloquence  dwelt  upon  his  tongue, 
(he  spoke — in  addition  to  the  German,  the 
native  language  of  his  mother — the  Swed- 
ish, Latin,  French,  and  Italian  languages;) 
and  in  discourse  he  was  agreeable  and 
lively.  There  never  was  a  general  who 
was  served  with  so  much  cheerfulness  and 
devotion  as  was  Gustavus.  He  was  of  an 
affable  and  friendly  disposition,  readily  ex- 
pressed commendation,  and  noble  actions 
were  indelibly  fixed  in  his  memory  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  excessive  politeness  and 
flattery  he  hated,  and  if  any  person  ap- 
proached him  in  this  way,  he  never  trusted 
him." 

He  was  severe  against  all  the  excesses 
of  the  soldiery,  and  was  greatly  concerned 
for  the  security  of  the  citizens  and  peas- 
antry. When,  after  taking  a  Catholic  town, 
some  sought  to  induce  him  to  treat  the 
burghers  with  harshness,  and  to  give  them 
new  laws,  he  made  answer  :  "  The  city  is 
now  mine,  and  no  longer  the  enemy's.  I 
am  come  to  loosen  the  fetters  of  freedom 
and  not  to  rivet  them  afresh.  Let  them 
live  as  they  have  lived  heretofore  ;  I  p;ive 
no  new  laws  to  them  who  know  how  to 
live  as  their  religion  teaches."  "  In  deal- 
ing with  Protestants  and  Catholics  he  made 
no  distinction.  His  maxim  was,  that  every 
one  is  orthodox  who  conforms  to  the  laws, 
and  to  keep  men  from  going  to  hell  was 
not  the  calling  of  princes,  but  that  of  the 
ministers  of  religion." 

Thus  he  carried  out  these  sentiments 
during  his  stay  at  Munich,  as  well  as  on 
other  occasions.  On  Ascension-day,  in 
the  year  1632,  he  went  to  the  chapel  of 
Our  Lady,  to  be  present  at  a  mass  cele- 
brated with  all  the  solemnity  of  the  Catho- 
lic worship ;  he  then  visited  the  college  of 
the  Jesuits,  replied  to  the  rector's  Latin  ad- 
dress in  the  same  language,  and  conversed 
with  him  for  nearly  an  hour  on  the  subject  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.  In  magnanimity  and 
liberality  of  sentiment  he  occupies  a  posi- 
tion strikingly  in  advance  of  his  generation, 
no  less  for  the  respect  he  paid  to  the  reli- 
gious feeling  of  others,  however  it  might 
differ  in  form  from  that  which  he  conscien- 
tiously preferred,  than  for  the  homage  he 


338 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  WAR. 


paid  to  greatness  and  truth  in  general. 
IIow  natural  it  was  that  the  affections  of 
mankind  should  be  gained  by  a  character 
like  this,  by  the  side  of  such  narrow-minded 
and  prejudiced  rulers  of  the  day  as  Ferdi- 
nand II.,  Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  or  even 
the  well-meaning  but  weak  John  George  of 
Saxony !  Besides  Gualdo,  other  Catholic 
writers,  such  as  Khevenhuller,  Riccius, 
Burgus,  &c.,  do  not  conceal  their  venera- 
tion for  Gustavus  Adolphus. 

The  monument  of  Gustavus  Adolphus 
in  Germany  was  for  a  long  time  a  mere 
stone  land-mark,  placed  in  the  battle-field 
of  Liitzen,  upon  the  spot  where  he  fell ; 
more  recently,  however,  an  admirer  of  his 
character  has  erected  in  the  same  place 
another  plain  but  more  worthy  memorial. 


CHAPTER     XXV. 

Continuation  of  the  War,  1632-1635— Chancellor  Oxen- 
stiern— Wallenstein's  Inaction— Court  Martial  over 
his  Officers— Military  Executions— Count  of  Thurn 
taken  Prisoner  and  released  by  Wallenstein— The 
Emperor's  Remonstrance  and  Wallenstein's  Reply— 
The  Swedes  in  Bavaria— Wallenstein  withholds  As- 
sistance— Prohibits  his  Officers  from  obeying  the  Im- 
perial Commands— Pilsen— Military  Council  and 
Compact  between  Wallenstein  and  his  Officers— 
Counts  Terzka,  Illo,  and  Piccolomini— The  Emperor 
divests  Wallenstein  of  all  Command — Italian-Span- 
ish Conspiracy  against  Wallenstein— Piccolomini 
marches  against  Wallenstein— Wallenstein  negotiates 
with  France  and  Sweden  for  his  Services— The 
Crown  of  Bohemia  offered  to  him— Retreats  to  Eger 
—The  Supper  in  the  Citadel— Murder  of  Counts 
Terzka,  Illo,  and  Kinsky  by  Deveroux  and  Geraldin 
—Assassination  of  Wallenstein,  1634— His  Estates 
confiscated — Succeeded  in  Command  by  Ferdinand, 
King  of  Rome— The  Battle  of  Nordlingen— The 
Elector  of  Saxony— Peace  of  Prague,  1635— Dreadful 
Condition  of  Germany— Cardinal  Richelieu  and 
Chancellor  Oxenstiern— French  and  Swedish  Al- 
liance against  the  Emperor— Inglorious  Character  of 
the  War— Death  of  Ferdinand  II.,  1637. 

IT  now  became  a  question  whether  or 
not  the  Swedes,  after  the  death  of  their 
king,  would  continue  to  carry  on  the  war. 
If  they  did  not,  the  Protestant  allies  had 
good  reason  to  be  apprehensive  that  Wal- 
lenstein would  visit  them  with  a  heavy 
retribution.  The  Swedish  council,  how- 
ever,  to  whom  the  guardianship  of  Chris- 
tina, the  daughter  of  Gustavus,  was  in- 
trusted, resolved  to  continue  the  war  which 
might  entitle  Sweden  to  some  of  the  prov- 
inces of  Germany,  and  the  late  king's 
friend,  the  Chancellor  Axel  Oxenstiern,  was 
determined  to  fill  his  place  ;  a  man  whose 
comprehensive  and  prudent  mind  knew  how 


to  hold  the  strength  of  his  party  together 
Nevertheless,  he  had  not  the  suavity  and 
generous  magnanimity  of  his  late  master. 
The  electoral  princes,  especially  Saxonyj 
found  it  irksome  to  yield  obedience  to  the 
dictates  of  a  Swedish  nobleman,  and  al. 
though  he  succeeded  in  uniting  the  Pro- 
testant  states  of  the  four  upper  circles — 
Swabia,  Franconia,  and  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Rhine,  in  the  treaty  of  Heilbronn  in 
the  spring  of  1633,  it  was  soon  manifested, 
by  the  indecision  of  some,  the  opposition  of 
others,  and  the  want  of  union  among  the 
leaders  of  the  army,  that  the  genius  of  Gus. 
tavus  Adolphus  no  longer  presided  over  the 
whole. 

Wallenstein  alone,  whose  genius  sur. 
passed  all  others,  might  have  availed  him- 
self  of  this  moment  of  doubt  and  hesita 
tion  by  bringing  the  war  to  a  decision, 
and  making  the  emperor  triumphant,  but 
he  was  occupied  with  other  cares,  and  re- 
mained in  a  state  of  incomprehensible  inac- 
tion. After  the  battle  of  Liitzen  he  sum- 
moned a  court-martial,  in  order  to  remove 
from  his  own  shoulders  all  responsibility 
for  the  loss  of  that  action ;  and  as  he  pos- 
sessed the  power  of  life  and  death  over  all 
those  under  his  orders,  he  forthwith  con- 
demned several  of  his  generals  and  supe- 
rior officers  to  the  axe>  and  adjudged  a  great 
number  of  private  soldiers  to  be  hung; 
finally,  he  ordered  more  than  fifty  names 
of  absent  officers  to  be  nailed  to  the  gallows 
in  Prague,  as  those  of  traitors  and  cowards. 
He  then  enlisted  fresh  troops,  replaced  his 
artillery  by  melting  down  the  bells  of  the 
churches,  and  was  soon  in  possession  of  an 
army  equally  as  powerful  as  his  former 
one.  Instead,  however,  of  directing  his 
march  through  the  imperial  states,  and  ad- 
vancing against  the  Swedes  under  Gustavus 
Horn  and  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar,  who 
were  masters  of  the  frontiers  of  Germany, 
he  marched  on  to  Silesia,  where  such  a 
large  army  was  not  at  all  required,  and  ne- 
gotiated with  the  Saxons  for  a  length  of 
time  upon  the  subject  of  a  separate  treaty 
of  peace,  after  he  had  already  concluded 
an  armistice  with  General  Arnirn,  in  com- 
mand of  the  Saxon  army.  At  the  same 
time,  according  to  the  subsequent  accusa- 
tions brought  against  him,  he  endeavored  to 
ascertain  what  amount  of  indemnification 
the  enemy  would  allow  him  in  case  he 
went  over  to  their  side,  for  he  had  long 
since  believed  to  have  read  in  the  stars  thai 


WAV ARIA— CONSPIRACY  AGAINST  WALLENSTEIN. 


33<J 


it  was  his  destiny  to  reign  and  hold  unlim- 
ited sway  as  king.  Meantime,  in  order, 
DV  more  active  proceedings,  to  prevent  the 
emperor  from  suspecting  his  intentions,  he 
attacked  the  Saxons  and  the  Swedes,  and 
drov*)  them  out  of  Silesia,  taking  prisoner 
the  old  count  of  Thurn,  the  originator  of 
ilie  war.  The  whole  of  Vienna  was  in  a 
state  of  excitement,  and  fully  expected  that 
the  man  they  so  much  hated  would  be  led* 
through  their  streets  as  the  most  culpable 
of  all  those  connected  with  the  dreadful 
scenes  of  the  revolution  ;  Wallenstein,  how- 
ever, to  the  astonishment  of  all,  gave  him 
his  liberty,  and  when  he  was  remonstrated 
with  by  the  emperor  for  releasing  his  pris- 
oner he  replied  :  "  What  use  was  I  to  make 
of  such  a  fool  ?  I  wish  the  Swedes  pos- 
sessed no  better  generals  than  this  Thurn, 
for  at  the  head  of  the  Swedes  he  will  do 
more  service  for  the  imperial  cause  than  he 
could  if  in  prison." 

During  this  interval  Bavaria  was  very 
hard  pressed  by  Horn  and  Bernard  of 
Weimar,  and,  urged  by  the  elector's  ear- 
nest demands  for  aid,  the  emperor  had  al- 
ready repeatedly  summoned  his  general  to 
march  to  the  relief  of  that  country.  Wal- 
^cnstein,  however,  delayed  doing  so  for  a 
considerable  time ;  at  length  he  advanced 
slowly  through  Bohemia,  arrived  in  the 
upper  palatinate  and  marched  back  again 
into  Bohemia,  where  he  fixed  his  winter 
quarters.  He  gave  strict  orders  to  all  his 
generals,  in  command  of  distinct  divisions 
of  the  army,  under  the  most  severe  penal- 
tics,  not  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  emperor ; 
and  when  the  latter  caused  a  Spanish  army 
to  march  from  Italy  into  Germany  without 
placing  it  under  the  orders  of  Wallenstein, 
and  even  commanded  that  a  portion  of  the 
grand  army  should  be  detached  frorn  the 
main  body  in  order  to  form  a  junction  with 
the  Spanish  division,  the  generalissimo 
complained  loudly  and  indignantly  at  this 
violation  of  the  treaty  made  between  him- 
self and  the  emperor. 

Wearied  with  these  mortifications,  and 
tormented  by  his  attacks  of  gout,  to  such 
an  extent  that  he  was  obliged  to  have  pieces 
of  raw  flesh  cut  out  of  the  excoriated  foot, 
he  resolved  to  resign  the  supreme  com- 
mand ;  but  he  was  determined  to  do  so  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  place  himself  in  a  po- 
sition to  command  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promises  originally  made  to  him.  He  en- 
deavored, therefore,  to  attach  the  leaders 


of  his  army  still  more  closely  to  himself; 
and  to  that  end  summoned  them  all  to  as- 
semble, at  the  commencement  of  the  year 
1634,  at  Pilsen.  It  was  by  no  means  dif- 
ficult for  him  to  gain  them  over  to  his  ex- 
elusive  interest,  for  it  was  upon  his  promise, 
and  in  the  hope  of  being  completely  indem- 
nified through  his  recommendation,  that 
they  had  all  raised  and  equipped  regiments 
at  their  own  expense,  and,  in  some,  in- 
stances, staked  their  whole  fortune.  If, 
therefore,  he  fell,  they  were  in  danger  of 
losing  all  compensation.  Consequently,  on 
the  12th  of  January,  1634,  forty  superior 
officers,  having  at  their  head,  Field-mar- 
shals Illo  and  Count  Terzka,  assembled  at 
a  dinner — at  which,  however,  through  se- 
vere illness,  Wallenstein  himself  could  not 
preside — and  entered  into  a  solemn  com- 
pact "  to  adhere  faithfully  to  the  duke  in 
life  and  death  as  long  as  he  should  remain 
in  the  emperor's  service,  or  as  long  as  the 
latter  should  require  his  services  in  the 
war;"  and  they  at  the  same  time  made 
him  promise  them  "  to  remain  with  them 
for  some  time  longer,  and  not  to  withdraw 
from  the  supreme  command  without  their 
privity  and  consent."  Field-marshal  Pic- 
colomini,  who  subsequently  betrayed  his 
general,  attached  his  signature  to  this 
agreement,  likewise,  with  the  rest. 

Wallenstein's  enemies  availed  them- 
selves of  this  certainly  important  circum- 
stance to  bring  him  more  and  more  under 
the  emperor's  suspicion,  and  carried  out 
their  designs  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make 
Ferdinand  resolve,  at  length,  to  divest  him 
of  the  supreme  command,  and  to  transfer 
it  into  the  hands  of  Gallas.  It  is  not  to  be 
at  all  doubted  but  that  an  Italian-Spanish 
conspiracy  was  firmly  established  against 
Wallenstein  in  the  imperial  court,  and 
which  was  joined  by  the  elector  of  Bavaria, 
who  continually  complained,  in  most  bitter 
terms,  against  the  general.  The  principal 
agent  in  these  secret  proceedings  was  an 
Italian,  Colonel  Caretta,  marquis  of  Grana. 

These  intrigues  against  Wallenstein 
were  conducted  so  secretly — the  emperor 
Ferdinand  himself  being  in  actual  corre- 
spondence with  him  on  official  business 
twenty  days  subsequently  to  that  of  the 
24th  of  January,  when  he  had  issued  the 
instrument  for  Wallenstein's  dismissal— 
that  the  latter  only  first  learned  it  when 
Gallas,  Piccolomini,  and  Aldringen  pub- 
lished their  ordinances,  in  the  name  of  the 


WALLENSTEIN'S  MURDER. 


emperor,  in  which  they  interdicted  all  the 
leading  officers  of  the  army  from  accepting 
farther  orders  from  Wallenstein,  Illo,  and 
Terzka.  Wallenstein  drew  up  imme- 
diately a  solemn  declaration,  signed  by 
himself  and  twenty-nine  of  his  generals 
and  colonels,  in  Pilsen,  in  which  it  was 
stated  that  the  compact  entered  into  be- 
tween himself  and  officers  on  the  12th  of 
January,  contained  nothing  whatever  that 
was  hostile  to  the  emperor  or  the  Catholic 
religion.  He  also  dispatched  two  officers 
to  the  emperor  with  the  declaration  that  he 
was  ready  to  resign  his  office  of  general- 
issimo, and  would  appear  to  justify  himself 
before  any  tribunal  the  emperor  might  be 
pleased  to  appoint.  These  two  officers, 
however,  were  met  and  detained  on  the 
road  by  Piccolomini,  and  the  message  they 
bore  only  reached  the  emperor  after  the 
death  of  Wallenstein. 

Piccolomini  marched  with  his  own  troops 
against  Pilsen,  and  Wallenstein  was  obli- 
ged to  withdraw  to  the  citadel  of  Eger, 
of  which  the  commandant,  'Colonel  Gor- 
don, was  especially  attached  to  him  from 
motives  of  gratitude  for  favors  he  had  con- 
ferred upon  him.  Here,  three  days  pre- 
viously to  his  death,  having  too  much  rea- 
son to  feel  assured  of  the  hostile  intentions 
of  his  enemies,  he  was  impelled  by  neces- 
sity to  seek  for  aid  from  the  Duke  Bernard 
of  Weimar,  who  was  now  encamped  in  Ra- 
tisbon,  and  whom  he  urgently  requested  to 
advance  with  some  of  his  troops  towards 
the  Bohemian  frontiers.  It  is  historically 
proved  that  Wallenstein's  brother-in-law, 
Count  Kinsky,  banished  from  Bohemia  on 
account  of  his  Protestant  faith,  was  in 
treaty  with  the  French  ambassador,  Feu- 
quieres,  for  the  engagement  of  his  relative's 
services  in  the  cause  of  France  and  against 
the  emperor,  and  that  Cardinal  Richelieu 
promised  Wallenstein  the  crown  of  Bohe-- 
mia  as  a  recompense  ;  and,  according  to 
the  Swedish  writers,  similar  negotiations 
were  carried  on  with  their  party.  But 
no  written  document,  nor  any  direct  act 
of. Wallenstein  himself  corroborates  these 
statements,  or  proves  that  he  did  charge 
Count  Kinsky  with  the  execution  of  such 
commission,  while  both  the  French  and 
the  Swedes  remained  to  the  last  moment  in 
doubt  whether  or  not  Wallenstein  was 
merely  playing  with  ihem  in  order  to  gain 
Jheir  confidence.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  this  extraordinary  and  in- 


comprehensible man,  anticipating  the  pro 
bable  loss  of  the  emperor's  favor,  was  de- 
sirous  not  to  refuse  altogether  the  proposi- 
tions of  the  enemy,  but  rather  to  hold  this 
resource  in  reserve  in  case  of  being  again 
overturned,  as  he  was  before  at  the  diet  o\ 
Ratisbon. 

Wallenstein  quitted  Pilsen  on  the  morn, 
ing  of  the  22d  of  February,  borne  along  in 
a  litter,  and  suffering  excruciatingly  fron 
the  gout  j  he  was  accompanied  by  onl) 
ten  followers,  including  Colonel  Butler, 
by  whom  he  was  subsequently  murdered  ; 
and  at  the  end  of  the  second  day's  journey 
he  reached  Eger,  taking  up  his  quarters  in 
the  house  of  the  burgomaster,  Pechhelbel, 
in  the  market-place.  On  the  following 
evening,  Terzka,  Illo,  and  Kinsky  proceed- 
ed to  the  citadel  to  sup  with  Colonel  Gor- 
don, the  commandant.  While  they  were 
dining,  thirty  dragoons,  commanded  by 
Captains  Deveroux  and  Geraldin,  sudden- 
ly burst  into  the  hall  from  the  ante-room  in 
which  they  had  been  waiting,  and,  falling 
upon  their  victims,  pierced  them  to  death  ; 
not,  however,  before  Terzka,  who  bravely 
defended  himself,  had  killed  two  of  the 
band  of  assassins.  Immediately  after  this 
murderous  act,  Deveroux  proceeded  with 
six  dragoons  to  complete  t.ae  sanguinary 
plot  by  assassinating  Wallensiein  himself. 
It  was  now  midnight,  and  the  duke  had  al- 
ready retired  to  rest.  Having,  however, 
been  roused  by  the  shrieks  of  the  Coun- 
tesses Terzka  and  Kinsky,  who  had  just 
learned  the  fate  of  their  husbands,  he  rose, 
and  opening  the  window,  asked  the  senti- 
nel what  had  happened  ?  At  the  same 
moment,  Deveroux  forced  open  the  door  of 
the  chamber,  and,  rushing  upon  him,  ex- 
claimed, as  he  stood  at  the  window  : 
"  Death  to  Wallenstein  !"  The  latter, 
without  uttering  a  word,  laid  bare  his 
breast,  and  received  the  fatal  blow. 

Thus  silent  and  reserved  to  the  hour  of 
his  death,  all  the  profound  and  mysterious 
thoughts  and  sentiments  of  his  soul  re- 
mained hidden  from  the  world,  and  a  veil 
of  obscurity  was  cast  over  his  whole  life 
and  actions.  He  was  one  of  those  men 
whose  deep-laid  plans  and  motives  it  was 
impossible  to  fathom,  and  of  whom  little  or 
nothing  can  be  said  in  explanation  of  their 
views  or  ideas. 

After  his  death  his  estates  were  confis- 
cated, and  a  great  portion  of  them  were 
transferred  as  a  reward  into  the  hands  of 


BAT!  LE  OF  NORDLINGEN 


341 


lis  enemies,  and  even  to  those  by  whom 
he  had  been  murdered.  Gallas  received 
the  duchy  of  Friedland,  Piccolominihad  the 
principality  of  Nachod,  while  Butler,  and 
the  actual  assassins,  were  rewarded  with 
others  of  his  estates  and  large  sums  of  his 
money.  The  major  part  of  his  possessions, 
however,  was  retained  by  the  emperor 
himself.  The  value  of  Wallenstein's  land- 
ed property  alone  was  estimated  at  fifty 
millions  of  florins.  His  widow  received 
the  principality  of  Neuschloss  ;  and  his  on- 
ly surviving  child,  Maria  Elizabeth,  became 
shortly  afterwards  the  wife  of  Count  Caunitz. 

In  order  to  justify  Wallenstein's  assas- 
sination, a  lengthy  document  was  drawn 
up  by  the  especial  command  of  the  empe- 
ror himself,  containing  all  the  accusations 
brought  against  the  duke,  and  which,  for  a 
long  time,  continued  to  convey  the  most 
false  and  unjust  ideas  and  opinions  of  the 
character  of  that  extraordinary  man. 

After  the  death  of  Wallenstein,  Ferdi- 
nand, king  of  Rome,  and  son  of  the  em- 
peror, obtained  the  chief  command  of  the 
imperial  army,  and  fortune  opened  the  com- 
mencement of  his  career  with  the  most 
brilliant  success.  After  having  followed 
the  Swedes  beyond  the  frontiers  of  Bava- 
ria, he  overtook  them  near  Nordlingen,  in 
Franconia.  His  own  army  was  composed 
of  the  most  choice  troops,  and  augmented 
by  15,000  Spaniards  ;  while  that  of  the 
S \vedes  was  by  no  means  in  a  state  of 
union  and  discipline.  The  command  was 
devided  between  General  Horn  and  Duke 
Bernard  of  Weimar  ;  the  more  experienced 
and  prudent  counsel  of  the  former  chief,  in 
anticipation  of  defeat,  opposed  giving  bat- 
tle altogether,  while  the  more  young  and 
daring  spirit  of  the  latter  insisted  upon 
making  a  stand,  and  receiving  the  enemy's 
attack.  Accordingly  the  action  took  place 
on  the  6th  of  September,  1634;  but  the 
reduced  number  of  the  Swedes,  their  bad 
position,  the  disunion  existing,  bet  ween  the 
leaders,  and  the  misunderstanding  and  con- 
fusion arising  therefrom,  combined  alto- 
gether to  act  against  them ;  and,  in  spite 
of  all  their  courage,  they,  after  a  combat 
of  eight  hours,  were  completely  defeated 
and  nearly  cut  to  pieces.  Twenty  thou- 
sand of  their  troops  were  either  slain  or 
made  prisoners,  and  among  the  latter  was 
General  Horn  himself,  while  Duke  Ber- 
nard with  the  remnant  of  his  army  retreat- 
ed towards  the  Rhine. 


This  battle  might  have  proved  as  favor- 
able in  its  results  for  the  Catholic  party  as 
that  of  Leipsic  had  been  for  the  Protestants. 
The  Swedish  power  seemed  annihilated  in 
Germany,  and  this  produced  at  once  the 
secession  of  the  Saxons  from  the  Swedes. 
Their  elector,  John  George,  had  for  a 
length  of  time  beheld  with  pain  and  morti- 
fication the  province  of  Lusatia  continue  ir 
the  hands  of  the  imperialists,  and  appre. 
hended  that  he  should  not  only  never  re- 
cover  that,  but  perhaps  might  lose  still 
more  ;  accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1635, 
he  made  peace  with  the  emperor  at  Prague. 
He  received  back  Lusatia,  together  with  a 
portion  of  the  province  of  Magdeburg,  and 
full  liberty  of  religious  worship  for  forty 
years.  The  evangelical  portion  of  Ger- 
many was  extremely  irritated  against  the 
elector,  but  several  other  states  soon  fol- 
lowed his  example  and  made  terms  with 
the  emperor,  such  as,  Brandenburg,  Meck- 
lenburg, Weimar,  Liineburg,  and  others ; 
and  it  appeared  as  if  this  sanguinary  war 
would  find  its  termination  by  the  enerva- 
tion of  the  factions.  In  truth,  unhappy 
Germany,  which  had  been  overwhelmed 
by  warriors  from  almost  every  part  of  Eu- 
rope, presented  a  sad  and  mournful  picture 
at  the  present  moment  ;  everywhere  the 
land  devastated,  the  population  frightfully 
diminished,  the  corn-fields  trodden  down  or 
uncultivated,  the  towns  laid  waste,  and 
piles  of  ruins  and  ashes,  where  formerly 
blooming  regions  had  everywhere  greeted 
the  eye.  What  had  escaped  the  sword 
was  destroyed  by  famine,  misery,  and  dis- 
ease, while  the  pen  itself  refuses  to  describe 
the  horrible  extent  to  which  the  sanguinary 
and  cruel  scenes  of  this  war  were  carried. 

In  such  a  state  of  general  distress  and 
misery,  when  the  German  states  every- 
where showed  an  inclination  for  peace, 
and  tht  emperor  himself  was  disposed  to 
revoke  at  least  a  portion  of  the  Edict  of 
Restitution — as  he  had  already  proved  by 
his  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Saxons — the 
oppressed  nation  found  at  length  some 
foundation  to  hope  that  the  period  when  its 
sufferings  would  terminate  was  close  at 
hand. 

But  once  again  did  the  fatal  hand  of  des- 
tiny, which  during  so  many  years  had  al- 
ready collected  over  us  so  many  clouds  of 
disaster,  repeat  its  withering  blow.  The 
French  minister,  Richelieu,  had  long  ob- 
served with  secret  satisfaction  the  misfor- 


342 


OXENSTIERN— DEATH  OF  FERDINAND  II. 


tunes  of  the  house  of  Austria,  and  of  the 
empire  generally.  The  French  govern- 
ment regarded  it  as  the  most  wise  and  pru- 
dent motive  of  state  policy,  to  torture  and 
execute,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Protestants 
of  France  throughout  the  entire  kingdom  ; 
while,  on  the  other,  it  lent  its  aid  to  those 
of  Germany,  and  thus  rendered  that  faith 
a  means  by  which  it  might  serve  to  con- 
ceal its  thirst  after  conquest.  The  moment 
had  now  arrived  when  the  cardiaal  thought 
he  was  able  to  vend  the  services  of  France 
at  a  dear  rate.  Accordingly  he  offered 
them  to  the  Chancellor  Oxenstiern,  stipu- 
lating for  the  fortress  of  Philipsburg  on 
the  Rhine  as  a  recompense  ;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  he  indicated  that  his  designs 
extended  to  the  still  more  important  terri- 
tory of  Alsace.  This  was  the  first  time 
that  foreigners  had  ever  negotiated  for  the 
frontiers  of  our  country.  With  this  treaty 
between  Richelieu  and  Oxenstiern  affairs 
at  once  assumed  a  character  both  ignoble 
and  degrading ;  for  from  that  moment  the 
Swedish  minister  sought  only  to  transfer  a 
portion  of  Germany  to  his  own  nation. 
They  found  in  Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar, 
otherwise  a  brave  and  noble  prince,  the 
arm  so  desirable  to  second  their  measures, 
more  especially  as  he  himself  was  anxious 
to  gain  possession  of  a  province  on  the 
Rhine.  Accordingly,  a  powerful  and  well- 
equipped  army  was  soon  collected  with 
French  money,  and  placed  under  the  duke's 
orders,  with  which  he  marched  against  the 
imperialists  and  Bavarians,  and  from  this 
moment  the  Rhenish  provinces  became  the 
scene  of  war,  being  pillaged  and  devastated 
the  same  as  those  along  the  Oder,  Elbe, 
and  Weser,  had  been  previously.  The 
Swedes,  however,  possessed  likewise  a 
brave  and  active  general  in  Field-marshal 
Banner  ;  and  reinforced  by  French  troops 
from  Sweden,  he  marched  in  all  haste  from 
Pomerania — whither  the  remnant  of  his 
army  had  fled  after  the  battle  of  Nordlin- 
gen — against  the  Saxons,  now  the  allies  of 
the  emperor,  and  on  the  4th  of  October, 
1634,  gave  the  elector  battle  at  Wittstock, 
near  Mecklenburg,  and  completely  defeated 
him. 

This  war,  however,  from  this  moment, 
only  presents  a  continuation  of  gloomy  and 
disheartening  scenes ;  for  wanting,  as  it 
did,  a  leader  of  noble  genius,  and  uninflu- 
enced, as  its  agents  were,  by  motives  of  a 
Worthy  ar.i  honorable  nature,  its  whole 


character  assumed  an  ignoble  and  merce 
nary  stamp.  The  royal  hero,  whose  eleva. 
tion  of  soul  shed  a  brilliant  lustre  over  all 
around  him,  and  who  was  inspired  by  his 
religious  faith,  combined  with  the  glorj 
and  honor  of  his  nation,  was  now  no  more  ; 
the  impenetrable,  mysterious,  and  all- 
powerful  general,  who  alone  could  venture 
to  make  a  stand  against  the  forces  of  Swe- 
den, had  also  been  snatched  from  the  re- 
alization of  his  dark  projects ;  while  those 
who  now  had  the  command  of  the  imperial 
armies,  although  brave  and  not  without  dis- 
tinction, were  only  second  in  rank  of  ge- 
nius, and  wholly  incapable  of  aspiring  to 
the  elevated  thoughts  and  feelings  of  their 
predecessors.  In  this  war  it  was  egotism 
alone  by  which  the  parties  were  swayed  ; 
consequently,  however  remarkable  its  ope- 
rations may  appear,  they  must  still  be  re- 
garded in  the  light  of  ordinary  events. 

The  emperor  Ferdinand  himself,  who 
ranked  among  the  most  distinguished  spirits 
of  his  age,  now  also  disappeared  from  the 
great  scene  of  contention  without  living  to 
witness  its  termination,  and  died  on  the 
15th  of  February,  1637,  aged  fifty-nine 
years,  after  having  had  the  satisfaction  ot 
seeing  his  son  Ferdinand  unanimously  ac- 
knowledged, at  the  diet  of  Ratisbon,  as  his 
successor. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

Ferdinand  III.,  1637-1657— Continuation  of  the  War- 
Duke  Bernard  of  Weimar  on  the  Rhine — His  Death 
— Cardinal  Richelieu— The  Swedish  Generals— Ban- 
ner—Torstenson— Wrangel— Negotiations  for  Peace 
— Tedious  Progress — French  and  Swedish  Claims  of 
Indemnification— Humiliation  and  Dismemberment 
of  the  Empire— Territorial  Sovereignty  of  the  Princes 
— Switzerland — The  Netherlands — 1  inal  Arrange- 
ment and  Conclusion  of  the  Peace  of  Westphalia, 
1648. 

IN  the  year  1637  and  1638,  Duke  Ber- 
nard of  Weimar  pursued  his  victorious 
career  along  the  Rhine  ;  he  surprised  the 
army  of  the  league  at  Rhinefeld,  attacked 
and  overthrew  it,  taking  prisoners  four  gen- 
erals, including  the  brave  leader,  John  of 
Werth,  and  Rhinefeld,  Rijteln,  and  Fri- 
burg,  surrendered  to  his  arms.  But  the 
chief  object  of  his  wishes  was  to  gain  the 
important  fortification  of  Brisach,  which  ho 
was  anxious  to  make  the  principal  seat  01 
his  dominion  alone;  the  Rhine.  He  accoro 


FERDINAND  III 


ingly  laid  siege  to  it,  and  once  more  de- 
feating the  Catholic  army  which  camo  to 
its  relief,  he  conquered  that  stronghold  af- 
ter it  had  become  completely  reduced  by 
famine  and  disease,  and  caused  himself  to 
De  solemnly  acknowledged  by  the  inhab- 
itants as  their  ruler.  But  he  remained 
only  a  short  time  in  the  enjoyment  of  his 
conquest ;  for  just  as  he  was  about  to  pre- 
pare for  another  expedition,  he  was  seized 
with  sudden  illness,  and  died  on  the  18th 
of  July,  1639,  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of 
his  age,  being  the  youngest  of  eight  equal- 
ly brave  and  warlike  brothers.  He  him- 
self declared  his  belief  that  he  was  poison, 
ed,  and  his  chaplain  at  once  confirmed  this 
suspicion  in  the  sermon  he  preached  over 
his  remains.  If  this  was,  indeed,  the  case, 
the  act  can  be  attributed  to  no  other  source 
but  France,  for  immediately  after  the 
duke's  death,  the  army  was  visited  by 
several  French  agents  who  negotiated  for 
the  services  of  the  army,  which  they  pur- 
chased for  large  sums,  together  with  all 
the  places  in  its  possession.  Three  regi- 
ments of  Swedes  alone  refused  to  sell  them- 
selves to  the  French,  and  they  marched  out 
of  the  place  with  beat  of  drum  and  un- 
furled banners  to  join  the  main  body  of 
their  army ;  and  thus  Brisach  was  con- 
quered for  the  French  by  the  valor  of  the 
German  troops. 

Already  in  the  year  1636,  the  appeal 
made  by  thousands  of  those  unhappy  be- 
ings who  suffered  so  much  from  the  disas- 
trous state  of  the  country,  for  that  peace  so 
much  wished  by  all,  had  at  length  produ- 
ced some  effect,  and  some  attempts  were 
made  for  this  purpose  ;  but  Richelieu  was 
far  from  wishing  for  pacification,  inasmuch 
as  war  made  France  an  indispensable  ally, 
and  the  hostile  views  of  its  state  policy 
were  promoted  by  seeing  Germany  cut  to 
pieces  by  its  own  people  as  well  as  foreign- 
ers. Still,  in  the  year  1640,  fresh  and 
more  serious  attempts  were  commenced  to 
establish  peace,  and  in  1643  the  ambassa- 
dors of  the  various  powers  assembled  in 
Miinster  and  Osnaburg.  These  negotia- 
tions, however,  continued  during  a  space 
of  nearly  five  years ;  while,  meantime,  the 
war  was  carried  on  with  all  its  sanguinary 
results. 

Banner,  the  Swedish  general,  died  in  the 
year  1641,  at  Hallerstadt,  after  he  had 
committed  dreadful  devastation  in  Bone- 
ir\ja  and  other  lands.  He  oent  to  Stock- 


holm more  than  600  standards  he  had  cap* 
turcd  from  the  imperialists ;  but  although 
lie  possessed  talents  as  a  leader,  his  heart 
was  cruel  and  without  the  least  mercy,  and 
his  campaigns  were  attended  with  more 
bloodshed  and  oppression  than  all  the  others 
during  this  war.  While  he  was  quartered 
in  Bohemia,  there  were  often  more  than 
100  villages,  small  towns,  and  castles, 
burnt  during  the  night;  and  one  of  his 
principal  officers,  Adam  Pfuhl,  boasted 
that  he  had,  with  his  own  hands,  set  on 
fire  about  800  different  places  in  that  un- 
happy country.  And  when  soon  after 
wards,  on  an  expedition  he  made  against 
Thuringia,  this  same  officer  felt  his  end 
approaching,  and  desired  the  last  services 
of  a  minister  of  religion,  such  was  the 
wasted  and  forlorn  state  of  the  country, 
that  none  could  be  found  within  the  dis- 
tance of  many  leagues. 

Banner  was  succeeded  in  command  by 
Leonard  Torstenson,  who,  although  so  weak 
in  body  that  he  was  always  forced  to  be 
carried  in  a  litter,  was  nevertheless  the 
most  active  and  talented  of  all  the  gene- 
rals in  this  war.  He  commenced,  in  1642, 
by  invading  Silesia,  attacked  and  defeated 
Francis  Albert,  duke  of  Saxe-Lauenburg 
— the  same  general  at  whose  side  the  great 
Gustavus  fell  at  Liitzen,  and  who  had  now 
gone  over  to  the  Austrians,  and  conquer- 
ed Schweidnitz.  Thence  he  marched  on  to 
Moravia,  took  Olmiitz,  and  made  Vienna 
itself  already  begin  to  tremble.  Disease 
in  his  army,  however,  forced  him  to  re- 
treat ;  but  in  the  autumn  of  this  year,  he 
attacked  the  imperial  general  Piccolornini 
at  Leipsic,  who  had  followed  him  in  his 
retreat,  and  completely  overthrew  him. 
This  was  the  greatest  battle  fought  in  this 
last  period  of  the  war  ;  Piccolomini  having 
lost  20,000  men,  forty-six  pieces  of  artil- 
lery, and  nearly  two  hundred  ensigns. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  following  year 
Torstenson  resumed  his  march  through 
Moravia,  advancing  as  far  as  Olmiitz,  so 
that  his  light  cavalry  approached  the  vicin- 
ity of  Vienna ;  and  then,  while  it  was 
thought  he  was  occupied  in  this  quarter, 
he  suddenly  appeared,  as  if  by  magic,  hun- 
dreds of  miles  distant  on  the  coasts  of  the 
Baltic  sea,  in  Hoi  stein  and  Schleswig,  the 
territories  of  the  king  of  Denmark. 

These  territories,  which  had  long  con- 
tinued  untouched  by  the  destructive  arm 
of  war,  presented  the  Swedes  with  every 


314 


NEGOTIATIONS  FOR  PEACE 


thing  valuable  and  desirable  wherewith  to 
enable  them  to  fix  their  winter  quarters 
there  ;  while  it  was  easy  to  find  a  pretext 
for  making  war  with  Denmark  in  the 
jealousy  with  which  that  kingdom  had 
always  regarded  the  victories  gained  by 
the  Swedes.  Accordingly,  in  the  ensuing 
spring  of  1644,  the  Swedes,  who  had  re- 
ceived considerable  reinforcements,  ad- 
vanced again  into  Germany,  attacked  and 
completely  overthrew  the  imperial  army 
under  Gallas,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  suc- 
ceeding year,  1645,  Torstenson  defeated 
the  imperial  troops,  under  Generals  Gotz 
and  Hatzfeld,  at  Jankau,  in  Silesia,  which 
he  entirely  destroyed  ;  Gotz  himself  fell, 
mortally  wounded,  Hatzfeld  was  taken 
prisoner,  and  the  whole  of  the  ammunition 
and  provisions  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Swedes.  The  victorious  army  now  march- 
ed through  Moravia,  and  advanced  to  Vien- 
na itself,  and  had  not  the  city  of  Briinn,  by 
its  most  obstinate  and  heroic  defence,  ar- 
rested the  progress  of  the  Swedish  general, 
there  is  little  doubt  but  that  capital  must 
have  been  taken.  But  his  army  was  so 
much  reduced  by  disease  before  the  walls 
of  Briinn,  that  Torstenson  was  forced  to 
make  a  retreat,  and  as  he  himself  was 
completely  worn  out  with  illness  and  de- 
bility, he  was  compelled  to  give  up  the 
command  of  the  army. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Gustavus  Wran- 
gel,  who  continued  the  war  with  considera- 
ble success.  The  French  armies,  under 
their  distinguished  generals,  Turenne  and 
Conde,  fought  against  the  imperialists  and 
Bavarians  along  the  Rhine,  and  in  conjunc- 
tion witn  them  Wrangel  soon  afterwards 
conquered  and  subjected  the  whole  land  of 
Bavaria,  so  that  the  elector  was  forced  to 
abandon  all  further  hostilities ;  and,  in 
1647,  concluded  an  armistice.  Branden- 
burg had  already  been  obliged  to  do  the 
same  in  the  year  1641,  and  Denmark  and 
Saxony  followed  the  example  in  1645  and 
1646 :  thus  the  emperor  was  left  alone  to 
contend  with  his  successful  enemies.  The 
grand  cause  of  the  ill  success  he  experi- 
enced at  this  period,  emanated  from  his 
want  of  efficient  leaders  ;  his  two  best  gen- 
erals, Werth  and  Merci,  having  been  killed, 
he  was  forced  to  confide  the  chief  command 
of  his  troops  to  General  Melander  of  Holz- 
apfel,  a  Protestant,  who  had  deserted  the 
Hessian  party  and  gone  over  to  the  impe- 
rialists. 


The  allies  now  once  more  attached  the 
hereditary  states  of  the  empire  ;  the  Swo 
dish  general,  Konigsmark,  laid  siege  to 
Prague,  and  had  already  made  himself 
master  of  that  portion  of  the  city,  called 
the  Kleinseite,  while  Wrangel  was  in  full 
march  to  support  him  with  his  whole  army 
— when  the  happy  tidings  of  peace  were 
announced  from  Westphalia. 

The  conferences  for  the  settlement  of 
peace  had  already  been  opened  in  the  sum- 
mer of  the  year  1643  :  with  the  Swedes  in 
Osnaburg,  and  with  the  French  in  Miin- 
ster.  The  imperial  envoys  arrived  even 
before  the  time  fixed,  but  those  from  Swe- 
den only  appeared  at  the  end  of  the  autumn 
of  that  year,  while  those  from  France  pre- 
sented themselves  as  late  as  the  month  of 
April,  in  the  following  year,  1644:  an 
ominous  sign  for  the  progress  of  those 
measures  of  pacification,  towards  which  the 
eyes  of  the  oppressed  empire  were  turned 
with  anxious  and  painful  longing.  And, 
in  truth,  these  congresses  commenced  with 
the  discussion  of  such  numberless  details, 
that  there  appeared  little  or  no  chance  of 
any  prompt  decision  being  effected.  Many 
months  were  lost  in  petty  and  miserable 
disputes  of  precedence,  and  the  French 
ambassadors,  with  all  imaginable  pride  and 
pomp,  more  especially  insisted  upon  taking 
the  first  rank,  and  assumed  all  the  state 
and  ceremony  of  a  royal  court.  Subse- 
quently, much  time  was  again  sacrificed 
in  deciding  whether  or  not  the  deputies  for 
all  the  petty  states  of  the  empire  should  be 
convoked,  and  which  was,  at  length,  deter- 
mined in  the  affirmative,  so  that  the  French 
were  enabled  to  produce  still  greater  dis- 
cord among  us. 

The  chief  subject  of  negotiation  ought  to 
have  been  the  re-establishment  of  order 
upon  a  solid  basis  in  all  the  provinces  of 
Germany,  and  more  especially  among  the 
various  religious  parties,  for  through  their 
contentions  the  war  had  originated ;  but 
the  two  foreign  powers  insisted  upon  re- 
ceiving  first  of  all  their  indemnification  for 
the  expenses  and  losses  incurred  by  them 
during  the  war,  and  in  the  degraded  state 
of  necessity  to  which  they  were  reduced, 
and  at  the  urgent  persuasion  of  the  elector 
of  Bavaria,  the  Germans  were  forced  to 
satisfy  the  demands  of  these  foreigners  be- 
fore they  ventured  upon  the  arrangement 
of  their  own  affairs. 

France,  wl  ich  had  contributed  so  little 


DISMEMBERMENT  OF  THE  EMP1UE. 


315 


of  its  own  powers,  and  which  had  only 
mixed  itself  up  in  the  war  for  its  own  ad- 
vantage, and  the  pleasure  it  derived  from 
producing  evil  as  a  Catholic  state  for  a 
Protestant  cause — France,  we  say,  de- 
manded enormous  sacrifices  ;  and  her  am- 
bassadors, d'Avaux  and  Servien,  well  prac- 
tised in  the  art  of  verbosity,  political  cun- 
ning, and  deception,  intruding  themselves 
with  all  the  authority  and  command  of 
masters,  insisted  upon  their  claims.  The 
Swedes,  although  rather  more  moderate, 
nevertheless  grasped  at  and  tore  asunder 
large  portions  of  the  empire,  and  the  friends 
and  well-wishers  of  the  country  felt  as  if 
cut  to  the  heart  when  they  thus  beheld  the 
mortifying  treatment  it  was  forced  to  un- 
dergo :  "  On  the  same  soil  where,  in  former 
times,  our  noble  ancestors  hurled  defiance 
against  the  insolent  Varus  and  his  legions," 
says  a  contemporary,  "  we  are  now  doomed 
to  behold  foreigners  without  arms  insult  us 
and  triumph  over  Germania.  They  sum- 
mon us,  and  we  humbly  obey  the  call ; 
they  speak,  and  we  listen  with  humility 
and  attention  as  to  an  oracle ;  they  prom- 
ise, and  we  place  faith  in  them  as  in  God  ; 
they  menace  us,  and  we  tremble  like  slaves. 
A  sheet  of  paper  filled  up  by  a  woman, 
whether  at  Paris  or  Stockholm,*  makes  the 
whole  Germanic  empire  tremble  or  rejoice. 
They  already,  in  the  very  heart  of  Ger- 
many, discuss  and  dispute  together  over 
Germany,  as  to  what  they  shall  take  from, 
and  what  they  shall  condescend  to  leave 
us,  what  feathers  they  shall  pluck  from  the 
Roman  eagle,  and  therewith  decorate  the 
Gallic  cock.  And  we  ourselves,  divided 
continually  among  each  other,  abandon  our 
tutelary  divinity  for  the  idols  of  foreign  na- 
tions— to  whom  we  sacrifice  life,  liberty, 
and  honor !" 

The  imperial  envoys  acted  with  firmness 
and  dignity  ;  Count  Trautmannsdorf  and 
Doctor  Volmar  sought,  with  all  the  strength 
of  reason  and  principle,  to  grapple  with  the 
pretensions  set  forth  by  foreign  powers, 
while  they  endeavored,  by  mildness  and 
patience,  to  conciliate  the  discordant  feel- 
ings existing  in  the  German  states.  They 
did  not,  however,  find  themselves  suffi- 
ciently seconded  by  the  other  members  of 
•Jie  empire,  especially  in  the  latter  period 

*  In  Sweden  the  throne  was  occupied  by  Christiana, 
daughter  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  and,  during  the  mi- 
nority of  Louis  XI V.,  his  mother,  Queen  Anne,  rejgned 
as  regent  in  France. 


of  the  war,  when  Bavaria  became  so  vacil- 
lating ;  while  every  dispatch  they  received 
announced  the  success  of  the  enemy,  ana 
overturned  all  the  advantages  they  might 
otherwise  have  effected  by  the:r  confer- 
ences. Hence  they  were  obliged  to  make 
the  following  arrangements  : 

1.  France   received  the   bishoprics  ol 
Metz,  Toul,  and  Verden,  as  much  of  Al- 
sace as  had  belonged  to  Austria,  the  Sund- 
gau,  and  the  important  fortresses  of  Brisach 
and  Philipsburg  ;  besides  which,  it  forced 
Germany  to  destroy  a  great  number  ol 
fortifications  along   the   Upper   Rhine,  h 
order  that  the  French  army  might  havt 
an  open  and  free  passage  into  Germany. 
Thus  all  those  places  which  had  served  as 
the   bulwarks  of  the  south  of  Germany, 
fell,  through  this  peace,  into  the  hands  of 
the  hereditary  enemy  of  the  empire.     The 
French  envoys  themselves,  in  the  excess 
of  their  joy,  declared  loudly  that  France 
had  never  concluded  a  peace  upon  such 
advantageous  terms. 

2.  Sweden,  which  had   likewise   made 
great  claims  for  compensation,  but  whose 
interests  were  but  too  inadequately   and 
unfavorably   represented    by    the    grand 
chancellor's  son,   John  of   Oxenstiern,    a 
proud    but    inexperienced    statesman,    to- 
gether with  the  counsellor  Adler  Salvius, 
a  man   too  much  open  to    bribery,    was 
forced   to   content   herself  with  Western 
Pomerania  and  Stettin,  the  island  of  Riigen, 
the  city  of  Wismar  in  Mecklenburg,  to- 
gether with  the  sees  of  Bremen  and  Ver- 
den on  the  Weser  ;  a  territory  the  major 
portion  of  which  was  very  poor  and  much 
devastated.     On  the  other  hand,  Sweden 
never  availed  herself  of  these  possessions 
to  act  inimically  towards  Germany.     As 
an  indemnification  for  the  expenses  of  the 
war,  the  Swedes  received  five  millions  of 
dollars  extracted  from  the  already  exhaust- 
ed sources  of  the  empire. 

3.  The   elector  of  Brandenburg,   who 
had  just  claims  to  the  whole  of  Pomerania, 
only  received  the  eastern  portion  of  that 
country,  and,  as  an  indemnification  for  the 
western  division,  he  received  the  archbish- 
opric of  Magdeburg,  and  the  bishoprics  of 
Halberstadt,  Minden,  and  Kanim,  as  lay. 
principalities. 

4.  Mecklenburg    received,    in    lieu    of 
Wismar,  .the  sees  of  Schwerin  and  Raize, 
burg. 

5.  Hesse  Cassel,  which  fioin  the  com- 


346 


FINAL  ADJUSTMENT  OF  RELIGIOUS  QUESTIONS. 


mencement  of  the  war  had  adhered  firmly 
to  Sweden,  and  wnose  beautiful  and  tal- 
ented landgravine,  Amelia,  succeeded  in 
captivating  all  hearts,  received  through 
the  mediation  of  Sweden  and  France,  al- 
though it  had  suffered  nc  loss,  the  abbey 
of  Hersfeld,  a  portion  of  ihe  country  of 
Schaumburg,  and  six  hundred  thousand 
rix-dollars. 

6.  Brunswick-Liineberg,  which  extend- 
ed its  claims  to  Magdeburg  and  Minden, 
and  subsequently  to  Osnaburg,   received 
the  privilege  by  which  one  of  its  princes 
should  hold  possession  of  this  latter  coun- 
try alternately  with  a  Catholic  bishop. 

7.  The  eldest  son  of   the    unfortunate 
Frederick  V.,  of  the  palatinate,  Charles 
Lewis — Frederick    himself    having    died 
thirteen  days  after  Gustavus  Adolphus — 
received  back  all  his  patrimonial  estates, 
except   the    upper    palatinate,  which  the 
elector  of  Bavaria  retained  ;    and   as  he 
likewise  would  not  yield  the  title  of  the 
electoral    dignity — the   fifth — a    privilege 
which  belonged  to  the   palatine  house,  a 
fresh  title — the  eighth — was  created  for  it 
purposely. 

I/"  8.  The  negotiations  for  the  adjustment 
of  religious  affairs  in  Germany  were  at- 
tended with  extreme  difficulty  and  consid- 
erable delay.  The  Protestants  demanded 
religious  liberty,  not  only  for  themselves, 
but  likewise  for  all  the  Protestant  subjects 
of  the  emperor ;  while  on  this  point,  the 
latter  was  equally  firm  and  inflexible  in 
withholding  his  consent.  They  were 
obliged,  therefore,  to  restrict  the  operation 
of  this  measure  to  the  empire  itself,  and, 
after  a  deliberation  which  lasted  six  months, 
the  decree  of  the  religious  peace  of  Passau 
was  eventually  renewed  and  fixed  as  the 
fundamental  basis  of  the  present  measure, 
and  it  was  resolved  that  the  Protestants 
should  retain  all  the  ecclesiastical  property 
they  possessed  in  the  year  1624,  in  land 
and  churches.  This  year  was  henceforth 
styled  the  normal  year,  and  from  that  time 
the  question  of  the  edict  of  Restitution 
was  altogether  abandoned.  The  Protest- 
ants accordingly  retained  the  archbishop^ 
rics  of  Magdeburg  and  Bremen  ;  the  bish- 
oprics of  Liibeck,  Osnaburg,  (alternately,) 
Halberstadt,  Verden,  Meissen,  Naumburg, 
Merseburg,  Lebus,  Brandenburg,  Havel- 
berg,  Minden,  Kanim,  Schwerin,  anri  Ratze- 
burg  ;  the  abbeys  of  Hirschfeld,  Walken- 
ried,  Gandersheim,  Quedlinburg,  Hervor- 


den,  and  Gernrode.  It  was  likewise 
ordered  and  approved,  that  no  sovereign 
prince  should  oppress  any  of  those  of  hi;- 
subjects  whose  faith  in  religious  matters 
deviated  from  his  own  ;  while  it  was  also 
decreed  that  the  imperial  chamber  should 
be  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  coun- 
sellors and  members  -Protestant  and  Cath- 
olic. By  these  regulations  the  peace  of 
Westphalia  became  a  fundamental  law  of 
the  empire,  and  although  some  causes  for 
dispute  and  discontent  were  not  altogether 
removed,  the  minds  of  the  people  in  gene- 
ral were  more  tranquillized.  Feelings  of 
hatred  were  no  longer  cherished,  the  prin- 
ciples of  tolerance  became  more  and  more 
widely  disseminated,  and  gradually  exert- 
ed their  beneficial  influence  in  the  hearts 
of  all ;  so  that  very  soon  the  bigotry  of 
parties  disappeared,  and  the  hand  of  fra- 
ternity was  held  out  between  those  who, 
although  differing  in  their  faith  from  each 
other,  nevertheless  now  acknowledged 
themselves  to  have  an  equal  claim  to  rank 
as  fellow  Germans  and  Christians.  Dif- 
ference in  religion  now  no  longer  formed 
an  insurmountable  wall  of  separation  be- 
tween men  ;  and  certainly  in  this  point  of 
view  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  by  estab- 
lishing fixed  laws  in  the  external  affairs  of 
the  Church,  produced  highly  satisfactory 
and  beneficial  results. 

9.  Respecting  the  rights  of  sovereignty 
due  to  the  princes,  and  the  relations  of  the 
states  of  the  empire  with  the,  emperor,  the 
peace  of  Westphalia  contained  such  regu- 
lations as  must  in  the  course  of  time  pro- 
duce a  still  greater  relaxation  of  those  ties, 
already  partially  loosened,  which  held  to- 
gether  the  empire  in  one  entirety.  In 
earlier  times  the  constitution  of  the  empire 
contained  already  many  defects :  great 
disorder,  abuse  of  power  in  defiance  of  the 
laws,  nay,  the  evils  produced  by  the  exist- 
ence of  an  entire  century,  during  which 
force  prevailed  over  justice — all  this  was 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  corrupt  state  of 
things.  The  main  cause,  however,  of  these 
results  originated  in  the  want  of  fixed 
written  laws,  whence,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  after  the  edict  of  the  golden  bull, 
various  measures  were  adopted  in  order  to 
establish  in  Germany,  by  imperial  laws, 
a  more  determined  form  of  constitution. 
Nevertheless,  there  existed  in  earlier  times 
a  bond  of  union  which  operated  with  more 
success  in  periods  of  disorder  than  even 


SWITZERLAND— THE  NETHER  LANDS 


341 


.he  written  laws  might  have  done,  and  this 
consisted  in  those  ancient  characteristics 
for  which  Germany  was  ever  distinguished  : 
sincere  and  faithful  loyalty,  antipathy  to 
foreigners,  a  holy  veneration  for  the  impe- 
rial majesty  of  the  sovereign,  produced  by 
the  conviction  that  the  dignity  of  emperor 
was  derived  from  God  as  a  divine  favor  for 
the  homage  of  mankind.  In  such  light 
was  the  imperial  presence  regarded  by  the 
princes  themselves,  as  expressed  by  them 
in  various  authentic  documents.  Subse- 
quently it  was  the  feudal  system,  based 
upon  the  ancient  customs  and  manners,  and 
springing  from  the  essential  condition  of  the 
people,  which  served  on  great  occasions, 
in  spite  of  the  want  of  written  laws,  to  hold 
together  the  various  portions  of  the  empire. 

When  in  ancient  times  the  prince,  the 
nobles,  and  the  people,  assembled  together, 
and  when  later  the  emperor  himself  pre- 
sided at  the  head  of  the  princes  of  the  em- 
pire at  the  diets,  it  was  then  the  prompt 
and  decisive  power  of  the  sovereign's  voice 
and  animated  eye  which  decreed  the  means 
of  remedying  existing  evils;  and  if  at  times 
disputes  arose,  his  regular  presence,  the  at- 
tention with  which  he  observed  with  eye  and 
ear  all  thaf,  passed  before  him,  and  the  con- 
fidence he  accordingly  produced  and  estab- 
lished between  himself  and  those  around 
him,  placed  him  at  once  in  a  position  to 
command  the  reconciliation  of  the  dispu- 
tants. At  the  same  time,  this  proximity  of 
the  imperial  dignity,  and  the  respect  it  in- 
spired in  all  sensible  and  well-minded  men, 
operated  for  the  benefit  of  the  entire  nation, 
while  the  emperor  himself,  by  the  high 
consideration  he  commanded  throughout 
Christendom,  represented  and  maintained 
its  honor. 

Now,  however,  for  a  length  of  time,  as 
we  are  already  aware,  the  princes  but 
rarely  attended  personally  at  the  diets  ;  but 
were  satisfied  with  sending  their  envoys,  or 
merely  their  written  communications.  The 
negotiations  were  often  carried  on  at  a  most 
tedious  rate  upon  subjects  of  the  most 
trivial  nature,  and  only  under  pressing  and 
extreme  cases  of  necessity  were  the  de- 
cisions pronounced.  Meantime  this  state 
of  legislation  was  not  at  all  sanctioned  by 
any  law  of  the  empire  ;  but  at  the  peace  of 
Westphalia  the  independence  of  the  princes 
was  made  completely  legal.  They  received 
he  entire  right  of  sovereignty  over  their 
territory,  together  with  the  power  of  making 


war,  concluding  peace,  and  forming  alii- 
ances  among  themselves,  as  well  as  with 
foreign  powers,  provided  such  alliances 
were  not  to  the  injury  of  the  empire.  But 
what  a  feeble  obstacle  must  this  clause 
have  presented  ?  For  henceforward,  if  a 
prince  of  the  empire,  having  formed  an  al- 
liance with  a  foreign  power,  became  hostile 
to  the  emperor,  he  could  immediately  avail 
himself  of  the  pretext  that  it  was  for  the 
benefit  of  the  empire,  the  maintenance  of 
his  rights,  and  the  liberty  of  Germany 
And  in  order  that  the  said  pretext  might, 
with  some  appearance  of  right,  be  madt 
available  on  every  occasion,  foreigners  es 
tablished  themselves  as  the  guardians  of  tin 
empire ;  and  accordingly  France  and  Swe 
den  took  upon  themselves  the  responsibility 
of  legislating  as  guarantees,  not  only  for  the 
Germanic  constitution,  but  for  every  thin£ 
else  that  was  concluded  in  the  peace  of 
Westphalia  at  Munster  and  Osnaburg. 

Added  to  this,  in  reference  to  the  impe- 
rial cities  whose  rights  had  hitherto  never 
been  definitively  fixed,  it  was  now  declared 
that  they  should  always  be  included  under 
the  head  of  the  other  states,  and  that  they 
should  command  a  decisive  voice  in  the 
diets ;  thenceforth,  therefore,  their  votes 
and  those  of  the  other  states — the  electoral 
and  other  princes — should  be  of  equal 
validity. 

10.  By  an  article  in  the  treaty  of  West- 
phalia, French  cunning  likewise  separated 
the  Swiss  confederation  from  the  Germanic 
empire,  and  acknowledged  it  as  an  indepen- 
dent state.     It  is  true  it  had  long  since  dis- 
continued rendering  homage  to  the  empire, 
but  its  dismemberment  therefrom  had  never 
been  legally  declared,  whence  the  way  for 
its  return  to  the  imperial  dominion  always 
lay  open  and  feasible,  in  case  any  of  the 
confederates  might  have  felt  a  desire  to  re- 
new their  alliance. 

11.  In  the  same  moment  that  the  empire 
thus  sacrificed  one  of  its  most  secure  de- 
fences on  the    frontiers  of  the  south,  the 
loss  of  the  Netherlands  left  it  completely 
bare  in  the  northwest :  for  in  this  peace 
Spain  was  forced  to  acknowledge  the  inde- 
pendence of  that   country,   and    Germany 
was  equally  obliged  to  free  it  from  all  ob- 
ligation of  fealty.     That  country  had  like- 
wise originally  belonged  to  the  same  race 
as  ourselves,  it  forming,  from  the  period  of 
Charles  V.,  part  of  our  confederation,  and 
commanding   the   mouth   of  our   national 


348 


FROM  J648  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME.% 


river — the  Rhine.  Thence  Germany  was 
left  equally  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  its 
enemies  in  the  north  from  the  Nether- 
lands, as  it  was  in  the  south  from  Switzer- 
land. 

It  was  only  after  great  care  and  exertion 
that  the  intricate  work  of  pacification  was 
at  length  brought  into  operation,  and  it 
could  only  be  perfected  by  slow  degrees 
and  at  much  additional  sacrifice.  The 
French  obstinately  refused  to  evacuate  the 
conquered  fortifications  until  the  most  petty 
details  of  the  conditions  had  been  fulfilled; 
while  the  Swedes  remained  two  years  longer 
in  Germany,  distributed  in  seven  circles  of 
the  empire,  determined  not  to  withdraw  un- 
til they  received  the  five  millions  of  dollars 


they  demanded  as  indemnification  for  the 
war  expenses,  and  which,  in  the  already 
reduced  and  miserable  state  of  our  unhap. 
py  country,  could  only  be  collected  with 
great  trouble  and  difficulty.  In  addition  to 
this,  it  has  been  calculated  that  during  these 
two  ruinous  years,  the  maintenance  of  the 
foreign  soldiers  quartered  throughout  the 
empire,  cost  at  the  rate  of  170,000  dollars 
per  day.  Nay,  even  six  years  after  the 
settlement  of  peace,  a  certain  number  of 
Swedish  regiments  levied  contributions  in 
the  bishopric  of  Munster,  and  Duke  Charles 
of  Lorraine,  who  had  been  driven  out  of  hia 
territory  by  the  French,  continued  for  a 
considerable  time  to  hold  possession  of  sev- 
eral  fortifications  on  the  Rhine. 


SEVENTH  PERIOD, 


FROM  THE  PEACE  OF  WESTPHALIA  IN  1648  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


IN  the  first  portion  of  this  period,  from  1G48  to  1740, 
the  art  of  historical  research  made  but  little  progress  in 
Germany :  we  find  the  sources  of  record  to  consist 
chiefly  of  compilations  made  from  public  acts,  collect- 
ed together  in  numerous  and  heavy  masses^  interspers- 
ed with  the  lives  of  the  emperors,  written  in  the  most 
partial  and  inflated  style.  Any  regular  and  critical 
statement  or  investigation  of  facts,  presenting  in  their 
treatment  elevation  of  thought  and  originality  of  genius, 
is  not  to  be  found  among  them.  In  France,  however, 
among  the  numerous  memoirs  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XIV.,  we  meet  at  least  with  that  peculiar  style  of  rep- 
resentation, by  which  the  connecting  links  in  the  chain 
of  state  policy  are  far  more  clearly  traced,  and  the  ideas 
and  motives  of  individuals  more  strikingly  developed. 

As  collections  embodying  especially  public  transac- 
tions and  political  events  we  find  included  : 

1.  Records  of  the  Imperial  Chancery,  1657-1714. 

2.  Diarium  Europasum,  1659^1681,45  vols. 

3.  Sylloge  Publicorum  Negotiarum,  1674-1697,  by  Lu- 
nig.,  (died  in  1740.) 

4.  European  Court  of  Chancery;   commenced  by 
Leucht,  and  continued  by  Faber  and  Konig,  1697-1760, 
115  vols.    Resumed  by  Faber  under  the  title  of  New 
Court  of  Chancery,  1760-1783,  17  vols. 

5.  European  Fame,  1703-1734,  350  parts  in  30  vols., 
and  New  European  Fame,  1735-1756,  192  parts  in  17 
vols. 

6.  Mercure  Historique  et  Politique,  commenced  by  G. 
Sandras,  torn.  I.,  Parma,  1686 ;  from  1688  to  1782,  at  the 
Hague,  in  more  than  200  vols. 

7.  The  History  of  the  Emperor  Leopold  I.,  has  been 
written  in  a  very  good  historical  style  in  Italian  by  Ga- 
leazzo  Gualdi,  Bapt.  Comazzi,  and  Jos.  Maria  Reina  ; 
and  in  German  by  J.  J.  Schmauss,  C.  B.  Menkin,  G. 
Rink,  and  best  of  all  in  Latin,  by  F  Wagner,  but  only 
to  the  year  1689. 

8.  S.  von  Puflendorf,  Res  gestse  Frid.  Guil.  Magni, 
Elect.  Brand.    Berlin,  1695,  and  Lips,  et  Berol.,  1733. 

9.  Camill.  Contarinus,  History  of  the  Turkish  war  in 
1683,  in  Italian;  Venice,  1710. 

10.  L.  de  St.  Simon,  CEuvres,  13  vols.    Especially 
valuable  in  reference  to  the  time  of  Louis  XIV. 

11.  The  Life  of  Joseph  I.,  by  Wagner,  Zshackwitz 
Nint,  end  Herchenhahn. 


12.  The  Life  of  Charles  VI.,  by  Zshackwitz,  Schwarz, 
Schmauss,  and  Schirach. 

On  the  history  of  the  War  of  Succession  to  the  Span- 
ish throne,  the  principal  works  are  : 

13.  De  Lamberty,  Memoires  pour  servir  a  Phistoire 
du  18me  siecle ;  1700-1718,  La  Hague,  14  vols.,  and 

14.  History  of  the  War  of  Succession  to  the  Spanish 
throne,  by  two  anonymous  writers.  Two  Editions  ;  one 
in  French,  printed  at  Cologne  in  1708 ;  the  other  in 
English,  printed  in  London  in  1707. 

15.  Memoires  du  Prince  Eugene  de  Savoie  ecrits  par 
lui-meme.     Weimar,  1810. 

16.  W.  Coxe,  Memoirs  of  John,  Duke  of  Marlbo- 
rough,  6  vols.,  1820. 

The  great  events  which  took  place  during  the  period 
of  1740  to  1789,  especially  those  of  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  Frederick  tho 
Great  inspired  all  his  contemporaries,  excited  a  spirit 
for  historical  composition  which,  although  it  may  not 
have  produced  works  of  the  first  order,  is  nevertheless 
entitled  to  place  its  writings  in  the  second  rank. 
The  great  Frederick  himself  devoted  his  pen  to  the 
task  of  writing  a  history  of  his  own  times  and  ac- 
tions, his— 

17.  Frederick  II.,  Histoire  de  mon  Terns,  and  His- 
toire de  la  Guerre  de  Sept  Ans ;  and  other  works  rela- 
ting to  history  and  politics,  together  with  his  corres- 
pondence with  many  distinguished  persons,  are  valua- 
ble documents  in  our  historical  collection. 

18.  Adelung,  History  of  the  States  of  Europe  from 
1740  to  1798,  6  vols.,  treats  especially  upon  the  history 
of  the  succession  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

The  following  works  give  especial  details  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War : 

19.  War-office   reports,    (Deutsche   Kriegskanzlei,) 
1757-1763, 18  vols. 

20.  Contributions  to  the  more  recent  History  of  Wai 
and  State  Policy,  (Beitrage  zur  Neueren  Staats-  um* 
Kriegs  Geschichte,)  1756-1762,  13  vols. 

21.  Lloyd,  Histoire  de  la  Derniere  Guerre  en  Alle 
magne ;  traduit  de  1' Anglais  par  Templehof,  5  vcis. 

22.  Archenholz,  History  of  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
2  vols. 

23.  Retzow,  Criticism  of  the  important  events  3f  <1» 
Seven  Years'  War. 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS. 


349 


24.  Pe  Mauvillon,  Histoiro  de  Ferdinand  de  Bruns- 
wick, 1790. 

25.  Campaigns  of  the  Allied  Armies,  1757-1762,  from 
the  journal  of  Major-General  von  Rheden,  1805. 

•Jti.  History  of  tiie  Battle  of  Kiineredorf,  by  Kriele, 
pastor  of  Kimersdorf.  Berlin,  1801. 

27.  The  Life  of  Frederick  II.  has  been  vyritten  by 
neveral  historians,  including  Koester,  Seitlart,  Zim- 
mermann,  Fuuke.  Garve,  Stein,  Thibault,  Forster, 
Preuss,  and  Nicolai,  the  latter  of  whom  has  added 
numerous  anecdotes  in  Frederick's  life. 

( >n  State  Politics  we  have : 

'28.  Count  Hersberg.Recueil  des  Deductions,  Mani- 
festos, Declarations,  Traites,  &c.,  publics  pur  la  Cour 
de  Prusse  depuis  1'annee  1756-1790.  3  vols. 

The  following  are  the  works  which  treat  upon  the 
period  subsequent  to  the  Seven  Years'  War : 

-Mi.  Manso,  Geschichte  des  Preuss.  StaatsvomHu- 
bertusburger  Frieden  bis  zur  zweiten  Pariser  Abkunft, 
3  vols. 

30.  Dohm,  Memoirs  of  my  Times,  1778-180G,  5  vols. 
A  work  of  great  importance  connected  with  the  latter 
period  of  the  reign  of  Frederick  the  Great  and  the 
French  Revolution,  but  more  especially  valuable  for 
the  impartiality  displayed  by  the  author. 

31.  Biisching,  3Iasazine  of  History  and  Geography, 
1761-1781,  15  vols.,  Hamburg ;   and  1781-1793,  23  vols., 
Halle. 

a-,'.  Schlozer,  Historical  Correspondence,  1775-1782, 
10  vols.,  and  Political  Advertiser,  178-2-1793,  18  vols. 

33.  Schirachs,  Political  Journal,  1781-1804,  continued 
by  his  son  to  the  present  day. 

"34.  Archenholz,  Minerva,  1792-1809,  continued  to 
the  present  time  by  A.  Bran. 

35.  Girtannen  Political  Annals,  1793-1794. 

36.  Posselt,  European  Annals,  1795-1804,  and  con- 
tinued to  the  present'time  by  other  authors. 

37.  Review  of  the  Prussian  Monarchy  under  Fred- 
erick William  III.,  1798-1801. 

From  the  commencement  of  the!9th  century  we  have: 

38.  The  Times,  by  C.  D.  Voss,  1805-1820. 

39.  Bredow,  Chronicle  of  the  19th  century, ,1801-1808, 
continued  by  Venturini  as  a  history  of  our  times,  from 
1809  to  the  present  moment. 

On  the  History  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  follow- 
ing are  the  principal  works  in  Germany: 

40  Girtanner,  Historical  Revelations  of  the  French 
Revolution,  continued  by  Buchholz,  17  vols. 

41  Von  Eggers,  Memoirs  of  the  French  Revolution, 
C  vob. 

42.  J.  G.  Eichhorn,  The  French  Revolution  at  one 
View,  2  vols. 

43.  Rehberg,  Researches  into  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, with  a  critical  notice  of  the  most  distinguished 
works  upon  the  subject. 

The  following  treat  upon  the  wars  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution : 

44.  Scharnhorst,  Military  Memoirs  of  our  Time,  6 
vols. 

45.  Charles,  Archduke  of  Austria,  History  of  the 
Campaign  of  1799  in  Germany  and  Switzerland,  2  vols. 

On  the  Negotiations  of  the  Peace  of  Rastadt : 

46.  Von  Haller,  Private  History  of  the  Rastadt  Ne- 
gotiations of  Peace  in  connection  with  the  political 
transactions  of  this  period.    Germania,  6  vols. 

47.  Munch  von  Bellinghausen,  Protocol  of  the  Depu- 
tation for  the  Peace  of  the  Empire  at  Rastadt,  com- 
pared exactly  with  the  original  documents,  with  notes, 
6  vols. 

On  the  Wars  of  the  19th  Century  : 

48.  Von  Billow,  The  Campaign  of  1805  in  a  military 
and  political  point  of  view,  2  vols. 

49.  The  Battle  of  Austerlitz,  by  an  officer  present. 

50.  K.  von  Plotho,  Journal  of  the  Military  Operations 
in  the  years  1806  and  1807. 

51.  Von  Valentini,  Essay  upon  the  History  of  the 
Campaign  of  1809. 

52.  Von  Hormayr,  the  Austrian  army  in  the  war  of 
1809,  HI  Italy,  the  Tyrol,  and  Hungary,  from  official 
sources. 

5:).  BerthoMy.  The  War  of  the  Tyrolese  in  1809. 

34.  History  of  Andreas  Hofer,  from  original  sources. 
Lfpsic  and  Altenburg,  1817. 

5o.  Liiders,  The  War  of  1812,  between  France  and 
Russia. 

5<»  K.  von  Plotho,  The  War  in  Germany  and  France, 
- 


57.  Odelebcn,  Napoleon's  Campaign  in  Saxony  in  the 
year  1813. 

58.  Aster,  The  Battle  of  Leipsic,  with  plans;  with 
many  other  works  upon  the  s;un<-  subject. 

59.  The  Central  Administration  of  the  AJies  undei 
Baron  Stein. 

60.  General  Muffling,  History  of  the  Campaign  of 
1815,  under  Wellington  and  Bliicher. 

61.  F.  Forster,  Field-marshal  Bliicher  and  his  opera- 
tions, 1821. 

62.  Saalfeld,  History  jf  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  2  vols. 

63.  Kliiber,  View  of  the  Diplomatic  '1  ransactions  a 
the  Congress  of  Vienna,  1816. 

64.  Protocol  of  the  German  Diet,  1816. 

65.  G.  von  Meyer,  Repertory  of  the  Transactions  o 
the  German  Diet,  1822. 

66.  Monumenta   Germani®  Ilistorica,    ed.  G.    II 
Pertz. 

67.  J.  Schmidt,  History  of  Germany,  continued  bj 
Milbiller  and  Dresch,  27  vols. 

68.  Heinrich,  ditto,  ditto,  3  vols. 

69.  A.  Menzel,  History  of  Germany,  9  vols. 

70.  Luden,  History  of  the  German  Nation,  12  vols. 


CHAPTER  XXVli. 

General  Observations— State  of  the  Empire— Agricul- 
ture-Commerce—The  Nobility— French  Language, 
Fashions,  and  Customs— Decline  of  National  Feeling 
in  Germany— Death  of  Ferdinand  III.,  1657— Leo- 
pold I.,  1658-1705— The  Rhenish  League— Louis 
XIV.  of  France— His  ambitious  and  aggrandizing 
Spirit— Conquers  the  Netherlands— The  Elector  Fre- 
derick William  of  Brandenburg— Westphalia— The 
Rhine — War  between  France  and  Germany— Battle 
of  Fehrbellin,  1675— Successes  of  the  Elector  of  Bran- 
denburg— His  energetic  Character — Extends  and  im- 
proves his  Territories — Berlin — Konigsberg— Generals 
Montecuculi  and  Turenne— Peace  of  Nimwegen, 
1678— The  Four  French  Chambers  of  Reunion- 
Treachery  and  Dishonesty  of  Louis  XIV.  towards 
Germany— Claims  and  takes  possession  of  Strasburg 
and  other  German  Towns  on  the  Rhine— Enters 
Strasburg  in  Triumph,  1681— Pusillanimity  and  Dis- 

Saceful  Inertness  of  the  Germans— The  Turks  in 
ungary— Advance  and  lay  Siege  to  Vienna,  1683— 
Flight  of  Leopold  and  his  Court— Brave  Defence  of 
the  Viennese  under  Count  Rudiger  of  Stahrenberg — 
Relieved  by  Duke  Charles  of  Lorraine  and  Sobieski, 
King  of  Poland  —  Heroism  of  Sobieski  —  Battle  of 
Naussdorf— Total  Overthrow  and  Flight  of  the  Turks 
by  Sobieski— His  Letter  to  his  Queen— Description  ol 
the  Battle. 

IT  will  not  require  many  words,  nor  will 
it  prove  a  task  of  much  difficulty  to  repre- 
sent the  sadly  depressed  state  of  the  coun- 
try  after  a  war  of  such  devastation,  and 
which  had  continued  during  half  the  period 
of  that  existence  commonly  allotted  to  man. 
Two  thirds  of  the  population  had  perished 
not  so  much  by  the  sword  itself,  as  by  those 
more  lingering  and  painful  sufferings  which 
such  a  dreadful  war  brhigs  in  its  train  , 
contagion,  plague,  famine,  and  all  the  other 
attendant  horrors.  For  death  on  the  fielJ 
of  battle  itself  is  not  the  evil  of  war ;  such  a 
death,  on  the  contrary,  is  often  the  most  glo- 
rious, inasmuch  as  the  individual  is  taken 
off  in  a  moment  of  enthusiastic  ardor,  and 
while  he  is  inspired  with  the  whole  force 


STATE  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 


of  his  vital  power ;  thus  he  is  relieved  from 
the  anxious  and  painful  contemplation  of 
the  gradual  approach  of  his  last  moments. 
But  the  true  curse  of  war  is  based  in  the 
horrors  and  miseries  it  spreads  among,  and 
with  which  it  overwhelms,  those  who  can 
lake  no  active  share  in  it — women,  chil- 
dren, and  aged  men,  and  from  whom  it 
snatches  all  the  enjoyments,  all  the  hopes 
of  life  ;  thence  the  germ  of  a  new  genera- 
tion becomes  poisoned  in  its  very  principle, 
and  can  only  unfold  itself  with  struggling 
pain  and  sorrow,  without  strength  or  cour- 
age. 

Nevertheless,  in  Germany  the  natural 
energy  of  the  people  speedily  aroused  itself 
among  them,  and  a  life  of  activity  and 
serious  application  very  soon  succeeded  in 
a  proportionate  degree  to  that  which  had 
so  long  been  characterized  by  disorder  and 
negligence  :  and  it  is  thus  that  the  two  ex- 
tremes often  meet.  The  demoralization 
so  generally  existing — produced  on  the  one 
hand  by  the  warriors  who,  on  their  return 
home  from  the  camp,  introduced  there 
much  of  the  licentiousness  they  had  pre- 
viously indulged  in,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
through  the  juvenile  classes  having  grown 
up  arid  become  matured  without  education, 
and  being  by  force  of  example  in  almost  a 
savage  state — obliged  the  princes  now  to 
devote  all  their  attention  and  care  towards 
re-establishing  the  exercise  of  religious 
worship,  and  restoring  the  schools  and  ec- 
.. lesiastical  institutions;  measures  which 
never  fail  to  produce  beneficial  results. 
But  it  was  agriculture  which  more  espe- 
cially made  rapid  strides  in  the  improve- 
ments introduced,  and  which  was  pursued 
with  an  activity  hitherto  unexampled.  As 
a  great  number  of  the  landowners  had  per- 
ished during  the  war,  land  generally  be- 
tame  materially  reduced  in  price,  and  the 
population  accordingly  showed  everywhere 
the  most  active  industry  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil ;  so  that  within  a  short  space  of 
time  the  barren  fields  were  replaced  by 
fertile  meadows,  and  fruitful  gardens  amidst 
smiling  villages  greeted  the  eye  in  every 
part.  The  moment  had  now  arrived,  like- 
wise, when  the  claims  of  the  peasantry  to 
the  rights  of  freeborn  men  were  acknow- 
ledged more  and  more,  and  the  chains  by 
which  they  had  been  hitherto  bound  were 
gradually  relaxed,  until  at  length  the  final 
link  which  held  them  fell  to  the  ground. 
Thus  Germany  might  have  become  more 


flourishing  than  ever  by  the  prosperous: 
state  of  its  agriculture,  for  it  is  from  the 
maternal  earth  that  a  nation  draws  its 
source  and  strength  of  life,  when  it  devotes 
its  powers  to  that  object ;  but  essential  and 
general  causes  interfered,  unhappily,  to 
prevent  the  fulfilment,  of  this  desirable 
object. 

In  the  first  place,  the  declining  state  o? 
the  cities  operated  in  a  special  degree  to 
destroy  the  beneficial  results  of  agriculture. 
The  prosperity  of  the  cities  had  received  a 
vital  blow,  as  already  shown,  by  the  com- 
plete change  which  had  been  introduced 
in  the  whole  system  of  commerce  ;  its  de- 
cline, however,  was  only  partial  until  the 
period  of  the  war  of  thirty  years.  Shortly 
previous  to  the  commencement  of  this  war, 
a  foreign  writer  placed  Germany  still  at  the 
head  of  every  other  country,  in  respect  to 
the  extent  and  number  of  its  cities,  and  the 
genius,  talent,  and  activity  of  its  artists  and 
artisans.  They  were  sent  for  from  every 
part  of  Europe.  At  Venice,  for  instance, 
the  most  ingenious  goldsmiths,  clock- 
makers,  carpenters,  as  well  as  even  the 
most  distinguished  painters,  sculptors,  and 
engravers,  were,  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  all  natives  of  Germany.  But  it 
will  suffice  to  mention  the  names  of  such 
celebrated  artists  as  Albert  Diirer,  Hans 
Holbein,  and  Lucas  Cranach,  to  form  an 
idea  of  the  prosperous  state  of  the  arts  in 
the  cities  of  Germany  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  sixteenth  century.  This  ter- 
rible war,  however,  gave  them  their  mortal 
blow  ;  numerous  free  cities,  previously  in 
a  flourishing  state,  were  completely  re- 
duced to  ashes,  others  nearly  depopulated 
altogether,  and  all  those  extensive  factories 
and  institutions  which  gave  to  Germany 
the  superiority  over  other  nations,  were, 
through  loss  of  the  workmen,  completely 
deserted  and  left  in  a  state  of  inactivit}7". 
Thence,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Hanseatio 
league  in  Lubeck,  in  1630,  those  few  cities 
which  still  remained  in  existence  declareo 
they  were  no  longer  able  to  contribute 
towards  the  expenses  of  the  league.  Eco- 
nomy and  strict  industry  might  perhaps 
have  raised  them  gradually  from  the  state 
of  misery  into  which  they  had  thus  fallen, 
but  their  ancient  prosperity  and  importance 
were  both  forever  gone  ;  and,  as  is  stated 
by  one  of  our  early  writers,  on  the  fore- 
heads of  these  once  wealthy  citizens  might 
be  traced  in  characters  too  clearly  er- 


THE  NOBILITY— NATIONAL  DEGRADATION 


351 


pressed,  how  fallen  was  their  state,  reduced 
as  they  now  were  to  endure  a  painful  and 
laborious  existence.  Many  of  the  cities, 
some  voluntarily,  others  through  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  times,  saw  themselves  com- 
pelled to  submit  to  the  power  of  the  princes, 
as  for  instance,  Christopher,  bishop  of 
Gahlen,  made  himself  master  of  Minister, 
in  1661  ;  the  elector  of  Mentz,  of  the  city 
of  Erfurt,  in  1664  ;  the  elector  of  Branden- 
burg, of  the  city  of  Magdeburg,  in  1666 ; 
and  the  duke  of  Brunswick,  of  the  city  of 
Brunswick,  in  1671 ;  while  those  which 
retained  the  title  of  free  cities,  how  poor 
and  miserably  did  they  drag  on  their  exist- 
ence, until  at  length,  in  more  recent  times, 
they  likewise  lost  their  privilege  altogether. 

The  nobility  had  likewise  lost  much  of 
their  ancient  dignity  and  lustre.  Ever 
since  they  no  longer  formed  more  espe- 
cially the  military  state  of  the  empire,  and 
their  noble  cavaliers  no  longer  conferred 
exclusively  glory  upon  the  nation ;  ever 
since  they  had  abandoned  their  indepen- 
dence, by  attaching  themselves  to  the  court, 
or  wasted  all  their  strength  in  a  life  spent 
in  indolence,  and  without  any  noble  object 
in  view  ;  and,  finally,  ever  since  they  had 
commenced  imitating  and  adopting  the  man- 
ners, customs,  and  languages  of  foreign 
nations,  and  substituted  their  effeminacy 
and  refinement  for  the  ancient  energy  and 
sincerity  for  which  Germany  had  ever  been 
so  renowned — ever  since,  we  say,  these 
changes  and  innovations  had  been  intro- 
duced, the  nobles  of  the  empire  had  gradu- 
ally degenerated  and  lost  all  their  conse- 
quence and  dignity.  Thus  were  eclipsed 
two  of  the  most  important  and  essential 
states  of  the  empire,  and  which  above 
every  other  had  both  contributed  to  give  to 
the  middle  ages,  in  spite  of  all  their  other 
defects,  that  grand  and  vigorous  character 
for  which  that  period  was  so  much  distin- 
guished. 

It  is  true,  that  during  the  last  few  centuries 
changes  of  a  similar  nature  had  taken  place 
in  other  countries  of  Europe,  and  which, 
by  thus  substituting  a  new  order  of  things, 
obliterated  all  that  which  had  characterized 
the  middle  agos.  But  with  all  this,  ample 
compensation  was  found  in  the  wealth  and 
prosperity  commanded  by  commerce,  while 
in  this  respect  Germany  was  now  deprived 
of  all  such  resources.  The  share  which  a 
few  of  the  cities  still  took  in  the  commerce 
of  the  world  could  not  establish  or  effect  a 


balance  of  the  whole ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  instead  of  restricting  themselves  to 
that  simple  order  of  life — so  especially 
necessary  among  an  agricultural  people — • 
and  thus  trying  to  avert  the  coming  indi 
gence,  they  launched  out  more  and  more 
into  a  luxurious  state  of  living;  and  ac- 
cordingly, in  exchange  for  precious  and 
exotic  articles  of  merchandise,  they  gave 
up  to  foreign  nations  all  the  rich  fruits  of 
agriculture  and  industry  produced  at  home 
at  the  expense  of  so  much  toil  and  anxiety. 
For,  however  fertile  the  soil  of  our  country, 
and  however  varied  its  produce,  it  could 
not  possibly  equal  in  value  the  rich  wares 
imported  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
When,  however,  the  love  of  luxury  and 
sensual  pleasure  has  gained  the  upperhand, 
nothing  can  restrict  or  check  its  extrava- 
gant and  insatiable  demands. 

This  evil,  however,  was  not  one  origi- 
nally implanted  in  our  nature,  it  w>as  com- 
municated  to  us  by  those  foreigners  whom 
we  sought  to  imitate  in  every  thing — even 
in  their  degeneracy.  The  excursions  now 
made  beyond  Germany,  and  especially  to 
France  and  its  metropolis ;  the  imitation 
more  and  more  indulged  in  of  the  fashions 
and  manners  of  the  French,  and  even  of 
their  immorality  itself;  the  introduction 
and  reception  of  French  professors  and 
governesses  into  various  German  families 
for  the  education  of  the  juvenile  branches  ; 
the  contempt  more  and  more  shown  and  felt 
for  our  own  native  language  ;  the  enthu- 
siasm indulged  in  for  that  French  philo- 
sophy, so  superficial,  and  yet  at  the  same 
time  so  easily  adapted  to  render  the  indivi- 
dual wholly  indifferent  to  his  religious, 
moral,  and  social  duties;  all  these  causes, 
we  repeat,  had  operated  more  and  more 
injuriously  among  the  higher,  as  well  as 
the  middling  classes  of  society,  and  thence, 
at  the  present  period,  their  influence  pre- 
sented the  most  baneful  effects. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  is  not  to 
be  denied  but  that  our  relations  with  foreign 
countries  have  materially  promoted  the 
civilization  of  Germany ;  and  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  recognise  in  the  course  of  mod- 
ern history  a  tendency  to  render  more  and 
more  firm  and  durable  the  bond  of  union 
between  all  the  nations  of  Christendom. 
Placed  as  we  are  in  the  centre  of  the  pjin- 
cipal  nations  of  Europe,  we  h&ve  e?er 
warmly  sympathized  with,  and  the  forms  ol 
our  political  constitution  have  ever  encour- 


352 


LOUIS  XIV.— DEATH  OF  FERDINAND  JJI. 


aged  the  movement  of  moral  and  intellec- 
tual progress.  For  in  most  other  countries, 
each  of  which  was  constituted  into  one  ho- 
mogeneous  kingdom,  the  chief  city  was  the 
first  to  set  the  example  in  the  adoption  of 
all  that  it  might  judge  worthy  of  patronage 
and  dissemination,  and  thence  it  established 
the  rule  or  law  for  the  co-optation  thereof 
generally  throughout  the  provinces  :  by  this 
means,  however,  the  progress  made  be- 
came gradually  subjected  to  certain  fixed 
forms,  whence  it  could  not  be  exempt  from 
partiality.  In  Germany,  on  the  contrary, 
science  and  art  have  marched  together  full 
of  activity  and  independence  as  in  a  free 
dominion.  The  superior,  equally  with  the 
lesser  states,  rivalled  each  other  in  their 
patronage  ;  no  single  town,  no  particular 
individual,  was  empowered  to  impose  laws  ; 
and,  finally,  no  favoritism,  no  exception  of 
person,  was  shown,  but  every  thing  bear- 
ing within  it  essential  and  sterling  merit, 
was  sure  sooner  or  later  to  meet  with  due 
acknowledgment  and  appreciation ;  and 
thence  it  is  that  our  nation  has  made  such 
progress  in  all  the  sciences. 

Nevertheless,  this  moment  must  be  re- 
garded as  teeming  with  dangerous  error. 
Nothing  is  more  difficult  for  human  nature 
than  to  maintain  the  one  direct  and  central 
path  without  diverging  to  one  side  or  the 
other  ;  nothing  more  difficult  than  to  com- 
bine civilization  and  enlightenment  with 
religious  and  moral  strictness,  to  unite  an 
acute  sensibility  for  all  that  is  really 
good  and  valuable  in  genius,  wherever 
found,  with  honesty  and  constancy  of  prin- 
ciple, and  to  conjoin  independence  of  spirit 
with  self-denial  and  submission.  This  me- 
dium course  ought,  therefore,  to  be  the  main 
object  of  the  endeavors  of  all,  both  of  in- 
dividuals and  nations.  The  period  we  are 
about  to  trace  will  show  us  in  what  degree 
this  object  was  alternately  approached  by 
or  receded  from  our  nation  ;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  it  will  present  us  with  all  those 
vicissitudes  to  which  mankind  is  subject. 

This  series  of  good  and  bad  fortune  is, 
we  shall  find,  more  especially  shown  in 
our  external  relations :  days  of  prosperity 
and  peace  were  succeeded  by  those  of  dis- 
tress ;  but  the  latter  down  to  and  during 
this  period,  continued  in  their  degree  to 
outweigh  the  former.  In  no  period  of  our 
history  do  we  find  presented  such  melan- 
choly pictures  as  during  the  long  reign  of 
Louis  XIV.  of  France,  nor  has  our  state 


policy  ever  shown  so  much  weakness  and 
pusillanimity  as  when  suffering  from  hi? 
ambitious  designs.  During  the  short  in- 
terval of  tranquillity  from  the  time  of  his 
death  to  the  war  of  the  Austrian  succession, 
the  arts  of  peace  once  more  revived  a  lit- 
tle, but  the  progress  of  their  development 
was  again  checked  by  the  storms  of  that 
contest,  and  more  especially  by  the  still 
more  ruinous  war  of  seven  years,  which 
immediately  succeeded.  The  interval  of 
twenty-five  years,  from  the  conclusion  of 
this  war  to  the  commencement  of  the 
French  revolution,  was  the  longest  period 
of  tranquillity  we  had  hitherto  enjoyed  ; 
and  during  this  space  of  time,  art  and  sci- 
ence once  more  came  into  activity,  and 
made  such  flourishing  progress,  that  in 
spite  of  the  war  of  twenty-five  years  by 
which  the  French  revolution  was  succeed- 
ed, this  progress,  although  much  checked, 
was  not  altogether  destroyed.  Let  us  hope 
that  the  state  of  peace  we  at  present  enjoy, 
may  long  continue  to  heal  the  wounds  so 
bitterly  inflicted  upon  our  country,  and 
thus  encourage  more  and  more  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  intellectual  re- 
sources of  the  German  nation. 

The  emperor  Ferdinand  III.  lived  nine' 
years  after  the  peace  of  Westphalia  ;  he 
reigned  with  moderation  and  wisdom,  and 
until  his  death  the  peace  of  Germany  re- 
mained undisturbed.  He  had  already  pro- 
cured the  decision  of  the  princes  in  favor 
of  his  son  Ferdinand,  as  his  successor  to 
the  imperial  throne,  when  unfortunately 
that  young  man,  who  had  excited  the  most 
sanguine  hopes,  and  towards  whom  all 
eyes  were  turned  with  confidence,  died  in 
1654  of  the  small-pox.  Ferdinand  was, 
therefore,  forced  to  resume  his  efforts  with 
the  princes  in  favor  of  his  second  son, 
Leopold — although  he  was  far  from  pos- 
sessing the  capacity  of  his  deceased  brother 
— but  he  himself  died  on  the  2d  of  April, 
1657,  before  the  desired  object  was  fully 
obtained. 

The  election  of  the  new  emperor  met 
with  considerable  difficulty,  because  the 
government  of  France  was  anxious  to  avail 
itself  of  this  moment  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  imperial  dignity,  to  which  it  had 
long  aspired.  It  had  in  fact  already  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  over  the  electoral  princes 
of  the  Rhino  ;  but  all  the  rest  of  the  Ger- 
man princes  felt  the  shame  and  disgract 
such  a  choice  must  bring  upon  the  nation, 


THE  RHENISH  LEAGUE 


353 


and  decided  at  once  in  favor  of  Leopold, 
archduke  of  Austria,  although  this  prince 
was  only  eighteen  years  of  age ;  and  he 
was  accordingly  elected  at  Frankfort  on 
the  18th  of  July,  1658. 

Meantime  Cardinal  Mazarin,  the  prime 
minister  of  France,  had  already  formed 
an  alliance,  which,  under  the  name  of  the 
Rhenish  league,  had  for  its  object  the  total 
annihilation  of  the  house  of  Austria,  al- 
though apparently  its  only  aim  was  the  con- 
servation  of  the  peace  of  Westphalia.  The 
parties  included  in  the  union  were  France, 
Sweden,  the  electors  of  Mentz,  Cologne, 
and  Treves,  the  bishop  of  Miinster,  the 
palatine  of  Neuburg,  the  elector  of  Hesse- 
Cassel,  and  the  three  dukes  of  Brunswick- 
Liineburg;  a  singularly  mixed  alliance  of 
Catholic  spiritual  and  lay  princes  with  the 
Protestant  princes  and  Swedes,  who  had 
only  so  recently  before  stood  opposed  to 
each  other  in  open  warfare.  A  learned 
historian  of  that  period  unfolds  to  us  what 
were  the  real  intentions  of  France  in  form- 
ing this  league,  as  well  as  the  motives  by 
which  she  was  guided  throughout  her  pro- 
ceedings against  Germany  :  "  Instead  of 
resorting  to  open  force,  as  in  the  war  of 
thirty  years,  it  appeared  more  expedient  to 
France  to  hold  attached  to  her  side  a  few 
of  the  German  princes,  and  especially  those 
along  the  Rhine,  by  a  bond  of  union — and, 
as  it  is  said,  by  the  additional  obligation  of 
an  annual  subsidy — and,  above  all  things, 
to  appear  to  take  great  interest  in  the  af- 
fairs of  Germany  ;  thus,  the  princes  might 
be  brought  to  believe  that  the  protection  of 
France  would  be  more  secure  than  that 
of  the  emperor  and  the  laws  of  the  empire. 
This  means  of  paving  the  way  for  the  de- 
struction of  all  liberty  in  Germany  was, 
as  may  be  easily  judged,  by  no  means 
badly  conceived." 

France  very  soon  showed  that  she  only 
waited  for  an  opportunity  of  seizing  her 
prey  with  the  same  hand  which  she  had 
so  recently  held  out  in  friendship.  The 
long  reign  of  Leopold  I.  was  almost  wholly 
filled  up  with  wars  against  France  and  her 
arrogant  prince,  Louis  XIV.  ;  and  our  poor 
country  was  again  made  the  scene  of  san- 
guinary violence  and  devastation.  Leo- 
pold, who  was  a  prince  of  a  mild  and  reli- 
gious disposition,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  of 
an  equally  inactive  and  pusillanimous  char- 
acter, was  by  no  means  calculated  to  enter 
he  field  against  the  French  king,  in  whom 
45 


were  united  great  cunning  with  unlimited 
ambition  and  insolent  pride.  France  now 
pursued,  with  persevering  determination, 
the  grand  object  she  had  in  view,  of  making 
the  Rhine  her  frontiers,  and  of  gaining  pos- 
session of  the  Spanish  Netherlands — which, 
under  the  name  of  the  Burgundian  circle, 
belonged  to  the  Germanic  empire — Lor- 
raine, the  remaining  portion  of  Alsace,  not 
yet  in  its  occupation,  together  with  all  the 
lands  of  the  German  princes  situated  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine.  This  spirit  of 
aggrandizement  was  shared  in  equally  by 
the  king  and  the  people,  and  it  is  an  error 
to  suppose  this  feeling  was  only  first 
brought  into  existence  in  our  time  through 
the  revolution,  and  the  wild  ambition  of 
a  few  individuals.  Already,  during-  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  French  authors 
began  to  write  in  strong  and  forcible  lan- 
guage upon  the  subject  of  conquest,  and 
one  among  them,  a  certain  d'Aubry,  even 
went  so  far  as  to  express  in  a  pamphlet 
his  opinions  founded  on  the  question — at 
that  moment  a  novel  one,  but  which  after- 
wards became  of  serious  consideration,  and 
was  nearly  carried  into  execution — that, 
viz.  "  The  Roman-Germanic  empire,  such 
as  was  possessed  by  Charlemagne,  belong- 
ed to  his  king  and  his  descendants ;"  and 
the  Abbe  Colbert,  in  an  address  to  the 
king,  in  the  name  of  the  clergy,  adds  the 
words:  "Oh,  king,  who  givest  laws  to  the 
seas  as  well  as  to  all  lands ;  who  sendest 
thy  lightning  wherever  it  pleasest  thee. 
even  to  the  shores  of  Africa  itself;  who 
subjectest  the  pride  of  nations,  and  forcest 
their  sovereigns  to  bend  their  knee  in  all 
humility  before  thee  in  acknowledgment  of 
the  power  of  thy  sceptre,  and  to  implore 
thy  mercy,"  &c.  Such  was  the  language 
used  already  in  1668,  and  in  the  face  of 
Europe,  by  a  state  which  ought  to  have  sur 
passed  all  others  in  moderation  and  truth. 
Accordingly,  Louis  now  commenced  op- 
erations by  conquering  the  Netherlands, 
pleading  his  ancient  hereditary  right  to  the 
possession  of  that  country.  The  Spaniards 
appealed  for  aid  to  the  other  circles  of  the 
Germanic  empire,  but  not  one  of  the  prin- 
ces came  forward  to  assist  them  ;  some 
through  indifference,  others  from  fear,  and 
the  rest  again  from  being  disgracefully 
bought  over  by  French  money  :  such  were 
the  results  of  the  Rhenish  league.  Aban- 
doned thus  by  all,  the  Netherlands  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  king,  and  at  the  peace  of 


354 


WAR  BETWEEN  FRANCE  AND  GERMANY. 


Aix-la-Chapelle,  in  1688,  the  Spaniards 
saw  themselves  forced  to  surrender  a  whole 
line  of  frontier  towns  to  France,  in  order 
to  save  a  portion  only  of  the  country. 

In  addition  to  this,  in  the  year  1672, 
France,  with  equal  injustice,  invaded  Hoi- 
land  itself,  and  had  she  succeeded  in  her 
plans,  she  would  very  soon  have  been  in  a 
condition  to  hold  dominion  over  the  Euro- 
pean seas.  This  new  danger,  however,  pro- 
duced as  little  effect  upon  the  princes  of 
Germany  as  the  preceding  one  ;  they  paid 
little  or  no  attention  to  it,  nay,  the  elector  of 
Cologne,  and  the  warlike  bisliop  of  Miinster, 
Bernard  of  Gahlen,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  his  day,  actually  con- 
cluded an  alliance  with  France.  One  only 
of  the  princes  of  Germany,  the  elector 
Frederick  William  of  Brandenburg,  known 
likewise  under  the  title  of  the  great  elector, 
acted  with  the  energy  so  necessary  ;  and, 
completely  aware  of  the  exact  condition  of 
the  nation,  felt  the  necessity  of  preventing 
the  total  subversion  of  the  equilibrium  of 
Europe.  Accordingly,  he  made  immediate 
preparations  for  placing  his  territories  of 
Westphalia  in  a  state  of  defence,  exposed 
as  they  were  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  scene  of  action  ;  for  by  the  definitive 
arrangement  of  the  inheritance  of  Juliers, 
in  1656,  he  had  received  the  duchy  of 
Cleves,  and  the  provinces  of  Mark  and 
Ravensberg,  while  to  the  prince-palatine  of 
Neuberg  had  been  allotted  the  duchies  of 
Juliers  and  Berg.  Frederick  William  in- 
duced likewise  the  emperor  Leopold  to 
adopt  measures  for  opposing  th,;  farther 
progress  of  the  French  invaders  ;  and  both 
together  raised  an  army  which  they  placed 
under  the  orders  of  the  imperial  general, 
Montecuculli ;  but  the  co-operation  of  the 
Austrians  became  almost  nullified  through 
the  influence  of  Prince  Lobkowitz,  the  em- 
peror's privy-counsellor,  who,  gained  over 
by  France,  opposed  all  the  plans  of  the 
imperial  general.  Thence  the  elector  be- 
held his  fine  army  harassed  and  worn  out 
by  hunger  and  sickness,  and  in  order  to 
prevent  the  French  from  completely  de- 
stroying his  territories  in  Westphalia,  in 
1673,  he  concluded  with  them  a  peace  in 
their  camp  of  Vossem  near  Louvain.  His 
possessions  were  restored  to  him  with  the 
exception  of  the  castles  of  Wesel  and  Rees, 
which  the  enemy  resolved  to  retain  until  a 
general  pacification  was  permanently  es- 
tablished. 


Now,  however,  the  emperor,  after  having 
lost  his  best  allies,  determined  to  pursue 
the  war  with  more  vigor.  Montecuculli 
gained  some  advantages  along  the  Lower 
Rhine,  and,  among  the  rest,  he  succeeded 
in  making  himself  master  of  Bonn  ;  but 
all  along  the  Upper  Rhine  and  in  Franco- 
nia,  the  French  redoubled  their  ravages, 
and  more  especially  in  the  palatinate,  which 
was  now  made  the  most  sanguinary  scene 
of  the  whole  war,  as  in  fact  it  was  sub- 
sequently, where  the  French  have  .eft 
eternal  monuments  of  their  cruel  proceed- 
ings. As  they  thus  continued  to  invade 
even  .the  very  empire  itself,  the  princes 
now  united  to  resist  them,  and  the  elector 
of  Brandenburg  renewed  his  alliance  with 
the  emperor.  On  this  occasion,  Austria 
was  distinguished  especially  for  her  energy 
and  activity.  At  the  diet  of  Ratisbon,  long 
discussions  were  held  upon  the  subject  of 
the  war,  but  nothing  was  concluded  ;  and 
Austria,  having  discovered  that  this  delay 
was  produced  by  the  French  ambassador, 
who  there  endeavored  by  every  means  to 
deceive,  first  one  and  then  another  of  the 
princes,  that  power  immediately  command- 
ed him,  without  waiting  for  any  other  for- 
mality, to  quit  Ratisbon  within  three  days, 
and  on  his  departure  a  declaration  of  war 
was  forthwith  made  by  the  emperor  against 
the  king  of  France. 

The  war  was  carried  on  with  varied 
success  arid  loss,  but  altogether  the  advan- 
tage was  on  the  side  of  the  French,  whose 
generals  were  completely  successful  in 
their  object  of  making  the  German  soil 
alone  the  field  for  their  operations  ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  leaders  of  the  allied 
forces  were  without  activity  or  union.  In 
order  to  furnish  occupation  in  his  own  land 
for  the  most  powerful  of  the  German  prin- 
ces, the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  Louis 
XIV.  concluded  an  alliance  with  the 
Swedes,  in  1674,  showing  them  the  great 
advantage  they  would  derive  by  the  inva- 
sion of  that  territory.  This  they  accord- 
ingly did,  severely  handling  that  country  ; 
nevertheless,  the  elector  would  not  abandon 
the  Rhine,  but  contributed  his  assistance, 
and  remained  as  long  as  his  presence  was 
necessary,  and  it  was  only  in  the  following 
year,  1675,  that  he  at  length  did  withdraw 
from  that  seat  of  war,  and  by  forced  march- 
es hastened  to  the  aid  of  his  suffering  coun- 

To  the  astonishment  of  both  friends  ana 


THE  ELECTOR  OF  BRANDENBURG. 


foes,  the  elector  suddenly  arrived  before 
the  city  of  Magdeburg,  and  passing  through 
it,  continued  on  his  march,  until  he  came 
right  in  front  of  the  Swedes,  who  believed 
him  to  be  still  in  Franconia.  They  im- 
mediately retired,  and  sought  to  form  them- 
selves into  one  body,  but  he  pursued  them, 
and  came  up  with  them  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1675,  at  Ferbellin.  He  had  only 
his  cavalry  with  him,  his  infantry  not  being 
able  to  follow  quick  enough ;  nevertheless 
he  determined  to  attack  the  enemy  at  once. 
His  generals  advised  him  to  await  the  ar- 
rival of  his  foot-soldiers  before  he  gave 
battle ;  but  every  moment  of  delay  ap- 
peared to  him  as  lost,  and  the  action  began 
forthwith.  It  was  attended  with  the  most 
brilliant  success ;  the  Swedes,  who  ever 
since  the  Thirty  Years'  War  had  been 
regarded  as  invincible,  were  now  com- 
pletely overthrown  and  put  to  flight,  direct- 
ing their  course  towards  their  Pomerania. 
Thither  they  were  pursued  by  the  elector, 
who  conquered  the  greater  portion  of  that 
province. 

This  elector  may  be  regarded  as  the 
founder  of  the  Prussian  monarchy,  and  his 
successors  only  built  upon  the  basis  he  laid 
down.  Besides  acquiring  the  Westphalian 
territories  from  the  Cleve  inheritance,  he 
made  the  duchy  of  Prussia  independent, 
and  wisely  availing  himself  of  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  of  the  times,  obtained, 
in  1675,  the  treaty  of  Welau,  by  which 
Prussia  was  declared  free  of  all  enfeoff- 
ment  to  Poland.  Berlin,  its  capital  city, 
he  enlarged  by  the  Werder  and  Neustadt ; 
while  in  Frankfort  and  Konigsburg  he  pro- 
moted the  progress  of  the  universities,  and 
had  already  formed  a  plan  for  the  erection 
of  an  additional  one  in  Halle.  He  en- 
couraged all  kinds  of  art  and  industrial  in- 
vention throughout  his  lands,  and  hospita- 
bly received  and  employed  a  considerable 
number  of  refugee  artisans  from  France. 
Frederick  William  always  thought  and 
acted  for  himself,  pursuing  his  own  inde- 
pendent course,  and  we  shall  again  find 
him  on  various  occasions  successfully  pro- 
ducing that  respect  for  the  power  and 
dignity  of  his  small  dominion  which  he 
was  determined  to  maintain  with  all  his 
influence,  not  only  as  a  German  prince, 
but  with  all  the  authority  of  one  who  rank- 
ed auiong  the  rest  of  the  monarchs  of 
Europe.  Such  is  the  true  sign  which  in- 
dicates the  hereditary  princely  grandeur 


of  a  ruler  who  desires  that  his  people  shall 
be  inferior  to  none  of  all  the  other  nations, 
and  whose  sole  object  is  nobly  to  raise  it  in 
their  estimation.  And  who  can  reproach 
him  for  acting  with  such  energy  and  de- 
termination, at  a  moment,  too,  when  the 
German  alliance  had  lost  all  its  strength, 
when  the  power  of  the  emperor  himself 
was  reduced  almost  to  a  mere  shadow,  and 
when  many  of  the  princes  of  the  empire 
had  actually  already  entered  into  a  league 
with  foreigners  ?  Had  he  himself  joined 
in  such  treaties  to  the  injury  of  the  empire, 
and  thus  inflicted  the  final  blow  upon 
the  small  remnant  of  hope  still  left,  he 
might  assuredly  have  merited  severe  and 
just  condemnation  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
the  whole  aim  of  his  life  was  to  oppose  as 
much  as  possible  the  aggressions  of  the 
French,  and  to  protect,  as  far  as  was  in  his 
power,  the  liberties  of  the  German  and 
European  nations  generally. 

In  the  year  1675  the  imperial  general, 
Montecuculli,  an  old  and  experienced  sol- 
dier, received  a  second  time  orders  to 
march  to  the  Rhine,  and  he  commenced 
operations  with  more  favorable  results. 
Opposed  to  him  was  the  celebrated  French 
general,  Vicomte  de  Turenne,  one  of  the 
greatest  men  of  his  time.  They  advanced 
against  each  other  with  extreme  caution, 
for  they  were  already  well  known  to  each 
other.  At  length  Turenne  fixed  upon  a 
favorable  spot  for  giving  battle,  combining 
every  advantage  necessary,  near  the  vil- 
lage of  Sasbach  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Oppenheim.  But  while  he  had  advanced 
in  front  of  the  enemy  in  order  to  make  his 
observations,  and  form  his  army  in  line  of 
battle,  he  was  mortally  wounded  by  a 
cannon-ball  which  struck  him  off  his 
horse.  His  death  produced  the  greatest 
alarm  and  dismay  among  his  troops,  who 
immediately  retreated  and  took  to  flight,  in 
which  they  suffered  severe  loss. 

Nevertheless,  very  little  advantage  was 
gained  by  this  affair.  The  French,  in 
order  to  drive  the  imperialists  out  of  their 
country,  had  recourse  to  the  most  extreme 
measures.  As  they  were  unable  to  defend 
their  frontiers  with  troops,  they  proceeded  to 
adopt  other  means  of  protection ;  and,  ac- 
cordingly, in  the  following  year  they  laid 
waste  the  whole  of  the  country  along  the 
river  Saar  to  such  an  extent  that,  through, 
out  a  space  of  more  than  seventy  miles, 
nothing  else  was  to  be  seen  but 


856 


PEACE  OF  NIMWEGEN. 


villages  and  fields.  Thence  the  German 
iroops  could  no  longer  remain  encamped  in 
a  country  thus  destitute  of  the  means  of 
supply,  and  they  were  forced  to  turn  back, 
while  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  were 
obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  the  forests,  where 
a  great  number  of  them  perished  through 
famine  and  disease. 

All  eyes  were  now  directed  with  anxious 
hope  and  expectation  towards  Nimwegen, 
where  now,  in  1679,  a  conference  was 
being  held  for  the  establishment  of  peace. 
The  French,  it  appears,  were  forced  at 
length  to  hasten  the  conclusion  of  a  peace, 
were  it  even  disadvantageous  to  themselves, 
because  they  were  at  this  moment  sur- 
rounded with  enemies.  Nevertheless,  they 
were  at  all  times  extremely  happy  in  their 
attempts  to  produce  division  among  their 
adversaries,  and  in  this  instance  they  were 
equally  successful.  By  making  large  and 
advantageous  offers  they  induced  the  Neth- 
erlanders,  for  whom  the  war  had  been  prin- 
cipally undertaken,  and  who  owed  their 
safety  to  the  imperialists,  to  withdraw  from 
the  empire,  and  concluded  with  them  ex- 
clusively *  treaty  of  peace,  and  by  this 
they  received  the  citadel  of  Maestricht. 
They  were  succeeded  by  the  Spaniards, 
who,  in  order  to  make  peace,  were  obliged 
to  make  good  most  of  what  the  Nether. 
Landers  had  been  relieved  from  paying ; 
accordingly  they  ceded  a  great  extent  of 
territory  in  the  Netherlands,  together  with 
the  whole  of  the  Franche-Comte.  Finally, 
the  emperor,  who  was  not  disposed  to  carry 
on  the  war  alone,  was  forced  to  make  terms 
of  peace  likewise,  and  to  give  up  the  im- 
portant fortress  of  Friburg  in  Breisgau. 
Thus  the  elector  of  Brandenburg,  who 
had  conquered  nearly  the  whole  of  Pome- 
rania  from  the  Swedes,  and  was  in  hopes  of 
making  an  advantageous  peace,  abandoned 
as  he  was  now  by  all,  even  by  the  Nether- 
lands— for  whom  he  had  fought,  but  who 
now  refused  their  assistance,  was  forced 
to  restore  nearly  the  whole  of  his  con- 
quests. At  f.iis  conference  of  Nimwegen 
it  was  easy  to  observe  the  preponderance 
now  commanded  by  France  over  Europe, 
even  by  the  circumstance  of  the  language 
itself;  for  among  those  ambassadors  as- 
sembled thirty  years  previously  at  Miinster 
and  Osnaburg,  only  very  few  understood 
French  at  all  ;  while  now,  at  Nimwegen, 
every  one  present  knew  and  spoke  it 
fluen  ,  Nevertheless,  the  articles  of 


peace  themselves  were  still  written  in  tht 
Latin  tongue. 

The  oppressed  provinces  began  now 
again  to  breathe  more  freely  and  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  peace,  after  the  insatiable  am« 
bition  of  the  French  became  at  length  satis- 
fied. But  our  enemy  was  ever  ready,  even 
in  the  very  bosom  of  peace,  to  pursue  his 
prey.  A  member  of  the  French  parlia- 
ment from  Metz,  a  certain  Holland  de  Re- 
vaulx,  laid  before  the  king  a  plan  by  which 
he  might  extend  his  dominion  far  beyond 
the  Upper  Rhine,  if  he  only  gave  the  right 
interpretation  to  the  words  used  in  the  arti- 
cle of  the  Westphalian  treaty  :  "  That  Al- 
sace and  the  other  territories  shall  be  ceded 
to  him  with  all  their  dependencies ."  It  was, 
therefore,  he  said,  only  necessary  to  seek 
out  what  territories  and  places  had  former- 
ly belonged  to  that  country,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  short  time  many  possessions 
might  be  found,  of  which,  under  this  pre- 
text, he  might  make  himself  master  without 
any  difficulty.  This  suggestion  was  ap- 
proved of,  and  it  was  taken  into  further  con- 
sideration ;  and,  in  order  to  give  it  an  ap- 
pearance of  justice,  the  French  government 
instituted,  in  1680,  four  courts  of  council 
under  the  title  of  Chambres  de  Reunions,  at 
Metz,  Dornick,  Brisach,  and  Besan9on ; 
these  were  appointed  to  examine  what  lands 
and  subjects  might  still  belong  to  the  king, 
according  to  the  wording  of  the  article  re- 
ferred to.  It  is  easy  to  be  conceived  that 
these  judges  were  not  long  in  making  their 
discoveries ;  the  most  trifling  foundation 
was  laid  hold  of  in  order  to  carry  out  their 
plans.  The  convent  of  Weissenburg,  for 
instance,  although  situated  beyond  Alsace, 
was  declared  attached  to  it,  and  as  such 
belonging  to  the  king,  because  it  had  been 
founded  by  King  Dagobert,  more  than  one 
thousand  years  previously ;  and  the  acqui- 
sition of  Weissenburg  served  them  as  a  pre- 
text to  demand  that  of  Germesheim,  inas- 
much as  it  had  formerly  belonged  to  Weis- 
senburg. In  this  way  the  four  chambers 
extended  their  claims  for  the  restoration 
of  Zweibriicken,  (Deux-Ponls,)  Saarbriick, 
(Sarre-Louis,)  Veldenz,  Sponnheim,  Mum 
pelgard,  Lautenburg,  and  many  other  pla- 
ces, more  particularly,  however,  the  free 
imperial  cities  of  Alsace,  and  among  the 
rest  Strasburg  especially.  These  places 
had  not  been  given  in  the  Westphalian 
treaty,  as  Austria  could  only  then  cede  it' 
Alsace  her  own  hereditary  possessions. 


SEIZURE  OF  STRASBUIM. 


357 


The  piinces  and  nobles  whose  property 
was  thus  suddenly  to  be  transferred  from 
German  into  French  hands,  exclaimed 
loudly  against  it.  The  emperor  himself 
protested  against  it,  and  Louis  XIV.,  in  order 
to  observe  at  least  appearances — such  was 
his  cunning  policy — and  to  shut  the  mouths 
of  his  adversaries,  promised  to  examine 
their  counter  claims,  and  summoned  a  con- 
gress at  Frankfort. 

Meantime  he  resolved,  beforehand,  to 
make  himself  master  of  the  citadel  of  Stras- 
burg,  which  to  him  was  of  more  value  than 
all  the  rest,  and  which  had  always  been 
regarded  as  the  key  to  the  Upper  Rhine. 
Charles  V.  considered  it  of  such  import- 
ance, that  he  said,  should  ever  Vienna  and 
Strasburg  be  both  threatened  at  the  same 
moment,  he  would  hasten  first  to  save  Stras- 
burg. In  the  month  of  September,  1681, 
and  while  the  principal  citizens  were  ab- 
sent at  the  Frankfort  fair,  several  regiments 
were  secretly  assembled  in  the  vicinity  of 
that  place,  and,  to  the  astonishment  and 
alarm  of  the  inhabitants,  suddenly  sur- 
rounded its  walls.  In  a  day  or  two  after- 
wards, Louvois,  the  minister  of  war  and  con- 
fidential adviser  of  the  king,  appeared  with 
a  numerous  army  and  a  train  of  artillery, 
and  with  heavy  threats  summoned  the  citi- 
zens to  surrender.  Not  being  at  all  pre- 
pared to  resist  this  attack,  and  urged  on  by 
a  party  in  the  city  bribed  by  the  king,  they 
were  forced  to  yield,  and  opened  their  gates 
on  the  30th  of  September.  1681.  The 
troops  took  immediate  possession  of  the 
arsenal  and  the  citizens'1  arms,  the  Protest- 
ants were  obliged  to  vacate  the  cathedral 
of  which  they  had  enjoyed  possession  for 
more  than  a  hundred  and  "fifty  years,  and 
immediately  afterwards  Louis  XIV.  arrived 
himself,  and,  as  in  triumph,  made  his  solemn 
entry  in  the  city.  No  sign  of  shame  at  this 
act  was  visible  in  the  countenance  of  that 
king,  who  had,  nevertheless,  already  loudly 
boasted  that  he  made  honor  the  law  of  his 
life. 

The  conference  at  Frankfort,  meantime, 
produced  no  change  in  the  plans  of  the 
king  ;  his  deputies  evaded  with  much  ad- 
dress all  serious  discussion  upon  the  inqui- 
ries made,  and  continued  to  maintain  their 
principles ;  while  on  this  occasion,  for  the 
fiest  time,  they  introduced  as  a  law  the  use 
of  tneir  own  language  in  all  diplomatic 
transactions.  Hitherto,  as  with  other  na- 
tions, they  had  written  all  their  state  docu- 


ments in  the  Latin  tongue  ;  but  at  Frank- 
fort they  were  composed  in  French,  and  all 
the  arguments  used  by  the  imperial  ambas- 
sadors against  this  innovation  were  perfectly 
useless ;  the  only  reply  made  was :  "  It  is 
by  command  of  our  king."  Thence  they 
were  forced  to  succumb,  and  from  this  mo- 
ment the  French  language  was  adopted  as 
the  established  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween France  and  all  other  countries.  Men 
of  intelligence  and  enlarged  views  easily 
foresaw  the  danger  to  be  dreaded  from  this 
arrangement,  and  prophesied  the  gradual  es- 
trangement which  must  be  produced  in  a 
country  imitating  the  language  and  customs 
of  a  nation  like  France,  so  anxious  to  hold 
it  under  dominion. 

The  disputes  which  arose  between  the 
different  imperial  envoys  themselves  were 
sufficient  to  show  how  weak  and  futile  must 
be  the  attempts  they  made  to  seek  indemni- 
fication from  the  usurpers ;  for  here  again 
at  Frankfort  all  those  old  and  contemptible 
questions  of  pre-eminence,  the  madness  of 
which  exceeds  all  belief,  were  renewed, 
and  while  they  thus  wasted  away  their 
precious  time  in  a  war  of  words,  the  French 
took  advantage  of  their  miserable  neglect, 
and  fortified  themselves  more  and  more 
strongly  in  the  lands  they  had  usurped. 
At  length,  however,  Austria  succeeded  in 
forming  an  alliance  with  several  princes  in 
order  to  repulse  force  with  force  ;  but  a 
revolt  which  at  this  moment  arose  in  Hun- 
gary, together  with  a  fresh  invasion  of  the 
Turks  there,  which  had  been  promoted  by 
Louis  himself  to  suit  his  own  purposes,  pre- 
vented any  result  arising  therefrom. 

Ever  since  the  year  1670,  Hungary  had 
been  continually  agitated  by  dissension. 
That  country  was  extremely  annoyed  and 
indignant  at  beholding  its  constitution  vio. 
lated,  and  all  its  cities  garrisoned  by  Ger- 
man soldiers,  whom  they  thoroughly  hated  ; 
while,  in  addition  to  this,  the  Protestants 
complained  loudly  against  the  persecutions 
they  endured  at  the  instigation  of  the  Jesu- 
its. Accordingly,  the  discontented  portion 
of  the  nation  having,  in  the  year  1678, 
found  a  determined  leader  in  Count  Em- 
meric  of  Toeckly,  they  rose  en  masse,  and 
even  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Turks. 
The  warlike  and  ambitious  grand  vizier, 
Kara  Mustapha,  prepared  at  once  for  the 
invasion  of  Hungary  at  the  head  of  an  army 
far  exceeding  any  in  strength  since  the 
conquest  of  Constantinople.  Fortunately 


358 


SIEGE  OF  VIENNA. 


for  the  emperor  Leopold,  he  found  in  the 
Polish  king,  John  Sobieski,  a  brave  and  de- 
termined ally,  while  the  German  princes 
now  faithfully,  and  contrary  to  their  cus- 
tom, speedily  came  to  his  aid,  and  Charles, 
duke  of  Lorraine,  was  appointed  chief  in 
command  of  the  imperial  army.  This  he- 
roic prince,  the  conqueror  of  the  Turks, 
and  the  instructor  of  the  subsequently  dis- 
tinguished Prince  Eugene,  was  equally 
great  and  magnanimous  in  his  character  as 
a  man,  as  he  was  in  that  of  a  warrior  and 
a  supporter  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

Nevertheless,  the  spring  of  the  year  1683 
had  commenced  before  the  preparations 
were  completed,  while  the  Turks,  who 
were  never  accustomed  to  open  a  campaign 
before  the  summer  season,  had  already  be- 
gun their  march  in  the  winter  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  and  on  the  12th  of  June  they 
crossed  the  bridge  of  Esseck.  The  impe- 
rial army  was  hastily  formed  and  reviewed 
in  Presburg,  and  consisted  of  22,000  foot 
and  11,000  cavalry ;  while  that  of  the 
Turks  exceeded  200,000  men.  The  latter 
continued  on  their  march  direct  for  Vienna, 
without  halting  to  lay  siege  to  any  of  the 
towns  in  Hungary,  as  it  was  hoped  they 
would  have  done.  Consternation  and  alarm 
filled  the  whole  city  ;  and  the  emperor  with 
his  court  fled,  and  sought  refuge  in  Linz. 
Many  of  the  inhabitants  followed  him  ;  but 
the  majority,  after  the  first  moment  of  terror 
was  over,  armed  in  defence  of  their  city, 
while  the  slow  progress  made  by  the  Turks 
who,  as  they  proceeded,  occupied  them- 
selves with  pillaging  all  the  villages  and 
castles  along  their  march,  left  time  for  the 
duke  of  Lorraine  to  send  va  body  of  12,000 
men  into  the  city  as  a  garrison ;  and  as  he 
could  not  venture  to  advance  with  his  small 
army  in  order  to  cut  off  the  passage  of  the 
enemy,  he  drew  off  his  troops  from  the  high 
road,  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  Polish 
king. 

Count  Riidiger  of  Stahrenberg  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  council  of  war  commandant 
of  the  city,  and  he  showed  all  activity  and 
haste  in  doing  every  thing  possible  to  place 
it  in  a  state  of  defence,  and  every  man  ca- 
pable of  working  or  bearing  arms  assisted 
cheerfully.  On  the  14th  of  June  the  vizier 
appeared  with  his  immense  army  before 
the  walls,  occupying  a  space  of  the  country 
around  them  to  an  extent  of  six  leagues. 
Two  days  afterwards  the  trenches  were 
ipencd,  the  cannon  fired  upon  the  city,  and 


the  siege  commenced;  the  walls  were  un 
dermined,  and  every  preparation  was  made 
by  the  Turks  for  blowing  up  the  bastions  in 
order  to  rush  pell  rnell  into  the  devoted 
place,  where  they  hoped  to  make  a  glorious 
booty.  The  besieged,  however,  made  an 
heroic  defence,  and  repaired  in  the  nighl 
what  had  been  damaged  during  the  day. 
Every  step  of  ground  was  obstinately  dis- 
puted, and  thus  a  struggle  equally  desperate 
and  determined  was  maintained  by  the  as- 
sailants and  the  assailed.  The  most  fierce 
and  sanguinary  scene  of  contest  was  at  the 
Lobel  bastion,  where  scarcely  any  part  of 
the  ground  was  left  unstained  with  the  blood 
of  friend  and  foe.  Meantime  the  Turks 
gained  a  footing  more  and  more ;  at  the 
end  of  August  they  were  already  in  pos- 
session of  the  moat  of  the  city  walls,  and  on 
the  4th  of  September  they  sprung  a  mine 
under  the  Burg  bastion ;  the  explosion  made 
half  the  city  shake  and  totter,  the  bastion 
itself  was  rent  asunder  to  an  extent  of  more 
than  thirty  feet,  and  pieces  of  its  walls  scat- 
tered around  in  all  directions.  The  breach 
was  so  great  that  the  enemy  made  an  im- 
mediate assault,  but  they  were  repulsed. 
On  the  following  morning,  they  made  another 
attack  and  were  again  driven  back  by  the 
brave  defenders.  On  the  10th  of  Septem- 
ber another  and  final  mine  was  sprung  un- 
der the  same  bastion,  and  this  time  the  breach 
was  so  extensive  that  a  whole  battalion  of 
the  enemy's  troops  was  enabled  to  penetrate 
through  it.  This  was  now  a  moment  of 
most  extreme  danger ;  the  garrison  was 
completely  exhausted  by  constant  fighting 
and  fatigue,  and  sickness  had  reduced  their 
number  considerably,  while  the  command- 
ant had  sent  courier  after  courier  to  the 
duke  of  Lorraine  in  vain.  At  length  on 
the  llth,  while  the  whole  city  was  in  mo- 
mentary expectation  and  dread  of  the  ene- 
my's assault,  the  Viennese  observed  from 
their  walls  that,  by  the  movements  in  the 
enemy's  camp,  the  expected  and  so  much 
longed-for  succor  must  be  near  at  hand  ; 
and  soon  afterwards,  to  the  joy  of  all,  the 
Christian  army  showed  itself  on  the  Kalen 
Hill,  and  announced  its  presence  by  dis- 
charges from  the  artillery  The  brave 
Sobieski  had  now  arrived  at  the  head  of  his 
valiant  army  ;  and  he  was  immediately 
followed  by  the  electors  of  Bavaria  and 
Saxony,  Prince  Waldeck  with  the  troops  of 
the  circle  of  Franconia,  the  duke  of  Saxe- 
Lauenburg,  the  margraves  of  Baden  and 


OVERTHROW  OF  THE  TURKS— SOBIESKI'S  LETTER. 


3511 


Baireuth,  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  the  prin- 
ces of  Anhalt,  and  many  other  princes  and 
nobles  of  the  empire,  who  all  brought  with 
them  a  numerous  body  of  their  own  troops. 
With  such  a  select  body  of  leaders  Charles 
of  Lorraine  felt  he  might  venture  to  advance 
against  the  enemy,  although  his  entire  force 
amounted  only  to  40,000  men. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  of  Septem- 
ber, the  Christian  army  descended  the 
Kalen  Hill  in  order  of  battle.  The  vil- 
lage of  Nussdorf,  situated  on  the  banks  of 
the  Danube,  was  first  attacked  by  the  im- 
perialists  and  Saxons,  who  occupied  the 
left  wing,  and  was  taken  after  an  obstinate 
resistance.  Meantime,  towards  mid-day,  the 
king  of  Poland  had  descended  into  the  plain 
with  the  right  wing,  and  at  the  head  of  his 
cavalry  dashed  against  the  innumerable 
battalions  of  the  Turkish  horsemen,  and 
with  irresistible  force  penetrated  through 
the  very  centre  of  their  ranks,  spreading 
before  him  confusion  and  dismay  ;  his 
daring  courage,  however,  carried  him  a 
little  too  far,  for  he  was  speedily  surround- 
ed by  the  Turks,  who  now  closed  upon  him 
and  his  few  companions,  and  he  must  soon 
have  been  overcome  and  destroyed,  had  he 
not  summoned  the  German  cavaliers  who 
were  in  his  rear  to  the  rescue,  and  who, 
galloping  up  with  lightning's  speed,  fell 
with  tremendous  force  upon  his  turbaned 
captors,  and  delivering  him  from  their 
hands,  put  them  to  flight,  and  soon  the 
whole  of  this  body  of  the  Turkish  army 
was  overthrown  and  sent  flying  in  all 
directions. 

This  action,  however,  only  served  as  an 
introductory  scene  to  the  grand  battle  which 
was  to  decide  the  fate  of  the  war ;  for  the 
immeasurable  camp  of  the  Turks,  covered 
with  thousands  of  tents,  still  maintained  its 
position,  while  their  artillery  continued  I) 
bombard  the  city. 

The  imperial  commander-in-chief  held  a 
council  of  war  whether  the  battle  should 
be  commenced  that  evening,  or  whether 
the  soldiers  should  rest  until  the  following 
morning,  when  he  was  informed  that  the 
enemy  appeared  to  be  already  running 
away  in  every  direction.  And  such  was 
the  case  in  reality.  An  irresistible  terror 
had  como  over  them  ;  they  fled,  abandoning 
their  camp  and  all  their  baggage  and  am- 
munition, and  very  soon  even  those  who  had 
fired  upon  the  town  followed  the  example 
and  decamped  with  the  whole  army. 


The  booty  made  in  the  camp  was  im 
mense ;  it  was  estimated  at  15,000,000 
dollars,  and  the  tent  of  the  grand  vizier 
alone  was  valued  at  400,000  dollars ;  in 
the  military  chest  were  found  2,000,000  of 
dollars.  The  king  of  Poland  obtained 
4,000,000  of  florins  for  his  portion,  and 
in  a  letter  to  his  consort,  he  writes  respect, 
ing  the  battle  and  the  great  joy  felt  by 
the  delivered  inhabitants  of  Vienna,  in  the 
following  terms :  "  The  whole  of  the  ene- 
my's camp,  together  with  their  artillery 
and  an  incalculable  amount  of  property, 
has  fallen  into  our  hands.  The  camels 
and  mules,  together  with  the  captive  Turks, 
are  driven  away  in  herds,  while  I  myself 
am  become  the  heir  of  the  grand  vizier. 
The'banner  which  was  usually  borne  be- 
fore him,  together  with  the  standard  of  Ma- 
homet, with  which  the  sultan  had  honor- 
ed him  in  this  campaign,  and  the  tents, 
wagons,  and  baggage,  are  all  fallen  to 
my  share ;  even  some  of  the  quivers  cap- 
tured among  the  rest,  are  alone  worth  sev- 
eral thousand  dollars.  It  would  take  too 
long  to  describe  all  the  other  objects  of 
luxury  found  in  his  tents,  as  for  instance 
his  baths,  fountains,  gardens,  and  a  variety 
of  rare  animals.  This  morning  I  was  in 
the  city  and  found  that  it  could  hardly  have 
held  out  more  than  five  days.  Never  be- 
fore did  the  eye  of  man  see  a  work  of 
equal  magnitude  dispatched  with  a  vigor 
like  that  with  which  they  blew  up,  and 
shattered  to  pieces  huge  masses  of  stone  and 
rocks.  I  myself  had  to  sustain  a  long 
contest  with  the  vizier's  troops  before  the 
left  wing  came  up  to  my  aid,  but  after  the 
battle  I  was  surrounded  by  the  elector  of 
Bavaria,  Prince  Waldeck,  and  several 
other  princes  of  the  empire,  who  embraced 
me  with  warm  affection.  The  generals 
took  hold  of  my  hands  and  feet,  the  colonels 
with  their  regiments  of  horse  and  foot  salu- 
ted me  with,  *  Long  live  our  brave  king!' 
This  morning  the  elector  of  Saxony,  to- 
gether with  the  duke  of  Lorraine  came  to 
me;  and,  finally,  the  governor  of  Vienna. 
Count  Stahrenberg,  with  a  multitude  of  the 
people,  rich  and  poor,  came  to  meet  me ; 
all  greeted  me  most  cordially,  and  called 
me  their  deliverer.  In  the  streets  were  loud 
rejoicings  and  cries  of  l  Long  live  the 
king  !'  When  I  rode  out  into  the  encamp- 
ment after  dinner,  the  populace  with  up- 
lifted hands  accompanied  me  out  of  the 
city  gate.  Let  us,  for  this  most  glorious 


301. 


FRESH  WAR  WITH  FRANCE 


victory,  render  to  the  Most  High,  praise, 
honor,  and  thanksgiving,  for  ever!" 

The  Austrians  had  good  cause  to  feel 
grateful  for  this  deliverance.  For  this 
formidable  foe  not  only  plundered  and 
slaughtered  the  people  according  to  his 
usual  practice  in  war,  but  without  making 
any  distinction,  dragged  after  him  all  he 
could  seize  as  slaves.  It  has  been  calcu- 
lated that  altogether,  Austria  lost  in  this 
way  87,000  individuals,  among  whom  were 
50,000  children  and  26;000  women  and 
young  females,  and  of  the  latter  alone  204 
belonged  to  the  families  of  counts  and  others 
of  the  nobility. 

The  whole  of  Europe  took  an  interest 
in  the  deliverance  of  Vienna;  Louis  XIV. 
alone  was  greatly  confounded,  and  ndrie  of 
his  ministers  could  command  sufficient 
courage  to  bear  the  intelligence  to  him  ; 
nay,  credible  writers  assert  that,  in  the 
tent  of  the  grand  vizier,  letters  were  found 
from  the  king,  containing  the  entire  plan 
for  the  siege  of  Vienna. 

The  war  with  the  Turks  continued  with 
a  few  intermissions  fifteen  years  longer, 
ending  gloriously  for  the  imperial  arms. 
The  terror  felt  for  their  name  ceased,  and 
their  military  fame  had  now  declined.  In 
the  year  1687  they  were  totally  defeated 
at  Mohacz  by  the  duke  of  Lorraine  and 
Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence of  this  victory  the  whole  of  Hun- 
gary submitted  to  the  imperial  dominion, 
and  even  made  its  regal  dignity  hereditary, 
instead  of  being,  as  hitherto,  only  elective. 
After  the  great  victory  of  Prince  Eugene 
at  Zeutha,  in  1697,  an  armistice  for  twenty- 
five  years  was  concluded  with  the  Turks 
at  Carlowitz. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Fresh  War  with  France,  1G88-1G97— Alliance  of  Eng- 
land, H9lland,  and  Spain,  against  Louis  XIV.— The 
French  in  Germany — Dreadful  Devastation  and  un- 
heard-of Cruelties  committed  by  orders  of  Louis  XIV. 
—Conflagration  and  complete  Destruction  of  Hei- 
delberg, Worms,  and  Spires— Deplorable  Condition 
of  the  Inhabitants— The  Tombs  of  the  Emperors  pil- 
laged—Peace of  Ryswick,  1697— Compensation  de- 
manded for  Germany— Insolence  of  the  French  Am- 
bassadors—Elevation of  the  German  Princes— The 
First  Elector  of  Hanover— Frederick,  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony, ascends  the  Throne  of  Poland,  1696— Frederick, 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  p/aces  the  Crown  on  his  own 
Head  as  King  of  Prussia.  1701— War  of  the  Spanish 
Succession  between  France  and  the  House  of  Aus- 


tria, 1701-1714— William  III.  of  England— Louis  XIV 
proclaims  his  Grandson,  Philip  of  Anjou,  King  of 
Spain— Prince  Eugene— His  Military  Genius  anc; 
Private  Character— Appointed  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Imperial  Army— His  Reply  to  Louis  XIV  — 
Marches  into  Italy— Defeats  the  French  at  Carpi  ano 
Chiari— England— Louis  XIV.  and  the  exiled  Stuart* 
—The  Duke  of  Marlborough,  General  of  the  Allied 
Army— The  Elector  of  Bavaria— The  Bavarians  in 
the  Tyrol— Their  Overthrow  by  the  Tyrolese— Battle 
of  Hochstadt— Blenheim— Triumphant  Victory  gain- 
ed by  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  Prince  Eugene 
1704— The  Duke  of  Marlborough  created  a  Prince  ;; 
the  Empire— Death  of  Leopold  I.,  1705. 

Louis  XIV.  had  employed  the  interval 
while  Austria  and  the  German  princes 
were  subjugating  their  formidable  enemy 
in  the  southeast,  in  gathering  new  forces, 
for  he  did  not  deem  the  usurped  posses- 
sions already  in  his  hands  sufficient.  And 
as  he  thought  the  present  to  be  the  most 
favorable  moment,  he  availed  himself  of 
certain  insignificant  disputes  respecting  the 
hereditary  title  of  Charles,  the  electoral 
prince  of  the  palatinate,  and  the  succes- 
sion to  the  electorate  of  Cologne,  after  the 
death  of  Maximilian  Henry  ;  and  pretend- 
ing that  it  devolved  upon  him  to  protect 
the  constitution  of  Germany,  he  issued  a 
fresh  declaration  of  war  against  the  empe- 
ror in  1688.  Before  it  was  even  made 
known,  his  troops  invaded  the  Netherlands 
and  began  to  lay  waste  as  before.  Sum- 
moned by  this  danger,  numerous  armies 
from  Northern  Germany,  Saxony,  Hano- 
ver, and  Hesse,  hastened  to  the  Rhine  on 
the  defensive.  This  was  the  more  praise- 
worthy, as  at  Ratisbon  they  were  yet  dis- 
cussing the  question  whether  or  not  there 
should  be  a  war.  However,  even  here, 
things  began  to  wear  a  more  determined 
aspect ;  an  imperial  war  was  declared, 
without  allowing  any  one  of  the  states  to 
remain  neutral,  and  the  emperor  added  to 
the  declaration :  "  The  government  of 
Frar*De  is  not  to  be  considered  simply  as 
the  enemy  of  the  empire,  but,  like  the 
Turks,  the  enemy  of  all  Christendom." 

The  arrogance  of  France  and  the  vio- 
lations of  the  Nimwegen  treaty  of  peace 
excited  also  the  indignation  of  the  other 
European  states  ;  soon  England,  Hol- 
land, Spain,  and  subsequently  Savoy, 
took  part  in  the  war,  and  the  new  king  of 
England,  William  III.,  who  was  at  the 
same  time  stadtholder  of  the  Netherlands, 
in  his  declaration  of  war,  likewise  calls 
King  Louis — "  A  disturber  of  the  peace  and 
the  common  enemy  of  all  Christendom." 

In  order  that  France  might  wage  a  sue. 
cessful  war  against  so  many  adversaries! 


THE  FRENCH  IN  GERMANY. 


3G1 


unhappy  Gei  many  was  again  subjected  to 
the  inhuman  treatment  which  the  minister 
Louvois  had  suggested :  the  flourishing 
banks  of  the  Rhine  were  reduced  to  a  state 
of  complete  desolation,  and  the  recital  of 
the  cruelties  inflicted  excites  but  one  feel- 
ing of  horror. 

As  early  as  January,  1689,  the  cavalry 
of  General  Melac  surrounded  the  country 
around  Heidelberg  and  set  fire  to  the  towns 
of  llohrbach,  Nuszloch,  Wisloch,  Kirch- 
heiin,  Eppenheim,  Neckarhausen,  and 
many  others,  while  the  poor  defenceless 
people,  who  supplicated  for  mercy  on  their 
knees,  were  stripped  and  hunted  naked 
into  the  fields,  then  covered  with  snow, 
where  many  perished  through  the  cold. 
Heidelberg  itself  was  set  on  fire  in  several 
different  places.  The  towns  of  Mannheim, 
Offenburg,  Creuznach,  Oppenheim,  Bruch- 
sal,  Frankenthal,  Baden,  Rastadt,  and  many 
other  small  towns  and  villages,  met  the 
same  fate.  The  inhabitants  were  not  even 
permitted,  after  being  plundered  and  ill- 
treated,  to  take  refuge  in  the  German  dis- 
tricts, but  were  obliged  to  betake  them- 
selves to  the  French  territory.  The  an- 
cient free  cities  of  the  empire,  Spires  and 
Worms,  underwent  a  lingering  and  truly 
pitiable  state  of  suffering.  After  innu- 
merable calamities,  after  the  inhabitants 
had  for  seven  months  endured  all  and  sac- 
rificed all,  and  now  thought  that  at  least 
their  cities  would  be  saved,  it  was  an- 
nounced to  them  that  the  interest  of  the 
king  required  that  both  these  cities  should 
be  razed  to  the  ground.  The  unhappy 
people  were  compelled  to  wander  forth  out 
of  their  gates,  as  mendicants  and  destitute 
of  all  means  of  subsistence,  into  the  near- 
est French  cities,  and  Spires  and  Worms 
were  both  set  in  flames  and  reduced  to 
ashes.  On  this  occasion  French  avarice 
violated  and  sacrilegiously  broke  open  the 
very  graves  of  the  ancient  Salic  emperors 
in  the  cathedral  of  Spires ;  several  silver 
coffins  deposited  there  were  removed,  and 
.he  venerated  bones  they  contained  scat- 
.ered  upon  the  ground.  In  Worms  alone, 
fifteen  Catholic  churches  and  convents, 
besides  those  of  the  Jesuits  and  Domini- 
cans, were  reduced  to  ashes.  When  the 
young  duke  of  Crequi,  who  had  the  chief 
command  in  these  operations,  was  asked 
why  he  visited  these  cities  with  such  se- 
verity, he  merely  replied,  "I.  is  the  king's 
pleasure/''— and  produced  a  list  of  1200 


towns  and  villages  which  wore  yet  to  bf 
destroyed.  These  enormities  were  per 
petrated  by  a  nation,  calling  itself  the 
most  civilized  and  polished  in  the  world, 
and  just  at  that  period  of  its  history  too, 
which  it  denominated  the  golden  age  of  its 
refinement ;  they  were  the  commands  of  a 
king,  who  wished  to  assume  the  character 
of  a  protector  of  the  arts  and  sciences 
wherever  he  found  them.  Before  he  made 
known  the  designs  which  his  thirst  for  con- 
quest had  led  him  to  form,  he  sent  presents 
to  sixty  foreign  savants,  accompanied  with 
the  following  letter  from  his  minister*,  Col- 
bert:  "Although  the  king,"  he  says,  "  is 
not  your  sovereign,  he  is  desirous  of  being 
your  benefactor ;  he  sends  this  present  as 
a  token  of  his  regard."  In  this  way  he 
succeeded  in  attaching  to  himself  partisans 
amidst  the  most  learned  men  of  other  na- 
tions ;  but  now  none  had  longer  confidence 
in  the  honesty  of  his  intentions,  and  those 
who  formerly  wished  success  to  his  arms, 
broke  out  into  execrations  and  curses 
against  him  and  his  people. 

This  animosity  against  France,  and  the 
excellent  generalship  of  the  old  duke  of 
Lorraine,  rendered  the  German  arms,  dur- 
ing the  first  years  of  the  war,  tolerably  suc- 
cessful ;  and  several  fortified  towns  on  the 
Rhine  were  recovered  from  the  French. 
After  the  duke's  death,  however,  and  when 
the  zeal  of  the  first  moment  had  cooled 
down,  the  advantage  turned  in  favor  of  the 
indefatigable  enemy,  especially  after  the 
great  French  general,  the  marshal  of  Lux- 
emburg, had  in  1690  routed  a  German  le- 
gion at  Fleurus.  Subsequently,  however, 
in  1693,  they  in  some  measure  regained 
their  former  position  under  a  new  German 
general,  Prince  Louis  of  Baden,  a  pupil  of 
the  duke  of  Lorraine,  who  ably  defended 
the  banks  of  the  Neckar ;  and  with  an 
army  of  inferior  numbers,  he  made  such 
an  admirable  stand  at  Heilbronn,  that  the 
enemy  would  not  again  venture  to  invade 
Swabia. 

All  the  belligerent  nations  being  wearied 
out,  a  congress  of  peace  was  at  length  con- 
vened at  Ryswick,  a  small  village  with  a 
castle  near  the  Hague,  in  Holland.  Louis 
XIV.  was  desirous  of  peace  this  time,  in 
order  to  prepare  for  a  new  war  which  he 
anticipated  as  near  at  hand.  The  death  of 
Charles  II.  the  king  of  Spain,  was  expected 
shortly  to  take  place,  and  as  he  had  no 
children,  Louis  wished  to  obtain  that  coun- 


362 


ELEVATION  OF  GERMAN  PRINCES. 


try  for  himself!  Accordingly,  he  now  of- 
fered  to  deliver  up  many  places,  and  among 
the  rest  the  important  citadel  of  Strasburg. 
But  the  negotiations  were  hardly  entered 
upon  before  he  succeeded,  with  his  usual 
cunning,  in  disuniting  the  allies,  by  pro- 
mising  especial  advantages  to  England, 
Holland,  and  Spain.  They  therefore  con- 
eluded  a  separate  peace  for  themselves,  and 
abandoned  the  emperor  and  empire  alto- 
gether.  And  now  the  ambassadors  resumed 
their  high  and  haughty  tone. 

When  the  question  was  discussed  re- 
specting the  compensation  to  be  made  for 
the  excessive  losses  produced  by  the  war, 
and  when  the  cities  of  Worms  and  Spires 
alone  demanded,  as  an  indemnification, 
9,000,000  florins,  while  the  duchy  of  Ba- 
den claimed  8,000.000,  and  Wurtemberg 
10,000,000,  they  replied  in  an  ironical 
tone  :  "  War  brings  with  it  many  evils ; 
if  the  Germans  are  determined  to  have  sat- 
isfaction, let  them  lead  their  army  into  the 
centre  of  France,  and  there  plunder  or 
conquer  as  much  as  they  please."  At  last 
they  engaged,  out  of  all  they  had  conquered, 
to  deliver  up  Freiburg,  Brisach,  and  Phil- 
ipsburg,  together  with  those  places  reuni- 
ted by  the  four  chambers  beyond  Alsace. 
On  the  evening  before  the  ratification  of 
peace,  and  just  when  all  considered  that 
every  thing  was  arranged  for  signature,  the 
French  ministers  came  forward  with  an  ad- 
ditional stipulation,  insisting  upon  its  being 
acceded  to,  viz.,  "  That  in  all  the  reunited 
places  now  about  to  be  restored,  the  Catho- 
lic religion  should  remain  as  it  was  ;"  that 
is,  in  1922  German  townships  which  had 
been  previously  Protestant,  and  into  which 
the  French  garrisons  had  introduced,  with 
a  high  hand,  the  Catholic  worship,  the  lat- 
ter should  remain  the  state  religion.  The 
Protestant  ambassadors  of  Germany  stren- 
uously resisted  this  clause  ;  but  their  re- 
monstrances were  not  attended  to,  and  the 
treaty  of  peace  was  signed.  The  worst 
feature  of  the  case,  and  what  Louis  un- 
doubtedly aimed  at,  was  that  the  Protest- 
ants looked  upon  the  emperor  himself  as 
the  secret  mover  of  this  so-called  Ryswick- 
ian  clause,  whence  it  produced  in  Ger- 
many fresh  distrusts  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion :  and,  in  truth,  the  imperial  ambas- 
sadors by  no  means  showed  themselves 
vigilant  against  the  designs  of  France,  nor 
were  they  sufficiently  determined  in  their 
opposition. 


Another  cause  also  of  the  discord  which 
at  this  period  prevailed  in  Germany,  was 
the  creation  of  a  new  electoral  dignity,  on 
behalf  of  the  house  of  Hanover,  or  Bruns- 
wick-Ltineburg.  That  princely  house  had 
rendered  the  emperor  very  important  ser- 
vice in  the  wars  against  the  Turks  and  the 
French  ;  Leopold,  therefore,  was  desirous 
of  rewarding  it  with  the  said  electoral  dig- 
nity, and  a  majority  of  the  other  electors, 
even  those  of  the  Catholic  party,  became  by 
degrees  agreeable  to  this  proceeding,  al- 
though it  would,  at  the  same  time,  add  a 
new  Protestant  vote  to  the  electoral  college  ; 
still,  to  them,  this  appeared  not  unreason- 
able, since  the  Protestants  had  lost  a  vote 
through  the  elector-palatine  having  gone 
over  to  the  Catholic  religion.  But  the 
princes,  especially  Brunswick-Wolfenbiit 
tel,  struggled  vehemently  against  this  eleva- 
tion of  one  of  their  number,  for  thereby  one 
of  their  most  valuable  votes  would  be  with- 
drawn from  them.  When,  therefore,  the 
emperor,  notwithstanding  their  opposition, 
conferred,  in  1692,  the  investiture  of  the  new 
electorate  on  Ernest  Augustus  of  Hanover, 
it  produced  so  much  contention  and  general 
discontent  in  the  college  of  princes,  that  it 
was  deemed  advisable,  for  the  present,  that 
Hanover  should  not  be  permitted  to  occu- 
py a  place  in  the  electoral  assembly.  The 
new  electorate  was  not  inconsiderable  ;  the 
elder  brother,  George  William  of  Liineburg, 
had  transferred  his  dukedom  to  his  young- 
er brother  Ernest  Augustus,  so  that  now 
Liineburg,  Calenburg,  and  Grubenhagen, 
with  the  provinces  of  Hoya  and  Diephoiz, 
formed  together  one  of  the  largest  of  the 
German  territories.  The  new  elector  wag 
also  chief  standard-bearer  of  the  empire, 
and  he  promised,  in  all  cases  of  the  election 
of  an  emperor,  always  to  give  his  vote,  to 
the  house  of  Austria,  and  to  grant  the  Cath- 
olics in  his  own  dominions  the  free  exer- 
cise of  their  religion,  as  well  as  to  furnish 
in  aid  of  the  war  500,000  dollars,  together 
with  6000  men  to  Hungary,  and  3000  tc 
the  Rhine.  When  Ernest  Augustus  died 
in  1698,  even  those  of  the  electoral  princes 
who  had  not  heretofore  approved  of  the  cre- 
ation of  a  ninth  electorate,  now  voted  for 
the  investiture  of  his  son  George  Lewis  ; 
the  college  of  princes,  on  the  other  hand, 
protested  anew  against  it ;  nor  did  they  re- 
cognise it  till  the  year  1705.  The  house 
of  Hanover,  however,  was  soon  to  rise  yel 
higher,  for  in  the  year  1714,  George  Lewis 


FIRS1   KING  OF  PRUSSIA. 


3G3 


ascended  the  English  throne  by  inherit- 
ance, on  the  demise  of  Queen  Anne,  who 
had  survived  the  whole  of  her  thirteen  chil- 
dren. 

The  year  1696  also  witnessed  the  ele- 
vation of  a  German  prince  to  a  royal 
throne  ;  the  Elector  Frederick  Augustus 
of  Saxony,  after  the  death  of  the  gallant 
Sobieski,  was  elected  king  by  the  Poles, 
and  took  the  title  of  Augustus  I.  He  was 
obliged  to  change  his  creed  and  conform  to 
the  Catholic  church  ;  in  his  Saxon  domin- 
ions, however,  no  alteration  was  attempted 
in  the  constitution  of  the  church.  The 
Polish  crown,  however,  proved  no  boon  to 
the  Saxon  house,  and  was  soon  lost  again. 

This  was  a  period  of  aggrandizing  ef- 
fort among  the  princes,  and  these  examples 
influenced  several.  A  prince  of  Orange 
had  just  become  king  of  England,  and  the 
elector  of  Saxony  was  king  of  Poland  ; 
this  prompted  Frederick  III.,  elector  of 
Brandenburg,  who  was  at  the  same  time 
duke  of  Prussia,  likewise  to  assume  the 
royal  title.  His  territories  were  indeed 
small,  but  Frederick  loved  splendor  and 
outward  show  more  than  any  thing  else ; 
he  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king  at 
Konigsberg,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1701, 
and  on  the  following  day  he  solemnly 
placed  the  crown  on  his  own  head  and  that 
of  his  consort;  henceforth  he  was  known 
as  Frederick  I.  of  Prussia. 

The  circumstances  of  the  times  were 
exceedingly  favorable  for  these  self-promo- 
lions  ;  at  another  period  they  might  have 
encountered  much  opposition.  The  Span- 
ish war  of  succession  was  on  the  eve  of 
breaking  out,  and  the  powers  which  were 
implicated  in  it  hastened  to  obtain  allies. 
The  emperor  Leopold  was  the  first  to  ac- 
knowledge the  new  Prussian  royal  title, 
and  he  received  in  return  assistance  in  the 
war,  and  the  assurance  that  the  imperial 
dignity  should  continue  in  the  house  of 
Austria.  Sweden,  England,  Holland,  Po- 
land, Denmark,  and  Russia,  also  soon  fol- 
lowed, all  equally  from  motives  of  state 
policy,  On  the  other  hand,  France  and 
Spain,  together  with  the  pope,  finding  their 
adversaries  had  already  gained  over  the 
king,  delayed  their  recognition  until  the 
peace  of  Utrecht. 

The  curse  of  our  history  since  the  Thir- 
ty Years'  War,  has  been  .hat  our  country 
was  drawn  into  all  the  quarrels  of  the  na- 
.ions  of  Euiope,  even  such  as  were  foreign 


to  her,  and  her  soil  was  the  principal  arena 
on  which  others  spent  their  rage  in  war. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  plains  of  Saxony. 
Swabia,  and  Bavaria,  are  distinguished  by 
the  names  of  so  many  battles,  and  this  is 
the  reason  why  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  the 
Saale,  and  the  Elster,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Danube,  the  Lech,  the  Inn,  and  the 
Neckar,  have  been  so  severely  trodden 
down  by  the  burning  foot  of  war. 

In  like  manner,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  that  shock 
which  convulsed  the  southern  half  of  Eu- 
rope, was,  to  a  great  extent,  fought  out  on 
the  plains  of  Germany.  This  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  death  of  Charles  II.,  king  of 
Spain. 

Two  sovereign  families,  at  that  period, 
had  the  government  of  the  greater  part  of 
Europe — the  houses  of  Austria  and  Bour- 
bon :  the  former  had  separated  into  two 
branches,  the  Austrian  proper  and  the 
Austro-Spanish  branch  ;  but  the  moment 
had  now  arrived  when  both  could  again 
blend  together  in  one.  Louis  XIV.  had,  it 
is  true,  married  the  eldest  sister  of  the  de- 
ceased king  of  Spain,  but  she  had,  by  a 
solemn  covenant,  renounced  her  right  to 
the  Spanish  succession.  The  second  sister 
was  married  to  the  emperor  Leopold  ;  she 
had  made  no  such  renunciation.  Her 
daughter,  however,  consort  of  Maximilian 
Emanuel,  elector  of  Bavaria,  was  obliged 
before  her  marriage,  like  her  aunt,  to  re- 
nounce all  her  hereditary  claims  to  Spain. 
The  emperor  Leopold,  however,  by  a  sec- 
ond marriage  with  a  princess  of  the  pala- 
tine house  of  Neuberg,  had  two  sons, 
Joseph  and  Charles  ;  Leopold  demanded 
the  crown  of  Spain  on  behalf  of  the  latter, 
on  the  ground  that  Leopold's  mother  was 
an  aunt  of  Charles  II.  France,  however, 
as  well  as  Bavaria,  refused  to  allow  that 
the  renunciations  of  these  princesses  af- 
fected their  families,  because  they  had 
given  up  only  their  own  claims,  and  had 
no  power  to  renounce  the  rights  of  their 
posterity.  Each  of  these  powers  now  en- 
deavored, through  their  ambassadors,  to 
induce  King  Charles  II.,  during  his  life- 
time, to  make  a  will  in  their  favor ;  and 
Charles,  with  the  view  of  maintaining  the 
independence  of  Spain  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, named  Joseph  Ferdinand,  elector  of 
Bavaria,  his  successor.  This  youth,  how- 
ever, died  of  the  small-pox,  even  before 
the  king,  in  the  year  1699,  and  the  contest 


364 


TWO  KINGS  OF  SPAIN,  PHILIP  V.  AND  CHARLES  III. 


between  the  houses  of  Bourbon  and  Austria 
commenced  afresh.  Leopold  could  easily 
have  obtained  the  victory  if  he  had  been 
Represented  by  a  more  able  envoy  at  Ma- 
drid, and  if  he  himself  had  possessed  more 
decision  of  character ;  for  both  the  Spanish 
queen  and  Cardinal  Portocarraro,  arch- 
bishop of  Toledo,  the  most  influential  man 
it  the  court,  were  favorably  disposed  to- 
wards Austria.  But  Leopold's  ambassa- 
dor, Count  von  Harrach,  a  haughty,  ava- 
ricious blunderer,  left  the  field  quite  clear 
for  the  adroitness  and  cunning  of  the  French 
agent,  the  Marquis  d'Harcourt ;  this  man 
gained  over  the  most  considerable  of  the 
Spaniards  one  after  another,  and,  at  last, 
even  the  cardinal,  and  through  him  the 
king  himself.  Charles  made  a  secret  will, 
and  when  he  died,  on  the  1st  of  November. 
1700,  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  named 
therein  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  Philip, 
duke  of  Anjou,  heir  to  the  whole  Spanish 
monarchy.  The  emperor  was  thoroughly 
confounded  by  this  unexpected  blow  ;  but 
he  had  to  thank  himself  alone  for  it,  for 
previously,  when  the  Spanish  court  had 
repeatedly  pressed  him  to  let  his  son,  the 
Archduke  Charles,  come  into  Spain  with  a 
small  army — during  the  continuance  of  the 
former  war  with  France — the  emperor, 
owing  to  his  want  of  resolution,  refused  to 
give  his  consent. 

Louis  XIV.  knew  well  that,  notwith- 
standing the  will  of  the  late  king,  to  take 
possession  of  Spain  for  his  grandson  with- 
out war  was  not  possible  ;  for  Austria  had 
been  too  severely  injured  ;  while  the  other 
states  of  Europe  likewise  viewed,  with 
great  jealousy,  the  excessive  power  of  the 
house  of  Bourbon.  William  III.,  king  of 
England  and  stadtholder  of  the  Nether- 
lands, an  active  and  very  able  man,  who 
considered  it  his  province  to  preserve  the 
due  balance  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  and 
therefore  had  alwa}rs  been  the  enemy  of 
Louis,  concluded  an  alliance  between  both 
of  his  dominions  and  Austria  ;  this  was 
the  more  important,  as  England  and  Hol- 
land were  the  wealthiest  and  most  power- 
ful rulers  of  the  sea.  Hence  Louis  con- 
sidered awhile  whether  he  should  accept 
of  the  Spanish  king's  will ;  he  then  called 
his  council  together,  and  as  they  unani- 
mously concurred,  he  resolved  to  do  so  ; 
accordingly,  he  proclaimed  his  grandson 
king  of  Spain  and  both  the  Indies,  in  the 
presence  of  a  brilliant  assembly  of  his 


court.  When  he  entered  from  his  cabinet 
leading  the  prince  by  the  hand,  he  exclaim, 
ed,  as  stated  by  a  French  writer,  with  the 
air  of  a  lord  of  the  universe  :  "  My  lords, 
you  see  here  the  king  of  Spain.  Nature 
has  formed  him  for  il  ;  the  deceased  king 
has  nominated  him,  the  people  desire  him, 
and  I  consent." 

This  was  the  signal  for  a  new  and  dire- 
ful struggle  in  Europe.  Germany  was, 
alas  !  divided  in  itself;  Prussia,  Hanover, 
the  palatinate,  and  a  few  other  states  were, 
from  the  beginning,  for  the  emperor.  Max- 
imilian  Emanuel,  elector  of  Bavaria  and 
also  stadtholder  of  the  Spanish  Nether- 
lands, was  on  the  side  of  the  French,  and 
Louis,  in  consideration  of  his  claims  to  the 
Spanish  succession,  had  already  made  a 
secret  promise  to  him  of  the  Netherlands ; 
whether  seriously,  it  is  difficult  to  say. 
The  brother  of  Maximilian,  the  elector  of 
Cologne,  followed  his  example  and  received 
French  troops  into  his  territory,  "  for  the 
good  of  the  Germanic  empire  and  the 
preservation  of  its  peace,  (!)"  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  official  declarations. 

The  emperor  Leopold  determined  with- 
out delay  on  sending  an  army  into  Italy, 
to  take  possession  of  the  Spanish  territo- 
ries in  that  country,  Milan  and  Naples. 
He  placed  at  its  head  Francis  Eugene, 
prince  of  Savoy,  one  of  the  first  of  the 
warriors  and  statesmen  of  his  time,  as  well 
as  of  all  history.  He  sprang  from  a  colla- 
teral branch  of  the  house  of  Savoy,  and 
was  intended  in  his  youth  for  the  clerical 
profession  ;  but  his  genius  led  him  to  the 
study  of  history  and  its  great  examples, 
and  this  again  impelled  him  into  the  rapid 
current  of  active  life,  where  the  skill  of 
such  as  aspire  to  glory  is  put  to  the  test 
in  sight  of  waving  laurels.  When  in  his 
twentieth  year,  he  offered  his  services  to 
Louis  XIV.  The  latter,  not  deeming  him 
worthy  of  notice  on  account  of  his  dimin- 
utiveness,  treated  his  offer  with  ridicule, 
and  advised  him  to  continue  in  the  clerical 
profession.  Eugene  immediately  turned  to 
Austria,  where  the  Turkish  war  seemed  to 
favor  his  wishes,  and  he  soon  distinguished 
himself  so  greatly,  that,  after  the  deliver- 
ance of  Vienna  in  1683,  on  which  occa- 
sion he  fought  gallantly,  the  emperor  gave 
him  the  command  of  a  cavalry  regiment. 
Charles,  duke  of  Lorraine,  already  recog- 
nised him  as  a  hero,  and  predicted  what 
he  would  one  day  become  in  relation  tn 


PRINCE  EUGENE— LOUIS  XIV.  AND  THE  STUARTS. 


805 


ihe  imperial  house  ;  and,  in  1693,  Leopold 
appointed  him  field -marshal.  Louis  would 
now  gladly  have  gained  him  over  to  him- 
self, and  for  which  object  he  sent  to  him 
an  offer  of  the  stadtholdership  of  Cham- 
paign,  and  the  dignity  of  a  marshal  of 
France  ;  but  Eugene  answered  the  person 
deputed  :  "  Tell  your  king  that  I  am  an  im- 
oerial  field-marshal,  which  is  worth  quite 
as  much  as  the  staff  of  a  French  mar- 
shal." 

Eugene  was  in  every  respect  a  great 
general ;  his  mind  embraced  at  once  the 
most  important  enterprise,  together  with  all 
its  details,  and  while  engaged  in  forming 
his  plan  of  battle,  and  all  its  accompanying 
operations,  he  never  neglected  to  provide 
for  the  most  minute  wants  of  his  army, 
which  consequently  placed  the  greatest 
confidence  in  their  commander.  His  eagle 
eye  eagerly  seized  with  the  greatest  promp- 
titude the  advantages  of  the  moment,  and 
the  errors  of  his  adversary  were  speedily 
caught  at  and  made  available  for  his  own 
object.  He  was,  however,  not  less  distin- 
guished in  his  private  character  as  a  man  ; 
for  his  spirit  rose  superior  to  the  religious 
and  political  prejudices  of  his  day,  and  he 
esteemed  more  highly  the  arts  of  peace 
than  the  dazzling  glories  of  war  ;  while, 
at  the  same  time,  he  was  so  modest  and 
unpretending,  and  estimated  his  own  qual- 
ifications with  so  much  moderation,  that  he 
not  only  regarded  the  promotion  of  others 
without  envy,  but,  on  the  contrary,  he  wil- 
lingly occupied  a  subordinate  post,  if  by 
so  doing  he  could  promote  the  general  good. 
In  person  Prince  Eugene  was  under  the 
middle  size,  and  as  he  walked  amidst  the 
tents  of  his  camp,  enveloped  in  his  gray 
military  cloak,  it  may  be  supposed  that 
few  would  recognise  in  his  small  figure 
the  renowned  leader  of  armies,  except  those 
to  whom  the  brilliant  fire  of  his  dark  eye 
betrayed  his  presence. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1701,  Eugene 
marched  against  Italy  with  the  imperial 
army,  together  with  ten  thousand  auxiliary 
troops  from  Prussia,  and  a  division  of  Hano- 
verians. The  forces  assembled  at  Rover- 
edo,  and  ascended  the  mountain  chain  ;  but 
all  the  passes  on  the  other  side  were  al- 
ready occupied  by  the  French,  so  that  it 
appeared  impossible  to  descend.  The  im- 
perial general,  however,  ordered  his  men, 
who  always  obeyed  him  with  enthusiastic 
ardor  and  alacrity,  to  cut  a  passage  over 


the  rocks  and  precipices  to  the  extent  of 
thirty  miles,  in  which  they  marched,  and 
thus,  before  the  enemy  could  be  at  all 
aware  of  it,  his  army  poured  forth  from 
the  terrific  passes  of  the  mountains,  and 
encamped  on  the  plains  of  Verona,  fty 
two  victories  gained  at  Carpi  and  Chiari, 
Eugene  drove  the  French  from  a  part  o 
Upper  Italy,  and  established  his  wintei 
quarters  there. 

As  early  as  the  autumn  of  1701,  an 
alliance  was  formed  between  England, 
Holland,  and  Austria.  The  maritime 
powers  stipulated  that  they  should  retain 
possession  of  all  the  conquests  they  might 
make  in  the  Spanish  Indies  ;  and  in  return, 
they  promised  the  emperor  to  assist  him  in 
conquering  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  Mi- 
lan, Naples,  and  Sicily.  The  English 
would  not  have  taken  so  active  a  part  in 
the  war,  if  Louis  XIV.  himself  had  not 
foolishly  and  impudently  provoked  their 
exasperation.  England  had  just  succeed- 
ed in  driving  from  the  throne  the  family  of 
the  Stuarts,  on  account  of  their  zeal  for  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  had  transferred  it 
to  William  of  Orange.  Louis  received 
the  exiled  family  and  gave  them  his  pro- 
tection,, and  in  1701,  on  the  death  of 
James  II.,  (who  died  at  Saint  Germain,) 
he  recognised  his  son  James  III.  as  king 
of  Great  Britain  ;  and  it  was  even  reported 
that  this  prince  was  about  to  effect  a  land- 
ing in  England  at  the  head  of  a  French 
army.  The  English  were  so  incensed 
that  a  stranger  should  thus  presume  to 
dispose  of  their  throne,  that  king  William, 
instead  of  10,000  men,  now  obtained  from 
parliament  a  vote  for  40,000. 

William  placed  at  the  head  of  this  army 
the  earl  of  Marlborough,  created  after- 
wards a  duke.  He  had  not  deceived 
himself  in  making  this  selection  of  his 
commander-in-chief ;  Marlborough  had 
learned  the  art  of  war  in  the  school  of  the 
great  Turenne,  and,  as  a  general,  stood 
second  to  none  of  his  day.  Nature  had 
formed  him  for  a  martial  leader ;  being 
tall,  handsome,  energetic,  and  of  such 
noble  deportment  and  superior  genius,  that 
the  most  elevated  in  rank  and  distinguish- 
ed men  of  every  country  involuntarily 
did  homage  to  him.  In  individual  feeling, 
he  stood  inferior  to  Eugene  ;  he  did  no- 
possess  that  integrity  and  nobleness  of 
mind  which  in  the  contemplation  of  grand 
objects  loses  sight  of  self;  while  he  is 


SG6 


ELECTOR  OF  BAVARIA— INVADES  THE  TYROL. 


also  accused  of  an  immoderate  thirst  for 
gain. 

In  March,  1702,  Maryborough  landed  in 
the  Netherlands  and  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  Anglo-Dutch  army ;  his  im- 
mediate object  was  to  drive  the  French 
out  of  the  electorate  of  Cologne.  King 
William  III.  died  the  same  month  in  con- 
sequence of  a  violent  fall  from  nis  horse 
while  hunting ;  but  his  successor,  Queen 
Anne,  implicitly  adhered  to  all  his  plans, 
and  the  war  was  continued. 

With  this  firm  determination  shown  on 
the  part  of  foreigners,  the  states  of  the 
Germanic  empire  resolved  upon  taking  a 
decisive  part  in  this  war  of  vengeance 
against  their  hereditary  enemy.  The  de- 
claration of  war  followed  on  the  6th  of 
October,  1702,  and  it  concluded  thus: — 
"  France  has  done  every  thing  in  her 
power  to  humble  and  crush  the  German 
nation,  in  order  that  she  might  the  more 
easily  effect,  what  she  has  so  long  and 
zealously  been  aiming  at,  viz.,  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  universal  monarchy."  The 
conduct  of  the  elector  of  Bavaria  had 
likewise  provoked  the  decision  of  the  other 
members  of  the  empire  in  favor  of  the 
same  cause ;  for,  obstinately  adhering  to 
France,  he  had  collected  a  considerable 
force  with  which  he  suddenly  attacked  and 
took  possession  of  the  free  imperial  city 
of  Ulm,  on  the  3d  of  September ;  an  act 
severely  condemned  by  the  other  states. 

The  dukes  of  Brunswick  also,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  continued  indignation 
against  the  elector  of  Hanover,  forgot 
themselves  so  far  as  to  raise  troops  for  the 
service  of  France ;  and  as  they  paid  no 
regard  to  the  reiterated  warnings  given  to 
them,  they  were  forcibly  disarmed,  in 
1702,  by  the  electos:  of  Hanover,  and 
thenceforth  compelled  to  submit  to  the  will 
of  the  emperor  and  the  nation. 

The  fortress  of  Landau  on  the  Rhine 
was  also  this  year  besieged  and  captured 
by  the  imperial  general,  Lewis  of  Baden. 
The  Roman  king,  Joseph,  came  himself 
into  the  camp,  and  evinced  great  courage 
and  resolution.  In  Italy,  Eugene  was  as 
yet  too  weak  to  attempt  any  thing  of  im- 
portance ;  and  it  appeared  as  though  the 
hostile  parties  had  determined  to  test  each 
Dther's  strength  merely  in  skirmishes. 

The  following  year  was  one  more  rich 
in  exploits.  Marlborough  employed  it  in 
'Jhe  conquest  of  several  fortified  places  on 


the  borders  of  the  Netherlands,  and  cap. 
tured  Bonn,  Tongern,  Huy,  Limburg,  and 
Guelders. 

In  Southern  Germany  affairs  were  not 
so  prosperous,  for  the  emperor  was  obliged 
to  withdraw  a  considerable  part  of  his 
army  from  the  Rhine,  in  order  to  suppress 
the  dangerous  insurrection  headed  by 
Count  Ragoczi,  which  had  been  raised  in 
Hungary  by  French  influence.  The  pro- 
tracted  struggle  in  that  country  had  the 
effect  generally  of  greatly  hindering  the 
Austrian  powers  from  making  any  thing 
like  a  demonstration  against  France.  In 
the  year  1703,  the  French  field-marshal, 
Villars,  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Rhine 
and  uniting  with  the  elector  of  Bavaria. 
The  latter  now  devised  the  plan  of  making 
an  incursion  into  the  Tyrol,  and  possessing 
himself  of  that  country,  situated  for  him 
so  conveniently.  He  marched  thither 
with  about  16,000  of  the  flower  of  his 
army,  and  the  French  marshal  remained 
behind  to  cover  Bavaria.  Owing  to  a  fire 
which  unfortunately  broke  out  in  Kufstein, 
that  strong  mountain  fortress  fell  imme- 
diately into  the  hands  of  the  elector,  and 
in  their  first  terror  several  other  places 
surrendered,  and  among  the  rest  even  In- 
spruck  itself.  Thence  the  Bavarians 
ascended  the  Brenner  mountain  to  make 
their  way  into  Italy.  Here,  however,  they 
were  anticipated  by  the  brave  Tyrolese,  a 
people  ever  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives 
and  their  all  in  the  cause  of  their  beloved 
country,  who  on  the  present  occasion  were 
strengthened  by  a  large  reinforcement  of 
Austrian  soldiers,  under  the  leadership  of 
the  gallant  amtmann,  Martin  Sterzing. 
They  climbed  up  the  rugged  heights  on  the 
sides  of  the  passes,  and  hurled  trees  and 
rocks  down  upon  their  foes,  as  they  defiled 
beneath  them,  who,  finding  it  impossible  to 
continue  their  march,  retreated  in  all  haste. 
A  Tyrolese  sharpshooter  in  a  ravine  lay 
in  ambuscade  for  the  elector  himself,  but, 
deceived  by  his  rich  uniform,  he  shot  the 
count  of  Arco  in  his  stead.  The  Bavariai 
army  suffered  still  greater  loss  on  its  re- 
treat,  and,  after  two  months,  the  elector  re- 
turned to  his  territory  with,  only  half  the 
forces  he  had  taken  with  him. 

As  a  sort  of  indemnification  he  succeeded, 
during  the  winter  of  the  same  year,  in  tak- 
ing possession  of  the  opulent  town  of  Augs- 
burg, as  well  as  of  that  of  Passau,  the  fron- 
tier fortress  of  Austria,  and  on  the  Rhine 


BATTLES  OF  HOCHSTADT  AND  BLENHEIM. 


307 


the  French  had  in  the  mean  time  conquered 
the  strong  fortresses  of  Brisach  and  Landau. 

To  counterbalance  these  losses,  the  allies 
proposed  the  following  year  to  try  with  all 
their  forces  united  for  better  success,  and 
according  to  the  plaa  laid  down  it  was  de- 
termined that  the  three  generals,  Marlbo- 
rough,  Eugene,  and  Lewis  of  Baden,  should 
fight  in  conjunction  in  Southern  Germany, 
and  that  General  Stahrenberg  should  re- 
main in  Italy  to  carry  on  a  defensive  war. 
The  three  generals  met  at  Heilbronn  on  the 
Neckar,  and  Marl  borough,  with  the  mar- 
grave of  Baden,  directed  his  course  to  the 
Danube,  and  Eugene  marched  along  the 
Rhine.  The  Bavarians  had  stationed  a 
part  of  their  army  in  an  advantageous  po- 
sition on  the  Schellen  mountain,  near  Do- 
nauwerth,  to  dispute  the  passage  of  the  im- 
perialists over  the  Danube  ;  but  they  were 
attacked  there  themselves,  and  after  a  brave 
defence  compelled  to  fly,  their  entire  camp 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

After  this  engagement  the  united  powers 
made  overtures  of  peace  to  the  elector,  and 
promised  him  considerable  advantages  if 
he  would  withdraw  from  the  alliance  of 
France.  He  began  to  waver,  and  was  on 
the  point  of  signing  the  articles  of  peace, 
when  a  messenger  informed  him  that  Mar- 
shal Tallard  was  advancing  with  a  fresh 
army  to  his  assistance.  On  receiving  this 
news,  the  elector  threw  the  pen  out  of  his 
hand  and  refused  to  sign  the  treaty.  The 
marshal  came,  but  with  him  came  likewise 
Prince  Eugene,  who  had  followed  at  his 
heels  and  now  joined  Marlborough,  They 
sent  the  old  unyielding  prince  of  Baden 
away  to  the  siege  of  Ingolstadt,  lest  he 
should  derange  their  plans  of  battle ;  and 
the  English  general  cordially  fought  hand- 
in-hand  with  the  unpretending  Eugene,  as 
the  latter  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  his 
own  personal  renown  for  the  success  of  the 
common  cause. 

On  the  12th  of  October  both  generals 
took  up  their  position  immediately  in  front 
of  the  French,  and  the  Bavarians  near  the 
small  town  of  HochsUidt;  and  on  the  13th 
they  began  the  battle.  The  enemy  was 
far  superior  in  numbers,  and  commanded  a 
highly  advantageous  situation,  while  they 
were  well  defended  by  morasses.  Marl- 
borough  led  the  right  wing,  composed  of  the 
English,  Dutch,  and  Hessians,  against  the 
French;  Eugene  with  the  left  advanced 
against  the  Bavarians.  The  battle  was 


most  fierce,  and  the  assailants  were  several 
times  driven  back  by  a  most  terrible  fire 
from  the  enemy's  artillery.  The  contest 
was  most  severe  on  the  left  wing,  wherb 
Maximilian  fought  with  the  utmost  bravery, 
skilfully  availing  himself  of  his  covered 
position  in  the  bog.  Eugene  perceived  that 
something  extraordinary  must  be  hazarded; 
careless  of  his  own  life,  he  rushed  forward 
animating  his  men,  when  a  Bavarian  dra- 
goon close  by  levelled  his  piece  at  him,  but 
one  of  the  prince's  orderlies  cut  him  down. 
At  that  moment  Prince  Leopold  of  Dessau, 
with  a  number  of  Prussian  infantry,  pressed 
forward  to  his  aid,  and  to  him  Eugene  him- 
self ascribes  the  determination  of  the  con- 
test  in  favor  of  this  wing.  Meanwhile 
Marlborough  likewise  had  with  his  wing 
routed  the  French,  and  when  the  elector 
saw  them  flying  from  the  field,  he  also  re- 
treated with  his  division.  Twenty-eight 
battalions  and  twelve  squadrons  of  French 
still  sought  to  defend  themselves  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Blenheim,  but  they  were  surrounded 
and  forced  to  yield  themselves  prisoners. 
Thus  a  great  and  decisive  victory  was 
gained  by  the  allies ;  20,000  French  and 
Bavarians  lay  on  the  field  of  battle,  15,200 
were  taken  prisoners,  among  whom  was 
Marshal  Tallard  himself,  with  his  son  and 
818  officers.  As  to  booty,  the  victors  had 
won  a  rich  military  chest,  117  cannon,  24 
mortars,  and  300  stand  of  colors ;  and  be- 
sides this,  5000  wagons,  3600  tents,  and 
two  pontoon  bridges.  From  this  day  the 
name  of  Marlborough  became  the  theme  of 
heroic  song  throughout  Germany,  and  the 
emperor  created  him  a  prince  of  the  empire. 

The  elector  of  Bavaria  saw  himself  com- 
pelled to  cross  the  Rhine  with  the  French, 
and  take  up  his  position  in  Brussels ;  his 
territory  was  occupied  by  the  imperialists, 
and  his  consort  retained  for  her  support 
only  the  town  and  revenue  of  Munich. 
Thus,  unhappily  for  him,  terminated  the 
campaign  of  1704. 

In  the  following  year,  1705,  the  emperor 
Leopold  I.  died  of  dropsy  on  the  chest,  in 
the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age  ;  few  of  his 
subjects  mourned  for  him,  for  he  by  no 
means  possessed  that  affability  with  which 
princes  so  easily  win  the  hearts  of  those 
who  surround  them,  and  what  rendered 
him  still  more  unpopular,  was  that  he  was 
too  fond  of  intrenching  himself  behind  the 
bulwark  of  the  severest  Spanish  court  eti- 
quette then  still  in  practice.  His  drest 


3G8 


JOSEPH  I.— WAR  CONTINUED 


was  always  black,  while  the  color  of  his 
stockings  and  the  plume  of  his  hat  were  of 
scarlet,  and  on  his  head  he  wore  a  peruke 
with  long  descending  ringlets.  His  form 
was  insignificant,  his  deportment  serious 
and  frequently  gloomy,  while  his  counte- 
nance was  disfigured  by  a  large  projecting 
under  lip.  The  most  marked  trait  in  his 
character  was  a  severe,  austere  tone  of 
piety,  but  it  was  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
placed  him  completely  under  the  direction 
and  sway  of  the  will  of  his  clergy.  In 
other  respects  he  was  conscientious,  good- 
natured,  and  very  charitable  to  the  poor, 
but  from  want  of  judgment,  his  liberality 
was  severely  imposed  upon.  Leopold  1. 
was  not  a  sovereign  equal  to  the  times  in 
which  he  lived,  neither  was  he  at  all  a 
match  for  an  antagonist  like  Louis  XIV. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son  Joseph, 
in  his  twenty-seventh  year. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Joseph  I.,  1705-1711— Continuation  of  the  War— Riots 
in  Bavaria — The  Elector  outlawed — Marshal  Villeroi 
—Battles  of  Ramillies  and  Turin,  1706— Triumph  of 
Marlborough  and  Eugene— Complete  overthrow  of 
the  French— General  Capitulation— Naples— Spain- 
Battles  of  Oudenarde  and  Malplaquet,  1708-1709— 
Defeat  of  the  French  under  Bourgoyne,  Vendome, 
and  Villars— Humiliation  of  Louis  XIV.— England- 
Queen  Anne— Marlborough  recalled  and  dismissed— 
Death  of  Joseph  L,  1711— Charles  VI.,  1711-1740— 
Peace  of  Utrecht,  1713— Peace  of  Rastadt  and  Baden. 
1714— Death  of  Louis  XIV.,  1715— The  House  or 
Austria  in  its  Relations  with  the  Germanic  Empire- 
Peaceful  Reign  of  Charles  VI.— His  Death,  1740— 
Maria  Theresa  of  Austria— Her  Title  to  the  Imperial 
Throne  disputed  by  Charles  Albert  of  Bavaria— Fred- 
erick II.  of  Prussia— His  extraordinary  Genius  and 
energetic  Character — His  Army — Invades  Austria — 
The  first  Silesian  War,  1740-1742— Glogau— Sanguin- 
ary Battle  of  Molwitz— Defeat  of  the  Austrians— 
Alliance  of  France,  Spain,  Bavaria,  and  Saxony, 
against  Austria,  in  support  of  Charles  Albert— Hano- 
ver—George  II.  of  England— Charles  Albert,  King 
of  Poland— Election  of  Emperor  in  Frankfort. 

LEOPOLD  I.  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest 
son  Joseph,  in  his  twenty-seventh  year, 
who  was  endowed  with  an  energetic  and 
aspiring  mind.  During  a  short  period  it 
was  doubtful  whether  or  not  the  new  em- 
peror would  continue  the  war  with  equal 
energy  in  favor  of  his  brother  Charles, 
who  had  proceeded  to  Spain  in  1704,  where 
he  had  since  continued,  and  had  been  actu- 
ally acknowledged  as  king  in  Aragon, 
Catalonia,  and  Valencia.  Joseph,  how- 
ever, declared  his  determination  to  prose- 


cute the  war  with  vigor,  and  he  kept  hk 
word. 

Nevertheless,  there  was  nothing  of  im 
portance  accomplished  anywhere  during 
the  campaign  of  1705.  Eugene  was  sent 
to  Italy,  in  order  to  reorganize  the  army 
there,  which  had  fallen  into  great  disorder ; 
but  more  than  this  he  was  not  able  to  do 
this  year.  Marlborough  had  returned  to 
the  Netherlands,  where  he  was  obliged  to 
collect  fresh  forces.  In  Bavaria,  mean- 
time,  a  violent  tumult  broke  out,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  oppressive  measures  adopted 
by  the  Austrian  officers  and  garrisons. 
They  forced  the  youth  of  the  country  into 
the  Austrian  service,  and  this  outrage  led 
to  a  revolt  on  the  part  of  the  sturdy  and 
independent  Bavarians.  They  took  up 
arms,  liberated  the  young  men  who  had 
been  pressed  into  service,  attacked  several 
bodies  of  the  Austrian  troops,  and  encour- 
aged by  their  first  success,  they  collected 
together  about  20,000  of  the  bold  peasant- 
ry under  the  orders  of  a  young  and  fiery 
student  named  Mainl.  They  proceeded  at 
once  to  make  an  assault  upon  the  fortresses 
of  Braunau  and  Schlirding,  and  forced  the 
small  garrisons  to  surrender.  The  Aus- 
trians were  obliged  to  negotiate  with  them 
and  to  conclude  an  armistice,  not  as  with 
rebels,  but  as  with  men  defending  their 
independence.  They,  however,  availed 
themselves  of  this  circumstance  by  collect- 
ing together  a  small  imperial  army  from 
the  neighboring  districts,  and  with  this  as- 
sistance they  routed  the  peasants,  recov- 
ered from  them  one  town  after  another, 
and  in  some  measure  re-established  order. 
This,  however,  was  attended  with  many 
acts  of  severity,  and  the  feeling  of  bitter 
animosity  between  the  two  parties  in- 
creased more  and  more.  The  elector  him- 
self, being  looked  upon  as  the  first  mover 
in  the  insurrection,  and  an  enemy  of  the 
empire,  was,  together  with  his  brother,  the 
elector  of  Cologne,  now  formally  declared 
an  outlaw,  and  his  territory  escheated  as  a 
fief  of  the  empire.  At  the  urgent  request 
of  the  elector  palatine,  the  emperor  re- 
stored to  him  the  upper  palatinate  which 
his  family  had  lost  in  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  and  which  had  been  transferred  to 
Bavaria,  together  with  its  ancient  seat  in 
the  assembly  of  electors.  About  this  time 
also  the  princes,  who  had  hitherto  disputed 
the  electoral  dignity  of  Hanover,  at  length 
yielded  ;  it  was  universally  acknowledged. 


BATTLE  OF  RAMILLIES— BATTLE  OF  TURIN. 


309 


and  the  elector  palatine  resigned  to  the 
»iew  elector  of  Hanover  the  office  of  grand 
treasurer. 

France  had  determined  to  turn  her  chief 
force  in  the  succeeding  campaign  against 
the  Netherlands,  in  order  that  she  might, 
if  possible,  obtain  in  wealthy  Holland  the 
means  of  continuing  the  war.  Accordingly 
she  sent  into  the  field  the  finest  army  that, 
had  as  yet  appeared  in  this  war ;  but  its 
general,  Marshal  Villeroi,  was  no  match 
for  the  daring  Marl  bo  rough.  Actuated  by 
vain  confidence,  he  left  his  strong  position 
at  Louvain  on  the  22d  of  May,  in  order  to 
attack  the  enemy  on  the  plains  of  Ramil- 
lies.*  This  was  exactly  what  Marlbo- 
rough  desired  ;  his  position  was  excellently 
defended  by  a  morass  and  some  ditches 
filled  with  water,  so  that  when  the  enemy 
advanced  to  the  attack,  it  was  impossible 
for  them  to  approach  the  weaker  and  more 
exposed  points  in  his  order  of  battle,  pro- 
tected as  they  were  by  a  riatural  defence ; 
while  he,  on  the  other  hand,  could  turn  his 
whole  force  upon  their  separate  points  and 
break  through  them.  Before  the  battle,  a 
French  officer  declared  their  army  to  be  so 
superior,  that  if  they  did  not  conquer  that 
day,  they  ought  never  again  to  show  their 
faces  before  the  enemy.  Nevertheless 
they  were  defeated  ;  for  no  bravery  can 
atone  for  the  faults  of  a  general.  More 
than  20,000  men  were  lost,  and  eighty 
standards,  together  with  the  drums  and 
colors  of  the  royal  guard  itself ;  and  two 
months  elapsed  before  the  French  army 
was  able  to  repair  its  losses. 

On  the  other  hand  the  conqueror  march- 
ed through  Brabant  and  Flanders,  took 
possession  of  all  the  towns,  made  them 
swear  allegiance  to  Charles  III.  as  their 
rightful  sovereign,  and  a  council  of  state 
was  established  at  Brussels  in  the  name  of 
the  new  king. 

Prince  Eugene,  on  his  part,  would  not 
allow  this  year  to  pass  without  some  great 
action  in  Italy.  He  undertook  one  of  the 
most  daring  expeditions  to  be  found  in 
the  annals  of  war.  With  not  more  than 
24,000  German  troops  he  completed  a 
march  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles, 
ascending  mountains  and  crossing  rivers, 


*  This  field  is  almost  identical  with  that  on  which 
the  great  battle  of  La  Belle  Alliance  and  Waterloo 
was  fought,  and  the  latter  name  already  was  employed 
to  designate  the  engagement  above  referred  to  more 
lhan  a  century  ago. 

47 


and  through  a  country  wholly  occupied 
by  the  enemy,  in  order  to  effect  a  junction 
with  the  duke  of  Savoy,  who  was  closely 
pressed,  and  whose  capital  city,  Turin, 
was  at  that  moment  besieged  by  the  ene- 
my. To  the  astonishment  of  every  one, 
the  expedition  succeeded.  Eugene  arrived 
in  time  to  aid  the  duke,  and  hastened  to 
the  relief  of  Turin.  Although  his  army 
was  much  inferior  in  strength,  and  only 
indifferently  equipped,  he  nevertheless 
ventured  an  attack  upon  the  French  lines 
on  the  7th  of  September,  at  four  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  He  was  received  by  a  ter- 
rific cannonade,  which,  however,  did  not 
prevent  his  men  from  bravely  rushing  for- 
ward. Prince  Leopold  of  Dessau,  subse- 
quently known  by  the  name  of  the  old 
Dessauer,  led  the  Prussians  on  the  left 
wing  against  the  intrenchments,  followed 
in  the  centre  by  the  Wiirtembergers  and 
the  troops  of  the  palatinate,  and  those  of 
Gotha  on  the  right  wing;  at  the  same 
time  Count  Daun  made  a  sally  with  his 
men  from  the  citadel.  The  battle  was 
extremely  obstinate ;  two  assaults  made 
by  the  Germans  were  repulsed,  when  at 
length,  after  two  hours'  fighting,  the  Prus- 
sians* succeeded  in  mounting  the  ramparts 
first,  and  were  soon  followed  by  the  others. 
The  confusion  of  the  enemy  was  greatly 
increased  through  their  rear  line  being  at 
tacked  by  the  garrison  of  Turin,  and  the 
loss  of  both  their  chief  generals,  the  duke 
of  Orleans  and  Count  Marsin,  who  were 
severely  wounded  and  obliged  to  leave  the 
field  of  battle.  Marsin  was  taken  prisoner 
and  died  next  day  at  Turin ;  5,000  dead, 
and  a  yet  greater  number  of  wounded  cov- 
ered the  field  of  battle,  and  the  rest  fled  in 
such  disorder  over  the  mountains  into 
France,  that  of  the  whole  army,  originally 
80,000  strong,  scarcely  16,000  men  es- 
caped. All  the  immense  supplies  they 
had  brought  with  them,  213  pieces  of  can- 
non, 80,000  barrels  of  gunpowder,  together 
with  a  vast  quantity  of  ammunition,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  The  results 
of  the  battle,  however,  presented  still 
greater  advantages  than  all  this  booty,  for 

*  In  a  letter  to  Count  Singendorf,  Prince  Eugene 
himself  says:  "The  prince  of  Anhalt  has  once  more 
done  wonders  with  his  troops  at  Turin.  I  met  hirn 
twice  in  the  thickest  fire,  and  in  the  very  front  of  it 
and  I  cannot  conceal  it,  that  in  bravery,  and  especially 
in  discipline,  his  troops  have  far  surpassed  mine/ 
The  emperor  Joseph  himself  wrote  to  Prince  Leopold, 
as  well  as  to  Prince  William  of  Saxe-Gotha,  very  hoi) 
orable  letters  of  thanks. 


370 


NAPLES-TUB  RHINE— SPAIN 


the  French  lost  rapidly  one  place  after  an- 
other in  Italy,  and  were  forced  to  conclude 
a  general  capitulation,  according  to  the 
terms  of  which  they  evacuated  Italy  en- 
tirely, and  engaged  to  send  no  more  troops 
there  during  the  whole  war.  The  heroic 
conduct  of  Prince  Eugene  during  this 
memorable  campaign  had  produced  such 
glorious  results,  that  his  fame  resounded 
from  one  end  of  Europe  to  the  other,  and 
in  token  of  his  high  regard  for  his  great 
and  distinguished  merits,  the  emperor  pre- 
sented him  with  a  valuable  sword,  and  ap- 
pointed him  governor-general  of  Milan. 

In  the  year  1707  France  lost  a  third 
portion  of  the  Spanish  inheritance,  which 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  emperor ;  Lom- 
bardy  and  the  Netherlands  had  already 
been  secured  to  him  by  the  two  great  bat- 
tles of  the  preceding  year.  Naples,  where 
only  a  small  body  of  Spanish  troops  was 
quartered,  was  taken  possession  of  without 
any  difficulty,  and  thus  France  lost  its  last 
hold  in  Italy ;  while  in  the  Netherlands 
not  a  single  place  was  now  left  for  Marl- 
borough  to  take.  The  only  compensation 
left  to  Louis  XIV.  was  in  the  Upper  Rhine, 
where  he  availed  himself  of  the  slow  pro- 
gress made  by  the  imperialists  in  their 
operations.  The  old  general,  Lewis  of 
Baden,  who  died  in  1707,  was  succeeded 
by  the  margrave  of  Baireuth,  who  was 
equally  as  inactive  in  his  movements  as 
his  predecessor,  and  who,  by  his  irresolu- 
tion, allowed  the  French  to  cross  the  Rhine 
at  Strasburg,  and  to  resume  their  whole 
system  of  relentless  devastation  in  Fran- 
conia  and  Svvabia.  It  has  been  calculated 
that,  in  the  space  of  only  two  months,  they 
levied  contributions  to  the  amount  of  nine 
millions  of  florins.  The  margrave,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  all,  did  not  long  delay  giving 
in  his  resignation  as  commander-in-chief^ 
and  he  was  replaced  by  a  more  active 
leader,  George  Lewis,  elector  of  Hanover. 
The  ill  condition  of  the  imperial  army, 
however,  prevented  him  from  undertaking 
any  thing  important;  he  was  obligee  to 
content  himself  with  forcing  the  French, 
through  want  of  supplies,  to  recross/  he 
Rhine,  and  with  opposing  their  passage  a 
second  time  in  the  following  year.  f 

An  expedition  which  Prince  Eugene) had 
to  make,  by  desire  of  the  maritime  powers, 
;.n  the  same  year,  1707,  from  Italy  to!  the 
south  of  France,  in  order  to  take  possession 
•)f  Toulon,  succeeded  no  better  than  those 


previously  undertaken  by  Charles  V.  in 
the  same  quarter,  while  King  Louis  haa 
the  satisfaction  to  see  his  grandson  Philip 
V.  once  more  master  of  nearly  the  whole 
of  Spain.  The  Archduke  Charles  had 
been,  it  is  true,  extremely  fortunate  in  his 
operations  in  Spain  the  preceding  year; 
his  army,  which  chiefly  consisted  of  Portu- 
guese auxiliaries,  had  succeeded  in  taking 
the  capital,  Madrid,  and  he  had  there  been 
proclaimed  king  of  Spain ;  but  his  own 
natural  indolence,  the  dissension  existing 
among  his  generals,  the  hatred  of  the  Cas- 
tilians  towards  him  and  the  Aragonians,  a? 
well  as  to  the  English  and  Portuguese 
together  with  other  causes,  assisted  gradu- 
ally to  deprive  him  of  his  conquests,  so 
that  in  the  year  1707  he  retained  nothing 
more  beyond  Catalonia. 

Meantime  Louis  XIV.  had  already  suf- 
fered such  severe  losses  in  this  war,  and 
his  country  was  so  exhausted,  that  he  most 
anxiously  longed  for  peace,  and  by  con- 
trolling his  innate  feeling  of  pride,  he  made 
attempts  to  purchase  it  even  at  great  sacri- 
fices. His  adversaries,  however,  deter- 
mined to  punish  him  severely  this  time  for 
all  his  former  arrogance ;  Eugene  and 
Marlborough  especially,  being  hostilely 
disposed  towards  the  vain  monarch,  used 
all  their  influence  equally  both  in  Austria 
and  England  to  prevent  any  pacificatory 
measures,  being  resolved  to  reduce  him  to 
the  most  humiliating  condition,  and  in 
which  object  they  succeeded. 

Both  these  generals,  after  Eugene  had 
regulated  affairs  in  Italy,  formed  a  junction 
once  more  in  the  Netherlands;  and  thus 
united,  they  gave  battle  to,  and  completely 
defeated  the  dukes  of  Bourgoyne  and  Ven- 
dome — between  whom  there  was  great  dis- 
union— on  the  llth  of  June,  1708,  at 
Oudenarde.  After  this  victory,  Eugene 
boldly  attacked  the  citadel  of  Ryssel,  which 
was  regarded  as  impregnable,  and  of  which 
he  made  himself  master. 

The  ill  success  experienced  by  France 
in  this  campaign,  was  made  still  more 
grievous  by  its  being  followed  by  an  un- 
paralleled severely-cold  winter,  1708,  and 
the  consequent  serious  injury  produced 
thereby.  T^\e  cold  was  so  intense  that  the 
very  animals  in  the  forests  ana  the  birds  in 
the  air  *vere  frozen  to  death,  and  the  vines 
and  frmt-trees  completely  destroyed — while 
the  inhabitants  themselves,  already  suf. 
ferinir  so  acutely  from  the  war,  were  driv 


BATTLE  OF  MALPLAQUE1 


371 


en  completely  to  despair  by  this  terrible 
visitation  of  nature;  their  lamentations 
were  heart-rending,  and  all  resources  for 
the  supplies  of  the  army  in  the  next  cam- 
paign were  entirely  destroyed.  Thence 
the  king,  being  now  completely  discouraged 
and  crestfallen,  was  obliged  to  humble  him- 
self once  more,  and  make  overtures  of 
peace  ;  he  declared,  accordingly,  that  he 
was  willing  to  renounce  Spain,  India,  Mi- 
lan, and  the  Netherlands,  if  they  would 
leave  to  Philip  V.  Naples  and  Sicily.  But 
ihe  two  generals,  who  appeared  at  the 
Hague  in  the  midst  of  these  negotiations, 
declared  briefly  that  the  house  of  Austria 
should  not  lose  even  a  single  village  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy,  and  when  this  severe 
exaction  was  at  length  agreed  to.  they  de- 
manded still  farther  concessions  from  the 
territory  of  France  itself:  "  Alsace,"  they 
said,  "  must  be  given  up.  and  an  entire 
line  of  strong  places  in  the  Netherlands,  as 
well  as  in  Savoy,  must  be  surrendered,  to 
secure  these  countries  for  the  future  against 
the  crafty  proceedings  of  France."  All 
this  the  French  envoys  successively  con- 
ceded ;  they  only  refused  their  consent  to 
3ne  proposal  of  their  enemies,  and  which 
was  in  truth  of  a  character  highly  derog- 
atory and  dishonorable,  viz. :  that  in  case 
his  grandson  Philip  would  not  resign 
Spain  of  his  own  accord,  Louis  should 
himself  assist  in  expelling  him  therefrom 
by  force  of  arms.  To  such  an  indignity 
the  French  monarch  would  not  submit,  and 
che  war  was  commenced  again. 

Part  of  the  summer  of  1709  had  already 
passed  away  in  these  negotiations,  and  Eu- 
gene and  Marlborough  hastened  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
season.  They  took  possession  of  Tournay, 
and  marched  against  Mons.  This  place 
Marshal  Villars  wished  to  protect,  and  had 
accordingly  taken  up  a  strong  position  at 
Malplaquet,  in  front  of  the  city.  The  two 
victorious  generals,  however,  attacked  him 
in  his  intrenchments  without  delay,  on  the 
llth  of  September,  and  after  a  battle,  the 
most  obstinate  and  sanguinary  during  the 
whole  war,  victory  declared  in  favor  of  the 
allies.  Eugene  himself,  at  the  very  outset 
of  the  action,  received  a  grazing  shot  in 
the  head  ;  but  he  very  calmly  folded  his 
pocket-handkerchief  round  his  head,  and 
led  on  his  troops  into  the  very  hottest  fire. 
Mons  was  now  closely  besieged,  and  shortly 
afterwards  taken. 


Another  campaign  was  now  lost,  and 
Louis  XIV.  was  again  forced  to  renew  his 
offers  of  peace.  He  agreed  to  every  thing 
that  was  demanded,  excepting  that  in  ordei 
not  to  be  obliged  to  send  an  army  to  assist  in 
the  expulsion  of  his  grandson  from  Spain,  he 
promised  to  furnish  the  allied  powers  with 
a  sum  of  money  instead  for  that  purpose. 
But  Louis  was  now  to  experience  in  his 
own  person  what  others  had  but  too  often 
felt  through  him,  viz.,  how  acutely  severe 
the  haughty  insolence  of  the  conqueror 
pierces  the  heart  of  him  whom  misfortune 
has  laid  prostrate  at  his  feet.  He  was  now 
forced  to  witness  what  was  but  too  clearly 
manifested,  how  by  the  duplicity  he  had 
himself  formerly  practised  in  all  his  ne- 
gotiations, he  had  alienated  from  him  the 
confidence  of  all  the  other  European  na- 
tions ;  he  was  answered  that,  as  long  as 
Philip  V.  remained  in  Spain,  they  could 
put  no  trust  in  the  promises  of  his  cabinet ; 
and  if  he  seriously  desired  peace,  he  must 
commence  by  satisfying  all  the  demands 
made  by  the  allied  powers,  and  fulfil  all  the 
conditions  of  the  treaty  within  the  period  of 
two  months. 

After  such  a  declaration,  expressed  in 
terms  so  haughty  and  overbearing,  the 
humbled  monarch  was  forced  to  recom- 
mence war,  at  whatever  sacrifice,  and 
1  \igene  and  Marlborough  succeeded  with- 
ou:»  much  difficulty  in  capturing  one  town 
afk  r  the  other  on  the  frontiers  of  France  ; 
while  in  addition  to  this  the  news  now  ar- 
rived from  Spain,  that  Count  Stahrenberg, 
Charles's  general,  had  completely  defeated 
the  army  of  Philip  V.,  and  that  on  the  28th 
of  September,  1710,  Charles  had  made  his 
triumphal  entry  into  Madrid. 

Louis  XIV.,  already  old  and  feeble,  was 
now  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  and  was 
left  without  one  resource.  After  so  many 
wars,  and  the  consequent  sacrifice  of  so 
many  thousands  of  lives,  together  with  such 
large  sums  of  money,  he  was  forced  to  be- 
hold the  destruction  of  the  whole  of  that  fab- 
ric built  to  perpetuate  the  grandeur  of  his 
name  and  government,  and  he  was  even 
called  upon  to  offer  up  a  portion  of  his  own 
ancient  patrimonial  realm. 

Never  did  fate  appear  to  have  dealt 
more  hardly  with  one  who  felt  secure  in 
the  conviction  that  he  had  elevated  him- 
self to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  monarchal 
greatness  and  imperial  glory.  But  his 
adversaries  had  themselves  now  lost  sight 


372 


DEATH  OF  JOSEPH  i.— PEACE  OF  UTRECHT. 


of  that  moderation  in  the  moment  when  its 
influence  would  have  saved  them ;  they 
had  likewise  become  arrogant  through 
their  good  fortune,  whence  they  lost  a 
great  portion  of  the  fruits  of  their  victories. 
Three  favorable  circumstances  at  once 
rescued  France  from  the  great  extremity 
to  which  she  was  reduced,  and  gained  for 
her  more  liberal  conditions  of  peace. 
These  fortunate  events  were  :  the  recall 
and  dismissal  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough, 
the  triumph  of  the  French  partisans  in  Spain, 
and  the  death  of  the  emperor  Joseph  I. 

In  England,  where  the  friends  of  Marl- 
Borough  had  hitherto  governed  the  state,  an 
opposite  party  had,  during  his  absence, 
gradually  and  secretly  formed  itself  into 
a  powerful  body,  and  adopted  the  term 
Tories  or  Royalists,  in  contrast  to  the 
other — the  Marlborough  party,  which  re- 
presented the  Whigs  or  friends  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  efforts  made  by  Marlborough  in 
the  war  were  now  regarded  as  suspicious 
by  Queen  Anne,  and  his  wife,  who  had 
hitherto  held  great  sway  over  her  mind, 
was  now  supplanted  by  another  influential 
party,  Lady  Masham ;  a  new  parliament 
was  elected  in  1710,  of  which  the  Tories 
formed  the  majority,  and  thence  measures 
for  peace  were  loudly  advocated  in  substi- 
tution for  those  of  war.  Marlborough  was 
allowed  to  hold  command  for  a  short  time 
longer,  but  with  such  restrictions  that  he 
almost  immediately  afterwards  resigned  it 
altogether. 

The  death  of  the  emperor  Joseph  I.,  on 
the  17th  of  April,  1711,  contributed  not  a 
little  to  establish  a  peace.  He  died  of  the 
small-pox,  in  his  thirty-third  year,  and  is 
represented  in  history  as  a  prince  of  an 
active  and  prompt  character,  and  far  supe- 
rior to  his  father  and  brother.  His  mind 
was  capable  of  entertaining  the  most  noble 
and  enlarged  ideas,  and  thence  it  was  that 
his  penetrating  eye  selected  Eugene,  with 
his  extraordinary  genius,  as  worthy  of  his 
entire  confidence.  As  the  emperor  died 
without  heirs,  he  was  succeeded  to  the 
throne  by  his  brother,  the  Archduke  Charles. 
The  question  now  arose  respecting  the 
equilibrium  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  as  in 
the  time  of  Charles  V.  :  whether  it  were 
advisable  that  the  present  Charles,  if  elect- 
ed by  the  Germans  as  their  emperor,  under 
the  title  of  Charles  VI.,  should  be  allowed 
to  preside  over  the  half  of  Europe,  and  the 
power  of  the  house  of  Austria  thus  be- 


come so  preponderating  ?  For  Chaile., 
VI.  would  have  possessed  the  same  domi- 
nation as  Charles  V.,  if  he  united  th<! 
whole  of  Austria  to  the  Spanish  monarchy. 
Such  a  predominance  appeared  dangerous 
to  the  other  states,  especially  to  the  mari- 
time powers,  and  they  accordingly,  pro- 
moted the  election  of  Charles  as  emperor, 
with  the  view  of  afterwards  depriving  him 
of  a  portion  of  the  Spanish  succession. 
He  was  therefore  crowned  at  Frankfort,  on 
the  22d  of  December,  1711. 

Charles,  however,  had  in  the  mean  time 
lost  all  he  had  gained  in  Spain.  Defeated 
several  times  by  the  able  French  general, 
the  duke  of  Vendome,  all  his  possessions 
there  were  reconquered,  and  Philip  V.  was 
re-established  in  his  kingdom. 

During  this  interval  the  English  minis- 
ters  had  been  secretly  negotiating  with 
France,  and  the  preliminary  conditions  of 
peace  were  already  signed  ;  so  that  the 
allies  found  themselves  forced  to  agree  to 
stipulations  by  no  means  advantageous  to 
them — so  little  honorable  had  been  the 
conduct  of  England  in  her  proceedings 
with  regard  to  her  confederates.  The 
conferences  for  a  general  peace  now  com- 
menced, and  Utrecht  was  chosen  as  the 
place  of  assembly. 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  main  point  to  be 
discussed — the  Spanish  inheritance — they, 
notwithstanding  the  protestations  of  the  em- 
peror, were  soon  agreed.  Philip  V.  was 
to  have  Spain  and  India,  and  Charles  the 
remainder  ;  at  the  same  time  Philip  was  to 
renounce  all  claim  to  the  throne  of  France, 
so  that  the  two  crowns  of  Spain  and  France 
could  never  be  placed  upon  the  same  head. 

France  ceded  to  England  Hudson's  Bay 
and  Newfoundland,  and  moreover,  by  de- 
sire of  that  power,  she  demolished  the 
whole  of  the  fortified  works  of  Dunkirk. 
To  Portugal  she  gave  up  likewise  various 
territories  in  South  America  ;  to  Prussia 
the  possession  of  Spanish  Guelderland,  and 
the  sovereignty  of  Neufchatel  and  Valen- 
gin,  and  she  acknowledged  its  prince  as 
king  of  Prussia.  Savoy  obtained  impor- 
tant fortresses  on  the  French  frontiers,  and 
as  that  country  could  also  lay  claim  to  the 
Spanish  crown,  the  island  of  Sicily  was  re- 
signed  to  her  as  an  indemnification.  Hol- 
land, which  had  adhered  to  the  league 
more  faithfully  than  all  the  others,  and 
had  always  refused  the  advantages  offered 
by  a  separate  peace  with  France,  received 


DEATH  OF  LOUIS  XIV.— THE  HOUSE  OF  AUSTRIA. 


37S 


>ut  very  poor  amends,  while  she  was  for- 
ced to  relinquish  the  strongest  fortresses 
she  had  conquered,  only  being  allowed  to 
retain  a  few  of  the  weaker  places,  to  her 
Df  little  service.  Spain  eventually  sur- 
rendered to  England  the  stronghold  of 
Gibraltar  and  the  island  of  Minorca,  and 
thus  England  reaped  the  greatest  benefit 
from  this  treaty  of  pacification. 

The  emperor  and  the  imperial  states, 
deserted  now  by  their  allies,  found  them- 
selves obliged  either  to  negotiate  a  peace 
or  prosecute  the  war  alone.  The  stipula- 
tions made  by  the  French  were  of  the  most 
shameful  and  humiliating  nature ;  inas- 
much as  Louis,  in  order  no  doubt  to  prove 
himself  extremely  generous  towards  his 
ally,  the  elector  of  Bavaria,  demanded 
that  all  the  estates  of  that  prince  should  be 
restored  to  him,  and  that  the  territories  of 
Burgau  and  Nollenburg,  together  with  the 
island  of  Sardinia,  as  a  kingdom,  should 
likewise  be  ceded  to  him:  a  truly  royal 
recompense  for  him  who  had  been  the 
faithful  ally  of  the  empire's  foe  !  To  have 
agreed  to  such  conditions  would  have  been 
too  dishonorable  ;  accordingly  the  war  was 
resumed — but  with  what  chances  of  suc- 
cess ?  Eugene  with  his  forces,  now  re- 
duced to  a  mere  handful  of  imperialists, 
was  not  in  a  condition  to  face  the  entire 
French  army  under  the  command  of  Vil- 
fars,  nor  even  to  maintain  his  ground  in 
defence  of  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  ;  whence 
the  adjacent  circles  of  that  territory  were 
again  devastated,  and  the  inry^rtant  for- 
tresses of  Landau  and  Friburg  again  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  French. 

In  this  state  of  things,  Eugene  and  Vil 
lars,  in  November,  1713,  met  in  the  castle 
of  Rastadt,  and  recommenced  negotiations. 
These  two  great  generals,  who  had  already 
more  than  once  confronted  each  other  on 
the  field  of  battle,  were  now  equally  de- 
sirous of  being  distinguished  as  the  pro- 
moters of  peace,  and  after  overcoming  the 
difficulties  thrown  in  their  way,  and  which 
in  one  or  two  instances  were  produced  by 
the  overbearing  pride  of  Louis  himself, 
they  at  length  signed  the  treaty  of  peace 
on  the  7th  of  March,  1714.  The  emperor 
received  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  Milan, 
Sardinia,  Mantua,  and  the  sea-ports  of  Tus- 
cany ;  and  France  restored  all  the  con- 
quered places  she  had  gained  on  the  Rhine, 
as  far  as  Landau.  The  electors  of  Hava- 
na and  Cologne  were  freed  from  the  im- 


perial ban,  and  were  reinstated  in  all  theii 
possessions  and  dignities. 

These  were  the  principal  conditions  of 
peace,  but  there  were  many  other  points,  es- 
pecially relative  to  the  Germanic  empire, 
which  were  definitively  agreed  to  on  the  7th 
of  September,  1714,  at  Baden,  in  Aarau. 

And  thus,  once  more,  a  violent  tempest 
had  passed  over  our  heads.  Meantime,  the 
great  war  in  the  north,  and  which  at  this 
moment  convulsed  the  other  moiety  of 
Europe,  north  and  east,  although  not  much 
felt  in  Germany,  pursued  its  course  until 
the  death  of  the  Swedish  monarch,  Charles 
XII.,  in  December,  1718.  During  the  ill 
fortunes  of  Sweden,  Brandenburg  took  pos- 
session of  a  portion  of  Swedish  Pomerania, 
and  Hanover  secured  to  itself  by  purchase, 
the  bishoprics  of  Bremen  and  Verderi,  and 
both  retained  their  acquisitions  during  the 
peace.  On  the  death  of  Louis  XIV.  in 
1715,  Europe,  after  these  two  great  wars, 
was  suffered  to  enjoy  for  some  time  a  state 
of  repose. 

We  have  described  the  important  war 
just  concluded  more  in  detail,  because 
therein  France  lost  her  ascendency  ;  while 
for  Austria  and  Germany  in  general,  it  pro- 
duced that  favorable  moment  by  which  they 
were  enabled  to  occupy,  once  more,  their 
ancient  honorable  position  in  the  world's 
history.  As  it  was  to  be  feared,  since 
Louis  XIV.  had  manifested  such  desire  for 
conquest,  that  if  left  to  itself,  a  single  state 
must  be  too  weak  to  resist  the  prepondera- 
ting power  of  France,  King  William  III. 
of  England  strenuously  labored,  single- 
handed,  to  oppose,  by  means  of  a  conven- 
tion of  several  states,  a  barrier  to  that 
ambition,  so  that  in  future  the  laws  of 
justice  and  equity  should  alone  govern 
nations  among  themselves.  Thence  he 
was  the  founder  of  the  new  system  of  po- 
litical equilibrium,  and  merits  the  apprecia- 
tion due  to  a  great  man  ;  for  he  effected 
great  things  with  small  means,  and  was,  in 
truth,  the  shield  of  Europe.  Beyond  every 
thing  else,  however,  he  founded  his  hopes 
for  the  maintenance  of  lasting  peace  and 
security  upon  the  union  of  England  with 
Austria — an  alliance,  to  use  the  expression 
of  that  period,  of  the  most  independent 
Protestantism  with  the  most  legitimate  Ca- 
tholicism. This  union,  in  fact,  produced 
an  entire  new  form  in  the  development  of 
all  the  relations  of  the  different  Europeas 
states.  But  one  of  its  most  important  re 


374 


STATE  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  GERMANY,, 


suits  has  been  to  render  the  principles  of 
tolerance,  reciprocal  esteem,  and  moral 
dignity,  more  prevalent  among  nations ; 
and  it  is  in  this  respect  especially  that  the 
first  moiety  of  the  eighteenth  century  dis- 
tinguished itself,  in  spite  of  its  many  im- 
perfections. Thence,  by  this  means,  Austria 
was  placed  once  again  in  the  centre  of 
Europe,  as  the  power  destined  to  establish 
relationship  between  all  other  nations,  and 
to  maintain  among  them  order  and  union  ; 
while  with  respect  to  Germany  itself,  she 
was  called  upon  to  defend,  with  still  greater 
power,  the  pristine  dignity  and  the  ancient 
constitution  of  that  empire.  The  glory  and 
the  acquisitions  that  had  fallen  to  her  share 
through  the  late  war,  appeared  indeed  as  an 
indication  of  the  favor  of  divine  providence, 
and  as  a  ratification  of  the  rank  she  was 
to  hold  in  order  to  bring  into  operation  the 
objects  she  was  destined  to  realize.  She 
was,  in  fact,  more  powerful  now  than  even 
if  she  had  succeeded  in  uniting  the  Spanish 
crown  with  that  of  Austria ;  for  the  reign 
of  Charles  V.  himself  had  already  shown 
that  such  an  extension  of  dominion  is  any 
thing  but  real  augmentation  of  power. 
Austria  was  chiefly  indebted  for  her  pres- 
ent state  of  elevation  to  the  great  genius 
of  Prince  Eugene,  and  to  the  sovereign  she 
lost  too  soon,  the  emperor  Joseph  I.,  who 
entered  completely  into  the  exalted  ideas 
of  that  distinguished  man. 

Had  the  emperor  Charles  VI.  possessed 
sufficient  penetration  of  mind  to  perceive 
the  position  he  was  called  upon  to  secure 
to  Austria  and  Germany  in  the  history  of 
European  policy,  and  of  which  he  might 
have  made  himself  master  forthwith,  he 
would  have  been  enabled  to  establish  the 
greatness  and  renown  not  only  of  his  own 
portion  of  the  empire,  but  of  the  whole  of 
Germany,  and  have  laid  the  foundation  for 
a  long  and  glorious  peace  throughout 
Europe.  But  Charles's  genius,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  age  he  lived  in,  was  not  capable 
of  comprehending,  much  less  executing 
such  an  important  plan.  The  idea  of  the 
equilibrium  of  the  states  became  more  and 
more  materialized  into  a  careful  estimation 
of  the  physical  powers,  a  measurement  of 
the  produce  of  countries,  and  an  exact 
census  of  their  subjects  and  soldiers. 
Thence  one  of  the  greatest  evils  origina- 
ting in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  became 
now  more  universally  adopted,  inasmuch 
is  sovereigns  sought  for  the  security  of 


their  independence,  not  in  the  love  of  theil 
subjects,  where  alone  it  rests,  but  in  tbe 
great  number  of  their  soldiers,  ever  ready 
to  strike  the  blow.  Whenever  one  state 
augmented  its  mercenaries,  its  neighbor 
followed  the  example,  and  this  was  almost 
the  only  scale  of  proportion  between  nations ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  all  moral  and  in- 
tellectual power  was  accounted  as  nothing, 
because  it  could  not  be  reduced  to  measure- 
ment. Such  a  state  of  things  must  bring 
with  it  a  heavy  judgment;  intellect  thus 
misprized,  abandoned  altogether  the  struc- 
ture, the  formation  of  which  had  cost  so 
much  labor  and  pain,  and  which  it  alone 
could  uphold,  and  thence  this  system  of 
equipoise,  after  a  short  duration  of  splen- 
dor in  the  time  of  Eugene  and  William3 
and  an  extended  period  of  doubtful  exist- 
ence, finally  fell  its  own  sacrifice  at  the 
end  of  the  same  century  in  which  it  took  its 
rise. 

In  consequence  of  this  system,  and  the 
position  therein  occupied  by  the  house  of 
Austria,  Germany  found  itself  implicated 
in  the  wars  of  that  dominion;  besides 
which,  it  was  forced  to  share  in  all  the 
commotions  of  Europe,  without  reaping 
any  advantage  by  them,  until  the  venera- 
ble and  tottering  fabric  of  the  empire,  com- 
pletely, overcome  by  continual  concussion, 
fell  to  pieces.  For  in  the  existence  of 
nations,  as  in  that  of  individuals,  there  is 
no  pause ;  if  they  do  not  press  onward 
they  retrograde  incessantly,  and  Germany 
had  just  shown  itself  frigidly  indifferent  and 
unwilling  to  embrace  a  favorable  opportu- 
nity for  its  elevation. 

Meantime,  the  last  twenty  years  of  the 
reign  of  Charles  VI.  were,  with  trifling  ex- 
ceptions, a  period  of  peace.  He  more  es- 
pecially devoted  himself  to  the  internal  ad- 
ministration of  his  extensive  and  beautiful 
provinces;  and  this,  after  an  epoch  of  so 
much  suffering  and  calamity,  operated 
gratefully  and  beneficially.  As  he  had  no 
male  issue,  he  had  drawn  up  a  solemn  law, 
called  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  according 
to  which  he  transferred  to  his  daughter, 
Maria  Theresa,  tht  peaceful  possession  ol 
his  hereditary  lands.  This  he  was  ex- 
tremely anxious  to  have  confirmed  'sy  the 
leading  states  of  Europe,  and  in  this  object, 
after  many  abortive  endeavors,  he  succeed- 
ed ;  but  this  sanction,  nevertheless,  did  not 
serve  to  secure  his  daughter,  after  his  death, 
from  the  attacks  of  a  'host  of  enemies,  who 


DEATH  OF  CHARLES  VI— MARIA  THERESA. 


375 


hoped  to  make  good  their  pretensions  by 
force  of  arms. 

The  emperor  himself  carried  on  a  war 
from  the  year  1733  to  1735,  on  behalf  of 
Augustus  III.  of  Saxony — who  had  been 
ejected  king  of  Poland — against  the  French, 
who  were  desirous  of  dethroning  him,  and 
substituting  in  his  place  Stanislaus  Leczin- 
ski,  father-in-law  to  the  French  monarch, 
Louis  XV.  This  war,  however,  was  not 
favorable  to  Austria  and  Germany  ;  Au- 
gustus III.  continued,  indeed,  by  the  subse- 
quent treaty  of  peace,  king  of  Poland,  but 
in  return  for  this,  Germany  was  obliged  to 
sacrifice  to  its  rapacious  neighbor  a  new 
province  :  Lorraine  being  ceded  to  Stanis- 
laus, and  through  him  it  came  into  the 
hands  of  France  ;  Francis  Stephen,  then 
duke  of  Lorraine,  being  made  grand-duke 
of  Tuscany,  while  the  Spanish  infante,  Don 
Carlos,  was  indemnified  for  Tuscany  by  the 
cession  of  Naples  and  Sicily.  The  Austri- 
an army  was  equally  unsuccessful  against 
the  Turks,  and  at  the  conclusion  of  peace 
in  1739,  the  government  was  forced  to  give 
back  the  important  fortress  of  Belgrade, 
which  Prince  Eugene  had  conquered,  and 
which  had  served  as  a  frontier  stronghold 
in  that  quarter. 

The  emperor  Charles  VI.  died  October 
26,  1740,  and  his  daughter,  Maria  There- 
sa, by  virtue  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction, 
took  possession  of  the  government  in  all  his 
dominions.  But  immediately  after  the  de- 
cease of  the  emperor,  an  envoy  of  the  elec- 
tor of  Bavaria  arrived,  furnished  with  a 
declaration  from  his  master,  in  which  he 
said  :  "  He  could  not  acknowledge  the 
young  queen  as  the  inheritress  and  suc- 
cessor of  her  father,  because  the  house  of 
Bavaria  had  legitimate  claims  to  the  hered- 
itary Austrian  provinces."  These  preten- 
sions the  elector  founded  upon  his  descent 
from  the  eldest  daughter  of  ine  emperor 
Ferdinand  I.,  whose  posterity  ought  to  insist 
upon  their  title  to  those  possessions,  seeing 
that  the  male  line  of  the  house  of  Austria  was 
now  extinct.  This  claim,  however,  it  was 
evident,  could  only  be  made  valid  in  case 
the  late  emperor  had  not  left  a  daughter; 
but  as  he  had  done  so,  she  must  take  pre- 
cedence of  all  collateral  female  relations. 
The  law  advisers  of  the  elector  attempted 
to  justify  the  claims  of  their  sovereign  upon 
several  grounds  ;  but  what,  however,  in- 
fluenced the  elector  in  his  proceedings  be- 
yond every  thing  else  was,  the  encourage- 


ment he  received  from  France,  who  secret- 
ly promised  him  her  aid  in  the  dismember- 
ment  of  the  Austrian  inheritance. 

Before,  however,  the  dispute  in  this  qusj. 
ter  was  brought  to  a  decision  by  force  o, 
arms,  another  enemy  presented  himself  to 
oppose  Maria  Theresa,  and  whose  appear- 
ance was  still  more  unexpected,  viz :  the 
young  king  of  Prussia,  Frederick  II.,  whc 
only  having  just  mounted  the  throne  in  the 
same  year,  1740,  marcned  suddenly  intc 
Silesia,  and  took  possession  of  that  country. 
In  his  manifesto,  which  he  published  at  the 
same  time,  he  laid  claims  to  various  prin- 
cipalities of  Silesia,  viz.,  to  Jiigerndorf, 
Liegnitz,  Brieg,  and  Wohlau  respectively. 
With  regard  to  the  first  territory,  he  traced 
his  rights  from  the  period  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  when  the  margrave  of  Bra'n- 
denburg-Jugerndorf  was  placed  under  the 
ban  of  the  empire,  and  his  principality  con- 
fiscated by  the  emperor  Ferdinand  II.,  be- 
cause he  had  formed  an  alliance  with  the 
Bohemian  king,  Frederick  V.  The  king 
of  Prussia  maintained,  that  even  supposing 
the  said  act  of  outlawry  against  that  prince 
was  just,  still  the  land  in  fee  simple  ought 
not  to  have  been  withheld  from  his  kindred, 
when  they  were  not  implicated  in  the  of- 
fence he  committed.  But  his  claims  to  the 
principalities  of  Liegnitz,  Brieg,  and  Woh- 
lau, Frederick  based  upon  a  covenant  of  a 
much  earlier  date,  viz.,  upon  that  of  Duke 
Frederick  of  Liegnitz  with  Joachim  II.  in 
the  year  1507.  What,  however,  more  es- 
pecially worked  and  operated  in  the  soul 
of  the  young  and  ambitious  king,  and 
which,  in  the  very  first  year  of  his  reign, 
made  him  take  up  arms  so  eagerly,  in  or- 
der to  seize  the  opportunity  by  which  he 
might  renew  those  claims — which  but  for 
his  appearance  in  the  world  might  have  re- 
mained perhaps  in  abeyance  forever — this 
incentive  he  himself  discloses  to  us  in  a 
very  few  words.  After  having  recorded, 
in  his  History  of  the  house  of  Branden- 
burg, the  elevation  of  Prussia  into  a  king- 
dom by  Frederick  I.,  he  gives  the  follow- 
ing explanation  :  "  This  act  of  Frederick 
I.  served  as  a  stimulus  to  all  his  succes- 
sors, for  by  that  he  seemed  to  indicate  to 
them  the  grand  object  by  which  he  was 
swayed,  and  to  address  them  thus :  *  I  have 
gained  now  a  title  for  you,  and  it  is  for  you 
to  render  yourselves  worthy  of  it ;  I  have 
laid  the  foundation  for  your  greatness,  and 
it  is  for  you  to  complete  the  work  I  have 


376 


FREDERICK  THE  GREAT. 


commenced.'  ''  These  words  are  the  key 
which  throws  open  to  our  view  the  motives 
by  which  Frederick  the  Great  was  actua- 
ted throughout  his  whole  reign.  The  same 
sentiments  by  which  Charlemagne  had  been 
incited,  and  which,  brought  by  him  so  suc- 
cessfully into  operation,  made  him  a  con- 
queror ;  the  same  ideas  by  which  Gustavus 
was  urged  on  to  the  most  daring  enterprises, 
even  to  the  sacrifice  of  his  life  on  the  field 
of  battle,  worked  likewise  in  the  mind  of 
Frederick.  Thence  he  held  himself  to  be 
the  chosen  instrument  appointed  by  fate  to 
raise  his  people  to  the  rank  which,  in  his 
strength  of  mind,  he  regarded  as  complete- 
ly feasible,  and  to  embody  in  the  title  of 
king  the  more  substantial  possession  of 
royal  power  and  aggrandized  dominion. 
Nature  had  endowed  him  with  a  genius  so 
bold  and  aspiring,  that  he  felt  his  pres- 
ent sphere  of  action  much  too  contracted 
for  the  exercise  of  his  vast  plans,  and  he 
accordingly  lost  little  time  in  extending  his 
field  of  operations.  In  energy  and  activity 
of  character  Frederick  has  never  been  sur- 
passed by  even  the  most  distinguished  and 
enterprising  men  in  the  pages  of  history, 
and  none  ever  acted  with  such  command- 
ing influence  upon  his  age.  But  again, 
the  greatest  man  is  an  evidence  of  his  age, 
reflecting  in  a  clear  mirror  its  virtues  and 
defects.  We  must  not,  therefore,  be  sur- 
prised if  Frederick  II.,  notwithstanding  the 
greatness  of  character  inherent  in  him,  does 
not  in  many  points  maintain  his  superiority 
when  placed  in  comparison  with  the  great 
men  to  whom  we  have  alluded,  and  if  even  in 
certain  circumstances  he  may  appear  mean 
and  ignoble,  when,  perhaps,  in  ordinary 
times  his  acts  might  have  merited  a  more 
noble  interpretation  ;  .neither  must  we  be 
astonished  that  the  evils  he  produced  in  his 
country  called  forth  the  severe  and  bitter 
complaints  against  him. 

At  the  death  of  Frederick  William  I., 
on  the  21st  of  May,  1740,  Frederick  was 
only  twenty-eight  years  of  age  ;  his  essen- 
tially active  mind,  excited  still  more  by  in- 
cessant application  to  the  sciences,  and  by 
constant  communication  with  learned  men, 
was  adapted  for  the  most  profound  subjects 
of  research.  The  study  of  history  had 
/ransported  his  thoughts  far  beyond  the  nar- 
row confines  of  his  own  times,  and  had  in- 
stilled within  him  the  most  elevated  ideas 
of  the  dignity  of  kings,  of  which  his  first 
v.<?ts  os  sovereign  gave  immediate  evidence. 


It  was  soon  shown  that  he  was  resolved  tt 
be  his  own  ruler ;  his  activity  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  affairs,  the  attention  he  de 
voted  to  all  subjects,  from  those  of  the  most 
grave  import  down  to  those  of  the  most  tri. 
vial  nature,  his  sacrifice  of  rest  and  plea- 
sure,  the  strict  distribution  of  his  hours,  so 
that  not  one  should  be  lost  in  Inactivity — 
all  this  excited  the  greatest  astonishment, 
in  those  of  his  court,  who  had  never  heard 
of,  or  been  accustomed  to  witness  their 
sovereigns  imposing  upon  themselves  so 
many  sacrifices  for  the  government  of  their 
dominions.  The  extraordinary  effect  thus 
produced  is  very  aptly  described  by  a 
resident  ambassador  when  writing  to  his 
own  court :  "  In  order  to  give  you  a  cor- 
rect idea  of  the  new  reign,"  he  says,  "it  is 
only  necessary  to  state  that  the  king  posi- 
tively does 'all  the  work  himself,  while  his 
prime  minister  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  is- 
sue  forth  immediately  from  the  cabinet  the 
commands  he  receives,  without  ever  being 
consulted  upon  the  subject.  Unfortunate- 
ly, there  is  not  one  at  the  king's  court  who 
possesses,  his  confidence,  and  of  whose  in- 
fluence one  might  avail  one's  self  in  order  to 
follow  up  with  success  the  necessary  pre- 
liminaries ;  consequently,  an  ambassador 
is  more  embarrassed  here  than  at  any 
other  court."  In  truth,  the  policy  intro- 
duced by  France  into  Europe,  which  con- 
sisted in  envenoming  all  relations  of  sov- 
ereigns between  each  other,  by  employing 
every  art  of  cunning  and  espionage  in  or- 
der to  discover  the  projects  of  foreign 
courts,  even  before  they  had  been  matured 
by  those  courts  themselves,  could  not  be 
brought  to  bear  against  Frederick  II.  ;  for 
he  weighed  over  every  plan  within  the  si- 
lence of  his  own  breast,  and  it  was  only  in 
the  moment  of  its  execution  that  his  resolu- 
tion was  made  known. 

Thus  it  was  that  he  proceeded  with  his 
invasion  of  one  of  the  Austrian  provinces 
on  the  death  of  Charles  VI.  Some  prepa- 
rations for  war  were  observed  being  made, 
it  is  true,  but  these  were  only  partially  ne- 
cessary, inasmuch  as  the  system  of  econo- 
my and  good  order  pursued  by  Frederick 
William  I.  had  enabled  him  to  leave  to  his 
son  an  excellent  army  of  80,000  men,  and 
a  treasury  of  more  than  eight  millions  of 
dollars ;  besides  which,  every  thing  was 
arranged  with  so  much  silence  and  secrecy, 
that  none  could  penetrate  into  the  real  in- 
tentions  of  the  young  king.  Usually,  be- 


FIRST  SILESIAN  WAR- BATTLE  OP 


37-7 


fore  undertaking  a  war,  it  was  necessary 
io  seek  an  alliance  with  other  powers  ;  but 
in  this  case  Frederick  communicated  with 
no  ambassador,  nor  would  he  enter  upon 
or  contract  any  treaty  with  any  one  sover- 
eign. He  knew  full  well  that  the  best  help 
lies  in  ourselves ;  and  he  likewise  calcu- 
lated upon  the  strict  discipline  and  activity 
of  his  army,  upon  which,  devoted  to  it  as 
he  was  with  his  whole  soul,  he  never  failed 
to  rely  during  his  entire  reign. 

"  When  the  king  resolves  to  make  a 
;ourney,"  says  the  afore-mentioned  ambas- 
sador, "  it  is  his  custom  never  to  announce 
his  intention  to  those  around  him,  nor  to 
those  even  who  are  to  accompany  him,  un- 
til a  few  hours  before  his  departure,  when 
he  finds  them  all  ready  in  waiting,  for  his 
retinue  consists  neither  of  court  nor  cour- 
tiers, but  is  formed  of  the  tlite  of  his  prin- 
ces, generals,  and  adjutants."  Thence,  by 
means  of  such  expedition  and  secrecy,  he 
was  enabled  to  augment  the  power  of  his 
states  and  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  mass. 

The  emperor  Charles  VI.  died  on  the 
20th  of  October,  1740,  and  on  the  13th  of 
December  of  the  same  year  Frederick  II. 
marched  already  into  Silesia.  While  his 
army  however  was  en  route  for  Silesia,  his 
ambassador  appeared  simultaneously  at 
the  court  of  Vienna  with  proposals  for  a 
convention.  Frederick  one  red  the  queen 
of  Hungary,  if  she  would  give  up  peace- 
fully the  principality  of  Silesia,  the  aid  of 
his  arms  in  the  maintenance  of  her  other 
dominions,  and  his  vote  at  the  electoral  col- 
lege for  her  husband,  Francis  Stephen  of 
Tuscany,  on  electing  the  future  emperor 
of  Germany  ;  but  these  proposals  were  re- 
jected. The  few  Austrian  troops  quir- 
tered  in  Silesia  were  very  soon  routed ; 
the  fortified  places  alone  made  resistance 
and  were  closely  besieged ;  the  following 
spring,  however,  was  to  decide  whether  the 
possession  of  this  country,  thus  so  easily 
subjected,  could  be  maintained  against  an 
Austrian  army.  Field-marshal  Neuperg, 
an  Austrian  general  of  the  school  of  Eu- 
gene, advanced  with  a  numerous  body  of 
troops  to  reconquer  Silesia,  and  the  young- 
er soldiers  of  Prussia,  who  were  as  yet  on- 
ly acquainted  with  the  theory  of  war  and 
not  with  ils  realities,  stood  now  front  to 
front  opposed  to  those  who  ranked  unques- 
tionably among  the  first  warriors  of  Europe. 
But  the  first  essay  of  the  Prussian  arms 
crowned  them  with  Mory.  In  the  night  of 


the  9th  of  March  the  hereditary  prince  o. 
Dessau  scaled  and  carried  the  walls  of  the 
fortress  of  Glogau,  and  on  the  10th  oi 
April  the  king,  with  the  main  army,  came 
up  with  the  Austrians  at  Molwitz,  where 
he  was  not  at  all  expected  by  them  ;  they, 
however,  gained  sufficient  time  to  form 
their  line  of  battle,  and  the  action  com- 
menced about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
It  remained  for  a  long  time  undecided, 
for  the  Austrian  cavalry  fought  with  the 
greatest  bravery,  and  throwing  the  right 
wing  of  the  Prussians  into  confusion,  rush- 
ed on  to  their  train  of  battery,  of  which  they 
took  possession,  and  turned  the  muzzles  of 
the  cannon  against  the  Prussians  themselves. 
The  king,  who  now  for  the  first  time  beheld 
war  in  all  its  fearful  reality,  lost  his  self- 
command  ;  Schwerin,  his  experienced  field- 
marshal,  who  viewed  all  that  passed  with 
the  greatest  coolness  and  resolution,  being 
well  acquainted  with  and  depending  upon 
the  chances  of  war,  advised  his  sovereign 
to  fall  back  upon  the  division  commanded 
by  the  duke  of  Holstein-Beck,  in  order 
with  him  to  cover  the  retreat  if  necessary. 
This  advice,,  after  considerable  hesitation, 
the  king  followed,  and  towards  dusk  he 
withdrew  with  a  small  retinue,  and  rode 
to  the  little  town  of  Oppeln.  He  imagined 
the  place  was  still  occupied  by  the  Prus- 
sians, but  they  had  been  driven  from  it  the 
previous  evening,  and  when  in  answer  to 
the  sentinel's  "  Who  goes  there  ?"  he  re- 
plied, "  Prussians  !"  the  king  and  his  small 
party  were  forthwith  greeted  with  a  dis- 
charge from  the  muskets  of  the  Austrians 
behind  the  grated  gate.  The  king  quickly 
turned  round  and  galloped  off  to  the  small 
town  of  Lowen,  and  was  only  saved  by  the 
darkness  of  the  night  from  being  taken 
prisoner.  Meanwhile,  scarcely  had  he 
quitted  the  field  of  battle  before  fortune 
changed  in  favor  of  the  Prussians ;  Field- 
marshal  Schwerin,  by  a  dexterous  attack 
on  the  enemy's  flank,  turned  the  success  oi 
the  day  to  the  side  of  his  sovereign  ;  and 
the  sharp-shooting  of  the  Prussians,  tc 
which  the  Austrians  were  as  yet  unaccus- 
tomed, completely  decided  the  battle.  The 
king  received  the  happy  tidings  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning  at  Lowen,  and  hastened 
to  congratulate  his  brave  general  and  his 
army  upon  their  success. 

This  sanguinary  and  dearly-purchased 
victory  turned  the  eyes  of  all  his  content 
poraries  upon  the  young  sovereign  of  Prus. 


376 


GENERAL  ALLIANCE  1  ORMED  AGAINS1   AUSTRIA. 


sia  ;  and  this  enterprise,  because  it  was 
successful,  was  applauded  as  being  t^e 
decision  of  fate  in  his  favor.  Had  how- 
ever Frederick  been  unfortunate,  a  thousand 
voices  would  have  condemned  and  ridiculed 
him  as  a  fool,  for  having  undertaken  the 
realization  of  projects  without  having  cal- 
culated upon  the  power  necessary  to  ensure 
their  success  ;  similar  to  the  judgment  pro- 
nounced upon  Charles  Albert  of  Bavaria, 
who  with  equal  ambition  advanced  and 
stretched  out  his  hand  to  seize  the  royal 
and  imperial  crown.  And  in  truth,  the 
daring  power  which  attempts  aught  of  a 
nature  uncommon  and  extraordinary  in  the 
grand  theatre  of  the  world,  is  only  appre- 
ciated in  proportion  to  the  success  with 
which  the  execution  of  its  design  may  be 
crowned. 

The  ill  success  of  the  Austrian  arms  in 
Silesia  encouraged  the  French  government 
to  avail  itself  of  the  moment  now  offered 
to  promote  the  dismemberment  of  the  Aus- 
trian states.  Cardinal  Fleury,  who  now 
ruled  in  France  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  found  in  Marshal  Belle-Isle  a 
clever  diplomatist,  succeeded  in  concluding 
with  that  view  an  alliance  between  France, 
Prussia,  Spain,  Bavaria,  and  Saxony  ;  for 
the  elector  of  Saxony,  Augustus  III., 
although  he  was  likewise  king  of  Poland, 
carne  forth  with  his  claims  to  the  Austrian 
inheritance,  originating  in  a  preceding  mar- 
riage of  the  house  of  Saxony,  and  Spain 
was  anxious  to  appropriate  to  herself  the 
duchies  of  Parma  and  Placenza.  Besides 
which,  the  plan  of  this  coalition  was  to 
elevate  the  electoral  prince  of  Bavaria, 
Charles  Albert,  to  the  imperial  throne  ;  and 
although  he  at  first  hesitated,  he,  neverthe- 
less, eventually  decided  to  accept  of  the 
heavy  burden  attached  to  such  an  important 
election,  ft  was  agreed  that  the  choice 
should  be  made  in  Frankfort. 

Accordingly,  two  French  armies  march- 
ed in  the  summer  of  1741  across  the  Rhine  ; 
the  one  advanced  against  the  frontiers  of 
Hanover,  whereby  Maria  Theresa  lost  her 
last  ally,  George  II.  of  England,  who, 
anxious  to  preserve  his  electorate,  conclu- 
ded a  treaty  by  which  he  engaged  to  remain 
neutral.  The  other  French  army  marched 
on  direct  to  Austria,  and  joined  the  elector 
of  Bavaria  in  the  month  of  September. 
This  prince,  who,  since  the  month  of  June, 
nad  already  taken  by  surprise  the  impor- 
-ant  city  of  Brunau  on  the  frontiers,  now 


no  longer  hesitated  to  march  upon  Lintz, 
which  he  took  and  entered,  causing  himself 
to  be  acknowledged  there  as  hereditary  duke 
of  Austria.  Vienna,  the  capital,  began  now 
to  feel  alarmed,  and  every  thing  valuable 
and  precious  was  forthwith  transported  to 
Presburg  in  Hungaria  ;  the  elector  being 
only  within  three  days'  march  of  the  city. 
But  quite  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  ho 
altered  his  line  of  march  and  proceeded  to 
Bohemia.  This  change  of  resolution  ex- 
cited universal  astonishment,  more  espe- 
cially as,  by  the  taking  of  Vienna,  Maria 
Theresa  must  have  lost  every  thing,  as  she 
was  without  an  army  to  oppose  the  elector. 
But  it  was  his  jealousy  of  Saxony  which 
made  him  alter  his  plans,  and  removed  him 
from  the  heart  of  Austria.  A  Saxon  force 
had  entered  Bohemia  ;  and  Charles  Albert, 
who  was  anxious  likewise  to  gain  posses- 
sion  of  that  country,  and  dreaded  lest  the 
Saxons  might  wrest  it  from  him,  preferred 
abandoning  Vienna  for  the  moment,  and 
determined  to  conquer  Bohemia.  Accord- 
ingly he  marched  at  once  against  Prague, 
and  was  favored  so  much  by  fortune  that 
this  important  place  was  surprised  arid  fell 
into  his  hands,  with  scarcely  any  resistance, 
on  the  29th  of  November.  Immediately 
afterwards  he  caused  himself  to  be  declared 
king  of  Bohemia,  and  received  from  all 
the  civil  and  military  estates  the  oath  of 
fealty.  Thence  he  marched  to  Mannheim, 
where  he  resolved  to  await  the  result  of  the 
election  of  emperor.  Thus  the  house  of 
Bavaria  appeared  to  attain  an  elevation 
more  and  more  splendid  and  glorious. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Charles  VII.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  1742-1745— M ana 
Theresa  in  Hungary— Her  Appeal  to  the  Nobles— 
Their  Devotion  to  her  Cause— March  into  Bavaria- 
Seize  that  Country  and  banish  its  Elector— Charles 
VII.  a  Fugitive— Battle  of  Czaslau  between  the  Aus- 
trians  and  Prussians,  1742— Treaty  of  Peace  between 
Maria  Theresa  and  Frederick  11.— Continuation  ol 
the  Austrian  Succession  War,  1742-1744— The  French 
in  Prague  under  Marshal  Belle-Isle— Prague  besieged 
by  the  Austrians— Abandoned  by  the  French- 
Charles  VII.  in  Bavaria— Again  a  Fugitive— George 
II.  of  England  in  Germany— Battle  of  Dettingen. 
1743— Defeat  of  the  French— Alliance  of  Saxony  and 
Austria— Second  Silesian  War,  1744-1745— 111  Success 
of  Frederick— Death  of  Charles  VII ,  1745— Silesia- 
Battle  of  Hohenfriedberg  — Frederick  victorious  — 
Battle  of  Sorr— The  Princes  of  Brunswick  —  Fred- 
erick triumphant  —  Battle  of  Kesseldorf— Frederick 
conquers  and  enters  Dresden  —  Peace  of  Dresden 
and  End  of  the  Second  Silesian  War— Francis  I 
elected  Emperor,  1745-1765— Austria  and  Franco 
—Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  I74b— Brief  Interval  ot 


CHARLES  VII.,  EMPEROR  OF  GERMANY. 


37S 


1 746- ',756  — State  of  Affaire— Alliance  of 
d  and  Prussia,  1756  — Alliance  between 
and  Austria,  1756 — Saxony— Russia— Swo- 
llen—Combination  ol  Powers  against  Prussia— The 
Seven  Years'  War,  1756-17G3— Frederick  in  Sax- 
ony— Battle  of  Losowitz,  1750— Frederick  vjctorious 
—The  Saxons  lay  down  their  Anns— Frederick  Con- 
queror of  Saxony— Immense  Armies  opposed  to  Fred- 
erick— His  Presence  of  Mind — Desperate  I3attle  of 
Prague— Charles  of  Lorraine— Death  of  the  Prussian 
General  Schwerin,  and  the  Austrian  General  Brown 
—Frederick  victorious— Battle  of  Kollin— General 
Daun — Frederick's  grand  Manoeuvre — Generals  Zie- 
tlien  and  I  lulsen — Frederick  and  Prince  Maurice  of 
Dessau— Defeat  of  Frederick—Shameful  Conduct  of 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland— Convention  of  Closter- 
iSeven  between  him  and  the  French — Battle  between 
the  Russians  and  Prussians  at  Gross] ugersdorf—  De- 
feat of  the  Prussians— Withdrawal  ot  the  Russians— 
The  Empress  Elizabeth  of  liussia— The  Grand  Chan- 
cellor Bestuschef— Retreat  of  the  Swedes. 

CHARLES  ALBERT  succeeded  in  his  de- 
signs upon  the  imperial  crown,  and  was 
elected  at  Frankfort  on  the  22d  of  January, 
1742,  his  cause  being  seconded  by  France 
and  Prussia  ;  but  his  reign  was  short  and 
agitated.  It  already  commenced  under 
very  unfavorable  auspices,  for  on  the  very 
day  that  Charles  was  crowned  emperor  at 
Frankfort,  the  Austrian  general,  Biirenk- 
lau,  took  possession  of  Munich,  his  capital. 

Maria  Theresa  was  indebted  to  the  ener- 
gy of  her  own  mind  alone  for  this  happy 
change  in  her  fortunes.  She  knew  per- 
fectly well  wherein  was  based  the  power 
of  the  sovereign,  and  she  accordingly  avail- 
ed herself  of  this  advantage.  She  lost  no 
time  in  exciting  in  a  high  degree  the  af- 
fection and  enthusiasm  of  the  nation  over 
which  she  still  held  sway,  and  which  ad- 
hered to  her  with  the  greatest  fidelity;  and 
this  it  was  that  saved  her.  She  convoked 
a  grand  imperial  diet  of  the  Hungarians  at 
Presburg  in  the  autumn  of  1742 ;  here, 
overwhelmed  as  she  was  with  affliction  at 
the  persecutions  of  her  enemies,  the  prin- 
cess presented  herself  before  the  assembled 
nobles  of  Hungary,  and  holding  in  her 
arms  her  infant  son,  as  yet  unweaned — 
subsequently  Joseph  II. — she  presented  the 
child  to  them,  and  with  her  eyes  filled  with 
tears,  which  operated  with  irresistible  force 
upon  the  audience,  she  addressed  and  ap- 
pealed to  them  for  aid  against  her  enemies 
in  language  thus  expressed :  "  To  your 
valor  and  heroic  fidelity  we  confide  ourself 
and  infant ;  and  in  you  alone  will  we  put 
our  whole  trust."  At  these  words  the 
Hungarian  warriors  exclaimed  with  en- 
thusiasm, "  We  will  die  for  our  Queen 
Maria  Theresa  ;  our  lives  and  every  drop 
of  our  blood  shall  be  devoted  to  her !"  In 
u  very  brief  spp.ce  of  time  more  than  15,000 


nobles  and  chiefs  were  assembled,  mounted 
and  completely  armed,  and  collected  to- 
gether  numerous  bodies  of  troops  on  every 
side,  in  Croatia,  Slavonia,  Wallachia,  as 
well  as  in  Austria  and  the  Tyrol.  And 
thus  what  official  commands  would  only 
have  produced  after  long  intervals  of  delay, 
attachment  and  devoted  courage  completed 
in  a  few  weeks.  The  whole  of  Upper 
Austria  was  delivered  from  its  enemies  in 
six  days,  when  the  victorious  army  march- 
ed on  to  Bavaria,  and,  as  we  have  seen, 
took  possession  of  Munich,  and  the  ne\v 
emperor  was  forced  to  live  in  retirement 
at  Frankfort,  far  from  his  own  dominions. 

In  another  quarter,  however,  fortune  was 
not  equally  favorable  to  Austria.  Prince 
Charles  of  Lorraine  had  received  orders 
from  the  council  of  war  at  Vienna  to  give 
battle  to  the  Prussian  army,  in  order  to 
check  the  further  success  of  Frederick  II., 
who  still  maintained  his  position  in  the 
beautiful  territory  of  Silesia,  and  was  now 
penetrating  into  Moravia.  Prince  Charles 
followed  him  to  Bohemia,  and  their  armies 
met  at  Czaslau.  They  were  nearly  equal 
in  force,  and  the  position  each  occupied 
had  its  advantages  and  disadvantages,  and 
the  troops  on  both  sides  fought  valiantly, 
whence  the  fate  of  the  battle  wavered  on 
either  side,  until  the  king,  who  here  dis- 
played his  generalship,  caused  an  adjacent 
eminence  to  be  suddenly  taken  possession 
of,  whence  he  attacked  the  entire  flank  ol 
the  Austrians.  This  manoeuvre,  added  to 
the  disorder  caused  among  the  Austrian 
cavalry  by  the  pillage  of  the  Prussian 
camp,  decided  the  contest,  and  Charles 
sounded  the  retreat.  The  loss  sustained, 
however,  was  nearly  equal  on  either  side, 
and  eighteen  pieces  of  cannon  were  all  the 
trophies  gained  by  the  Prussians. 

The  results  of  this  battle,  however,  were 
more  important  than  the  battle  itself,  for  it 
brought  to  maturity  a  treaty  of  peace  be- 
tween Maria  Theresa  and  Frederick,  by 
the  terms  of  which,  severe  as  they  were, 
the  former  nevertheless  agreed  to  resign  all 
claim  to  the  conquests  made  by  the  young 
king,  and  which  was  all  the  latter  desired. 
Negotiations  of  peace,  therefore,  were 
quickly  commenced,  and  on  the  28th  ol 
June  the  treaty  was  signed  by  both  powers 
at  Berlin.  The  king  retained  Upper  and 
Lower  Silesia  and  the  province  of  Glatz, 
with  the  exception  of  the  towrs  of  Troppau, 
Jiigerndorf,  and  the  mountains  of  Silesia 


PEACE  BETWEEN  PRUSSIA  AND  AUSTRIA 


on  the  other  side  of  the  Oppa ;  being  an 
extension  of  territory  measuring  seven 
hundred  German  square  miles.  On  the 
other  hand  he  paid  over  1,700,000  dollars 
to  the  English,  who  had  previously  advan- 
ced that  sum  to  the  country  he  had  thus 
conquered. 

Thus  freed  from  such  a  formidable  ene- 
my, the  Austrians  were  now  enabled  to 
turn  all  their  force  against  the  French  and 
Bavarians,  for  the  Saxons,  following  the 
example  of  the  Prussians,  had  withdrawn 
from  the  war.  The  French  army  was 
still  in  Bohemia,  and  held  possession  of 
Prague.  The  prince  of  Lorraine  marched 
against  that  place  and  besieged  it,  and  very 
soon  reduced  it  to  a  state  of  famine,  which, 
however,  as  is  generally  the  case,  pressed 
more  heavily  upon  the  inhabitants,  for  the 
military  seized  upon  all  provisions  by  force 
of  arms.  When,  however,  all  was  consum- 
ed, and  after  more  than  a  thousand  unhappy 
beings  had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  starvation, 
the  whole  city  resembling  a  large  infirm- 
ary, Marshal  Belle-Isle  put  into  operation 
a  plan  he  had  determined  upon  in  the  last 
extremity.  He  collected  all  the  troops 
still  available,  amounting  to  about  14,000 
men,  abandoned  the  city  in  the  night  of  the 
17th  of  December,  1742,  and  marched 
forth  in  the  most  bitter  cold  weather, 
through  mountain  regions  and  across  path- 
less, snow-covered  ravines  to  Eger,  where 
after  a  toilsome  march  of  eleven  days  he 
arrived.  But  in  those  eleven  days  more 
than  four  thousand  men  had  perished,  be- 
sides those  left  behind  in  Prague.  Thus 
ended  the  dominion  of  France  in  Bohemia  ; 
nor  was  Charles  VII.  more  fortunate  than 
his  allies.  While  the  Austrians  had  march- 
ed their  whole  force  against  Bohemia,  he 
had  availed  himself  of  the  moment,  and 
retook  possession  of  the  whole  of  Bavaria 
in  the  course  of  the  autumn  ;  in  the  sub- 
sequent spring,  however,  he  was  forced  to 
abandon  his  territory  once  more  as  a  fugi- 
tive, and  took  refuge  again  in  Frankfort, 
an  Austrian  administration  being  organ- 
ized meantime  in  Bavaria. 

In  the  year  1742,  England  likewise  took 
jm  active  part  in  the  war  against  France  ; 
she  captured  all  her  ships  at  sea,  took  pos- 
session of  her  colonies ;  while  King  George 
II.  landed  in  Germany  with  an  army  of 
English  troops,  reinforcing  it  with  Hano- 
verians and  Hessians,  with  which  he  at- 
i.ucked  and  overthrew  the  French  on  the 


27th  of  June,  at  Dettingen,  pursuing  them 
across  the  Rhine.  In  addition  to  this  the 
court  of  Vienna  succeeded  in  gaining  over 
the  Saxon  minister  Briihl,  whose  influence 
over  his  sovereign  was  all-powerful,  and 
through  him  an  alliance  was  formed  be- 
tween Saxony  and  Maria  Theresa.  Thus 
fortune  had  now  crowned  her  firmness,  and 
transferred  the  victory  to  her  side,  while 
the  only  loss  she  sustained  was  that  of  the 
Silesian  possessions ;  this,  however,  she 
hoped  either  to  recover  or  find  compensated 
by  some  other  acquisition. 

Meantime,  Frederick  had  not  beheld 
without  some  anxiety  and  alarm  the  suc- 
cessful progress  made  by  Austria,  and 
more  especially  her  treaty  of  alliance  with 
Saxony ;  for  how  easily  might  they  now, 
when  no  longer  occupied  with  France  and 
Bavaria,  turn  their  combined  power  against 
him  ?  At  the  same  time  he  felt  it  due  to 
his  own  dignity  not  to  allow  the  emperor, 
whose  election  he  had  promoted,  to  be  over- 
thrown ;  accordingly,  the  urgent  appeals 
made  to  him  by  Charles  Vll.  prevailed. 
The  king  of  Prussia  forthwith  made  pre- 
parations for  a  fresh  campaign,  in  1744, 
entered  the  field  with  100,000  men.  "  impe- 
rial auxiliaries"  as  he  termed  them,  march- 
ed into  Bohemia,  and  took  Prague  j  the 
duke  of  Lorraine,  however,  advanced 
against  him  with  a  numerous  army,  ana 
forced  him  to  retreat  from  Bohemia  into 
Silesia.  This  was  an  unfortunate  cam- 
paign for  the  king  ;  he  suffered  great  losses 
in  men,  ammunition,  and  provisions,  ex- 
hausted all  his  military  stores  and  money, 
and  found  to  his  cost  that  no  faith  was  to 
be  placed  in  his  French  allies ;  while, 
finally,  he  lost  the  emperor  Charles  VII., 
who  died  suddenly,  on  the  20th  of  January, 
1745. 

The  aid  of  Frederick  came  only  in  time 
to  afford  the  emperor  the  consolation  of 
dying  in  his  own  palace  at  Munich,  which 
city  he  had  reconquered  for  the  third  and 
last  time,  but  which  immediately  after  his 
death  fell  once  more  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy.  With  his  death  the  principal  mo- 
tive urged  by  the  French  for  carrying  on 
the  war  vanished,  and  Frederick  now  found 
himself  abandoned  by  his  ally.  Meantime. 
Maria  Theresa  declared  publicly  tha*, 
inasmuch  as  me  king  of  Prussia  had  brc 
ken  the  treaty  of  peace  concluded  at  Bei- 
lin,  Silesia  must  revert  to  the  house  of 
Austria.  Upper  Silesia,  accordingly,  was 


PEACE  OF  DRESDEN— EMPEROR  FRANCIS  I. 


381 


overrun  with  Austrian  troops,  several  of 
the  principal  fortresses  fell  into  their  hands, 
and  it  required  all  the  firmness  and  strength 
of  soul  at  his  command  to  prevent  the 
hard-pressed  king  from  sinking  under  the 
weight  of  his  difficulties.  Full  of  confi- 
dence, however,  in  his  army,  and  in  the 
chances  of  fortune  in  his  favor,  he,  on  the 
4th  of  June,  attacked  the  prince  of  Lor- 
raine  at  Hohenfriedberg.  The  prince  was 
by  no  means  prepared  for  such  an  unex- 
pected and  sudden  attack,  and  the  victory 
was  soon  decided  in  favor  of  the  king  of 
Prussia  ;  thus  he  retained  Silesia,  while 
the  Austrians  made  a  hasty  retreat  back  to 
Bohemia. 

In  the  ensuing  year,  however,  they  re- 
•ppeared  in  Silesia  ;  the  prince  of  Lorraine 
aving  received  orders  to  advance  at  the 
ead  of  40,000  men,  and  give  battle  to  the 
\ing,  whom  he  surprised  in  his  camp  near 
;5orr  of  only   18,000   men.      This   was    a 
hard- fought  battle  for  this  small  body  of 
Prussians,  and  lasted  more  than  five  hours ; 
but,  eventually,  they  gained  it.     The  Aus- 
trian general   committed  many   important 
blunders ;  while  the  generals  in  Frederick's 
service  were,  on  the  other  hand,  perfect  mas- 
ers  in  all  the  tactics  of  the  war.     One  of 
hem,  Prince  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  after- 
wards so  celebrated,  took  possession  of  an 
mportant  height,  which  by  a  singular  ac- 
cident wa«s  defended  by  his  brother  Lewis, 
at  the  head  of  a  party  of  Austrians. 

Nevertheless,  this  victory  had  not  re- 
moved all  the  danger  with  which  Frederick 
was  threatened  ;  for  it  was  now  resolved 
that  the  Austrians  should  form  a  junction 
with  the  Saxons,  and  the  army  thus  united 
should  march  direct  to  Berlin,  in  order  to 
force  the  king,  by  the  capture  of  his  capi 
tal,  to  abandon  Silesia  ;  and  by  this  means, 
Saxony  was  in  hopes  of  gaining  from  him 
the  duchy  of  Magdeburg.  But  as  soon  as 
Frederick  perceived  this  movement,  he 
speedily  collected  together  his  whole  army 
and  marched  to  Lusatia.  At  the  same 
time  he  gave  orders  to  the  old  duke  of  Des- 
aau  to  collect  his  forces  near  Halle,  and 
parching  into  the  electorate,  to  proceed 
direct  to  Dresden.  He  overtook  the  Sax- 
ons and  a  division  of  the  Austrians  on  the 
heights  near  the  village  of  Kesseldorf,  at- 
tacked  them  at  once,  and,  in  spite  of  their 
favorable  position,  gained  a  complete  vic- 
.ory  over  them.  This  triumph  gained  for 
Frederick  the  capital  city,  Dresden,  which 


he  entered  on  the  18th  of  December,  and 
procured  the  peace  of  Dresden,  which 
terminated  the  second  Silesian  war,  and 
confirmed  the  Prussians  in  their  posses- 
sions. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1745  Maria 
Theresa  had  already  concluded  a  treaty  of 
peace  at  Fiissen,  with  the  son  of  the  lati 
emperor  Charles  VII.,  by  which  Maximil 
ian  Joseph  recovered  his  principality,  or. 
renouncing  for  himself  and  his  descendants 
all  claims  to  the  succession  of  Austria,  and 
promising  to  give  his  vote  for  the  election 
of  emperor  to  the  grand-duke  of  Tuscany, 
Maria  Theresa's  husband.  Meanwhile, 
the  other  electors  also,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  elector  of  the  palatinate  and 
Frederick  II.,  gave  their  votes  to  the  same 
duke,  and  Francis  I.  was  elected  at  Frank- 
fort on  the  15th  of  September,  1745,  and 
crowned  on  the  4th  of  October  following. 
The  king  of  Prussia,  likewise,  formally 
acknowledged  him  in  the  treaty  of  peace 
concluded  at  Dresden. 

The  war  with  France  continued  some 
years  longer  without  any  successful  results 
to  Austria  ;  for  since  the  celebrated  general, 
marshal  of  Saxe,  commanded  the  French 
army,  he  had  continually  been  gaining 
ground  in  the  Netherlands.  This  general 
obtained  two  victories  over  the  Austrians 
in  the  year  1745,  one  at  Fontenoi,  and  an- 
other at  Raucour,  and  took  both  the  Aus- 
trian Netherlands  and  Dutch  Flanders. 
These  victories  gained  by  the  French  army 
tended  more  and  more  to  increase  the  in- 
clination for  peace,  and  in  April,  1748,  the 
ambassadors  met  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  The 
peace  drew  nearer  and  nearer  to  its  con- 
clusion during  the  whole  course  of  the 
summer,  and  followed  on  the  18th  of  Oc- 
tober. Austria  gave  up  in  Italy,  Parma 
and  Piacenza  to  Don  Philip,  the  youngest 
son  of  the  king  of  Spain ;  France,  how- 
ever, got  nothing  for  the  great  sacrifice 
she  had  made,  both  of  men  and  money,  in 
this  war,  and  was  obliged  to  see  the  house 
of  Austria,  which  she  wished  to  destroy, 
secured  afresh,  and  put  in  possession  o' 
the  imperial  dignity. 

The  period  of  eight  years  which  had 
been  allowed  t.o  the  different  states  of  Eu 
rope,  from  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  un. 
til  a  new  war  broke  out,  did  not  produce 
in  them  the  desired  feeling  of  united  firm, 
ness  and  security  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
all  seemed  unsettled  and  in  oread  of  the 


382 


TREATY  OF  PEACE— ALLIANCE  OF  ENGLAND  AND  PRUSSIA. 


new  commotions  which  hovered  over  this 
brief  state  of  repose.  For  it  was  but  too 
evident  that  the  inimical  powers  so  recently 
roused  up — not  having  as  yet  found  their 
equilibrium — had  only  made  a  pause  for 
the  purpose  of  soon  resuming  hostilities 
against  each  other  with  renewed  vigor. 
The  empress-queen  could  not  brook  the 
loss  of  Silesia,  and  she  felt  this  loss  the 
more  acutely,  inasmuch  as  she  was  obliged 
to  undergo  the  mortification  of  knowing 
that  the  king  of  Prussia,  by  adopting  a 
proper  course  of  administration,  had  been 
able  to  double  the  revenue  of  that  beauti- 
ful country.  Frederick,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  too  clear-sighted  not  to  foresee  that  a 
third  struggle  with  her  was  inevitable.' 
Among  the  other  European  powers,  too, 
there  was  a  restless  spirit  at  work  ;  they 
entered  into  alliances,  looked  about  them — 
now  here,  now  there — for  friends,  and  in- 
creased their  strength  by  land  and  sea. 
Europe  was  at  this  moment  divided  by  two 
leading  parties — France,  Prussia,  and 
Sweden  adhered  to  the  one,  Austria,  Eng- 
land, and  Saxony  to  the  other  ;  the  rest  had 
not  yet  come  to  any  conclusion  as  to  which 
party  they  should  support,  but  their  assist- 
ance was  eagerly  sought  by  both.  Maria 
Theresa  at  first  cast  her  eye  upon  the  pow- 
erful state  of  Russia,  whose  empress,  Eliz- 
abeth, appeared  inclined  to  hurl  back  her 
bold  northern  neighbor  into  his  former  in- 
significance ;  and  eventually  both  parties 
concluded  an  alliance  by  means  of  the 
grand-chancellor  of  Russia,  Bestuschef, 
who  had  a  personal  dislike  to  the  king  of 
Prussia,  because  the  latter  refused  to  grat- 
ify his  avaricious  disposition.  In  order  to 
induce  Russia  to  take  active  measures 
against  Prussia,  England  found  it  necessary 
to  act  upon  the  grand-chancellor  with  her 
money,  and  by  this  means  a  war  was  all 
but  declared  already  between  Russia  and 
Prussia.  George  II.  of  England  more  es- 
pecially desired  this,  in  order  that  he  might 
by  such  war  be  relieved  of  the  anxiety  he 
felt  for  his  principality  of  Hanover ;  for, 
Sis  he  was  already  engaged  in  a  maritime 
war  with  France,  with  the  view  of  acquiring 
new  territories  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  France  in  union 
with  Prussia  would  forthwith  attack  his 
electorate.  Maria  Theresa,  however,  on 
her  part,  saw  this  storm  preparing  in  the 
ncarth  of  Europe  without  fear  or  inquietude, 
as  she  nourished  strong  hopes  thai  it  would 


give  her  an  opportunity  of  reconquering 
her  Silesian  territory. 

This,  indeed,  was  the  period  of  tha, 
cunning  and  refined  diplomacy  which  has 
been  termed  state  wisdom  ;  an  epoch  which 
established  between  sovereigns  false  ano 
artificial  relations,  but  never  inspired  noble 
and  exalted  ideas  and  principles.  Frede- 
rick the  Great,  although  he  understood 
well  how  to  calculate  after  the  manner  of 
his  contemporaries,  was,  nevertheless,  so 
far  superior  to  them  in  the  feeling  of  his 
own  strength  and  resources,  that  he  placed 
his  whole  and  exclusive  reliance  on  himself 
and  people.  The  others  sought  assistance 
chiefly  from  among  each  other  ;  and,  as  a 
necessary  consequence,  were  often  in  great 
difficulties  ;  while  Frederick,  inasmuch  as 
his  calculations  were  far  more  simple,  at- 
tained with  greater  certainty  the  object  in 
view.  Thence  it  was  that  he  now  formed 
and  put  into  immediate  execution  a  plan 
no  less  unexpected'  than  extraordinary. 
Abandoning  the  lukewarm  aid  of  France, 
which  lay,  as  it  were,  in  a  state  of 'political 
lethargy,  and  had  afforded  him  but  very 
trifling  assistance  in  his  two  Silesian  wars, 
he  suddenly  turned  to  England,  now  so 
much  increasing  in  power  and  enterprising 
boldness,  and  claimed  her  alliance ;  and 
the  English  nation,  which  has  always 
shown  a  preference  for  engaging  in  a  cause 
backed  by  patriotic  and  straightforward 
principles,  readily  acceded  to  his  proposal : 
nor,  perhaps,  was  an  alliance  ever  accepted 
in  England  with  more  universal  enthusiasm 
and  cordial  feelings  than  this.  Both  na- 
tions, which  in  their  essential  endeavors 
could  not  become  dangerous  to  each  other, 
needed  this  reciprocal  aid  against  other  ad- 
versaries ;  and,  at  the  time,  required  the 
mutual  confidence  of  each  other  in  order 
that  England  might  be  at  ease  with  regard 
to  Hanover.  Hence  the  alliance  between 
England  and  Prussia,  which  based  its  se- 
curity in  the  sympathy  of  both  nations, 
might  be  truly  termed  a  natural  alliance, 
and  was  founded  upon  firmer  grounds  tha;; 
those  of  mere  state  policy. 

By  this  single  turn  the  relations  which 
had  hitherto  existed  between  the  different 
states  of  Europe  were  altogether  changed. 
Prussia  had  declared  itself  independent  ot 
France,  and  England  of  Austria;  and; 
through  a  singular  capricious  sport  of  for- 
tune, France  and  Austria,  who  had  beer 
enemies  for  three  bundled  y?ars,  mm 


COMBINATION  OF  POWERS  AGAINST  FREDERICK. 


383 


found  themselves,  to  their  own  astonish- 
ment, placed  in  close  proximity,  and  called 
upon  to  give  each  other  their  hands  ;  and 
all  the  rules  of  political  calculation  hitherto 
held  as  immutable,  were  at  one  blow  de- 
molished. Luckily  for  Austria,  she  pos- 
sessed in  her  prime  minister,  Prince  Kau- 
nitz,  arid  in  the  empress  Maria  Theresa 
herself,  two  whoso  power  of  mind  enabled 
them  at  once  to  perceive  and  avail  them- 
selves of  the  altered  position  of  affairs, 
and  did  not  suffer  themselves  to  be  held  in 
check  by  ancient  custom.  They  sought 
for  an  alliance  with  France,  and  obtained 
it.  On  the  1st  of  May,  1756,  the  treaty 
of  Versailles  was  drawn  up,  after  that  be- 
tween England  and  Prussia  had  been  al- 
ready concluded  at  Westminster  in  the 
month  of  January  of  the  same  year. 

The  elector  of  Saxony  and  king  of  Po- 
land, Augustus  III.,  was  guided  in  every 
thing  by  his  minister,  Count  Briihl ;  he 
himself  was  fond  of  ease  and  a  life  de- 
voted to  sensual  pleasure ;  but  his  minis- 
ter, who,  without  any  true  merit,  had 
raised  himself  from  the  office  of  page  to 
that  of  minister  of  state,  was  full  of  se- 
cret designs.  He  hated  King  Frederick, 
because  he  himself  was  despised  by  him, 
and  allied  himself  with  Prince  Kaunitz 
for  the  purpose  of  ruining  Prussia,  and 
both  found  in  the  Russian  chancellor,  Bes- 
tuschef,  the  third  associate  in  their  alli- 
ance. The  empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia 
was  also  personally  an  enemy  to  King 
Frederick,  inasmuch  as  he  made  her  the 
subject  of  his  satire  ;  and  various  malicious 
members  of  her  court  had  even  laid  before 
her  some  of  the  king's  productions,  con- 
taining much  mockery  and  scandal. 

With  respect  to  Sweden,  she,  this  time, 
adhered  so  much  to  France  and  her  inter- 
ests, and  followed  in  her  footsteps  so  close- 
ly, that  the  king  of  Prussia  could  not  but 
expect  to  find  an  enemy  in  this  otherwise 
so  honorable  a  nation,  when  it  came  to  a 
general  war. 

Thus  Austria.  Russia,  France,  Sweden, 
and  Saxony,  had  now  all  united  against 
one  king,  whose  dominions  scarcely  con- 
tained five  millions  of  inhabitants,  and  who 
was  deprived  of  all  foreign  aid,  with  the 
exception  of  England,  who,  however,  in  a 
continental  war,  could  not  ensure  much 
resource.  Accordingly,  the  three  minis- 
tors  felt  secure  within  themselves  of  the 
fute  of  Silesia  ;  and  already  they  beheld, 


in  imagination,  the  bold  and  enterprising 
king  reduced  to  the  government  of  his  sin- 
gle duchy  of  Brandenburg.  In  this  cal. 
culation,  however,  they  had  altogether  lost 
sight  of  that  power  of  mind  with  which 
this  prince  was  endowed,  and  the  prodigies 
of  courage  and  endurance  a  nation  can 
perform  when  inspired  with  pride  and  con. 
fidence  by  their  ruler. 

The  king  was  already  acquainted  with 
their  designs,  for  through  a  secretary  of 
the  Saxon  government,  whom  he  had 
bribed,  he  received  copies  of  all  the  docu- 
ments and  treaties  between  the  courts  of 
Vienna,  Petersburg,  and  Dresden,  and  by 
these  means  saw  what  storms  were  gather- 
ing over  his  head.  In  this  trying  position 
the  great  Frederick  had  recourse  to  those 
extraordinary  means  suggested  at  once  by 
his  bold  and  undaunted  spirit.  Determined 
not  to  lose  a  moment  by  preparing  only  for 
his  defence,  and  thus  quietly  await  the 
coming  danger,  he  forthwith  rushed  to  meet 
and  face  it  as  it  advanced  ;  for,  however 
unfortunate  might  be  the  result  produced 
by  adopting  this  daring  and  immediate 
course,  still  it  could  not  equal,  much  less 
exceed,  the  evil  he  beheld  in  the  distance, 
and  which  could  only  grow  more  and  more 
serious  and  fatal  by  tardy  measures. 

Frederick  made  his  preparations  for  the 
campaign  with  so  much  secrecy  and  order 
that  none  could  observe  his  design  ;  and 
thus,  in  the  month  of  August,  1756,  sev- 
enty thousand  Prussians  suddenly  made 
their  appearance  in  Saxony,  and  demand- 
ed a  free  passage  to  Bohemia.  The  object 
of  the  king  was  not  so  much  to  proceed  to 
hostilities  against  the  Saxons,  as  to  force 
them,  by  a  bold  manoeuvre,  to  join  him,  as 
had  previously  been  done  by  Gustavus 
Adolphus ;  for,  in  order  to  attack  Bohe- 
mia, as  he  hoped,  with  success,  it  was  ne- 
cessary that  he  should  make  sure  of  Sax- 
ony in  order  to  serve  him  as  a  point  d'appu.i. 
Accordingly,  he  endeavored  by  every  pos- 
sible means  of  persuasion,  through  his  en- 
voys and  negotiations,  to  bring  Augustus 
III.  to  form  an  alliance  with  him  ;  when, 
however,  he  found  he  could  not  succeed, 
and  all  he  could  gain  from  Count  Briihl 
was  a  promise  of  remaining  neutral,  Fred- 
erick felt  he  could  not  with  safety  allow  a 
doubtful  and  armed  power  to  remain  in  his 
rear,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  act  upon 
the  offensive.  The  Saxons,  amounting  to 
seventeen  thousand  men,  thus  surprised. 


384 


BATTLE  OF  LOWOSITZ 


gave  way,  and  leaving  behind  their  bag- 
gage and  provisions,  hastily  retreated  to 
the  narrow  valley  of  the  Elbe,  between 
Pirna  and  the  fortress  of  Konigstein,  and 
encamped  there,  where  they  raised  up 
strong  and  almost  impregnable  intrench- 
ments.  This  plan  was  the  best  for  them 
to  adopt ;  while  for  Frederick  it  was  more 
disadvantageous  than  if  they  had  crossed 
the  mountains  and  formed  a  junction  with 
the  Austrian  army ;  for  this  army,  still  in 
a  disordered  and  weak  state,  could  not, 
even  when  reinforced  by  the  Saxons,  have 
succeeded  in  resisting  the  first  attack  of 
the  Prussians  in  Bohemia,  in  addition  to 
which,  the  latter  now  saw  themselves 
forced  to  lose  much  precious  time  in  block- 
ading the  Saxons,  and  cutting  off  their  sup- 
plies ;  while  the  imperial  army  availed 
itself  of  this  interval,  and  recovered  its 
organization  and  strength,  and  would  be 
enabled,  by  a  successful  battle,  to  relieve 
the  Saxons.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  course 
taken  by  the  imperial  general  after  the 
king  had  been  four  weeks  quartered  in 
Saxony. 

On  the  30th  of  September  Field-marshal 
Brown,  commander-in-chief  of  the  imperial 
troops,  advanced  to  Budin  on  the  Eger,  and 
directed  his  march  against  the  position 
taken  up  by  the  Prussians  on  the  moun- 
tains which  separate  Saxony  from  Bohe- 
mia. Meantime,  the  king  advanced  against 
him  with  a  portion  of  his  army,  consist- 
ing, however,  only  of  24,000  men  against 
70,000,  being  compelled  to  leave  the  rest 
behind  to  keep  the  Saxons  at  bay,  while 
the  Austrians  were  commanded  by  the 
best  officers  in  the  service ;  nevertheless, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  risk  making  a  des- 
perate attack,  and  he  succeeded.  The 
two  armies  met  on  the  1st  of  October, 
close  to  the  little  town  of  Lowositz.  The 
country  around  was  mountainous,  and  the 
Austrian  general,  accordingly,  was  unable 
to  draw  up  the  whole  of  his  army  in  line 
of  battle,  especially  his  cavalry,  which 
consequently  could  not  take  its  share  in 
the  action  ;  while,  on  that  account,  the  fire 
from  the  artillery  and  small  arms  was 
much  more  severe,  and  in  which  latter  the 
Prussians  excelled  the  Austrians.  But  it 
was  now  no  longer  by  the  Austrians  of  the 
Silesian  wars  that  they  were  opposed,  but 
by  men  who,  for  ten  years,  had  undergone 
severe  practice,  were  better  disciplined, 
more  active  than  ever  before,  and  were 


well  supplied  with  excellent  artillery. 
Mid-day  had  now  arrived,  but  the  Prus. 
sians,  in  spite  of  their  skill  and  bravery, 
were  not  able  to  gain  any  advantage  ove* 
the  firmness  of  the  Austrian  ranks. 

After  six  hours'  incessant  firing,  the  left 
wing  of  the  Prussians  at  length  expended 
all  their  ammunition,  and  began  now  to 
lose  courage  on  finding  they  could  receive 
no  fresh  supply.  "  What !"  exclaimed  the 
duke  of  Bevern,  who  commanded  this  di- 
vision, "  have  you  not  been  taught  to  at- 
tack the  enemy  with  the  point  of  the  bayo- 
net ?"  At  these  words  they  closed  their 
ranks,  and  rushed  in  full  charge  against 
the  Austrians  ;  all  resistance  was  in  vain, 
for  like  an  impetuous,  sweeping  torrent, 
they  threw  down  .all  before  them,  and  took 
the  little  town  of  Lowositz  by  storm.  This 
was  the  decisive  moment;  and  although 
but  a  small  portion  of  his  troops  had  been 
engaged  in  the  action,  General  Brown 
nevertheless  sounded  a  retreat  and  with- 
drew to  Budin,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Eger. 

Frederick  in  this  battle  learned  to  know 
the  new  and  improved  system  of  warfare 
now  exercised  by  the  Austrians,  and  al- 
ready felt  how  severe  must  henceforth  be 
the  struggle  he  should  have  to  maintain 
with  them.  On  the  other  hand  again,  the 
heroic  courage  and  devotion  displayed  by 
his  own  troops  had  excited  within  him  the 
greatest  admiration,  and  on  this  point  he 
addressed  them  thus  :  "  I  have  now  seen 
what  my  warriors  can  do ;  never,  indeed, 
since  I  have  had  the  honor  to  lead  them  on 
to  battle,  have  they  performed  such  prodi- 
gies of  valor." 

Frederick  now  saw  how  urgently  neces- 
sary it  was  that  he  should  put  an  end  to 
the  delay  so  long  produced  by  the  Saxon 
army,  which,  indeed,  although  placed  in  a 
most  distressing  position,  nevertheless  en- 
dured every  privation  with  the  most  heroic 
firmness.  Both  men  and  horses  had  long 
been  in  want  of  the  most  necessary  sup- 
plies, and  all  were  now  so  much  reduced 
that  if  succor  did  not  quickly  arrive,  they 
must  perish.  They  had  received  intelli- 
gence in  their  camp  that  Field-marshal 
Brown  was  on  his  march,  and  they  were 
all  buoying  themselves  up  with  the  hope 
of  soon  seeing  his  colors  waving  on  the 
mountains  instead  of  those  of  the  Prussians, 
when  all  at  once  loud  shouts  of  victory 
proclaimed  the  success  gained  by  the  Prus- 


SAXONY— IMMENSE  ARMIES  AGAINST  FREDERICK. 


385 


sians  in  the  battle  of  Lowositz,  and  resound- 
ing  through  valley  and  mountain,  were 
echoed  forth  in  the  Prussian  camp.  The 
impression  produced  by  this  event  upon  the 
distressed  Saxons  was  truly  painful,  redu- 
ced as  they  were  to  the  last  extremity  of 
suffering  and  want.  The  only  chance  of 
deliverance  now  left  to  them  was  by  mak- 
ing a  desperate  effort  to  fight  their  way 
through  into  Bohemia ;  this  they  accord- 
ingly attempted,  but  opposed  by  the  very 
elements  themselves,  for  they  were  over- 
whelmed by  a  complete  hurricane  of  wind 
and  drenching  rain,  and  harassed  by  the 
Prussians,  they  failed  in  their  object,  and 
thus  these  brave  men,  who  having  now 
been  three  days  and  nights  without  food  or 
rest,  were  nearly  dropping  down  from  ex- 
haustion and  disease,  were  forced  to  lay 
down  their  arms,  their  number  now  re- 
duced to  14,000,  and  with  their  general, 
Count  Rutowski,  gave  themselves  up  pris- 
oners to  the  Prussians  on  the  14th  of  Oc- 
tober. 

The  officers  were  set  at  liberty  on  their 
parole  of  honor,  but  the  men  were  forced 
to  enter  the  Prussian  service.  Frederick 
calculated  that  these  14,000  men,  if  he 
gave  them  their  liberty,  would  serve  as  a 
considerable  reinforcement  in  the  ranks  of 
the  enemy,  and  if  he  detained  them  as 
prisoners  of  war  they  would  cost  him  an- 
nually some  millions  of  dollars  to  support; 
thence  he  determined  to  derive  some  ad- 
vantage for  the  expense  they  incurred  for 
their  maintenance.  For  at  this  period  the 
soldier  was  considered  less  as  a  citizen  of 
the  state  than  as  a  man  who  equally  sold 
over  both  body  and  spirit  to  the  military 
service  for  a  certain  period,  and  could, 
therefore,  soon  accustom  himself  to  serve 
in  the  ranks  of  him  against  whom  he  may 
even  have  previously  fought :  military 
honor  was  distinct  from  civil  honor,  and 
the  oath  of  the  soldier  was  held  to  be  more 
sacred  than  the  word  of  the  citizen.  Nev- 
ertheless Frederick  derived  but  little  ser- 
vice from  the  Saxons;  they  deserted  his 
colors  in  troops  on  the  first  favorable  op- 
portunity, and  hastened  to  return  to  their 
king  in  Poland,  whither  he  had  repaired 
after  the  bss  of  his  army,  or  they  went 
over  to  the  Austrians.  Such  were  the  re- 
sults of  the  first  campaign :  Saxony  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  Frederick  II. 

The  preparations  made  for  the  ensuing 
campaign  presented  to  the  eyes  of  Frede- 
49 


rick  an  aspect  in  prospective  affairs  of  a 
character  any  thing  but  encouraging.  The 
great  powers  of  Europe,  infuriated  by  the 
stand  he  made,  had  now  become  more 
firmly  united  than  ever  in  their  determina- 
tion to  destroy  him,  and  combined  together 
with  all  their  armies  to  overwhelm  him. 
Austria  came  forth  with  all  the  troops,  to- 
gether with  all  the  wealth  and  resources 
furnished  by  her  extensive  territories;  Rus- 
sia contributed  no  less  than  100,000  men  ; 
France  supplied  even  a  greater  number  ; 
Sweden  came  forward  with  20,000  men  ; 
while  the  Germanic  empire  generally,  re- 
garding the  invasion  of  Saxony  by  Frede- 
rick as  a  violation  of  the  peace  of  the 
country,  offered  to  the  imperial  court  an 
additional  aid  of  60,000  men.  Thus  a 
combined  army  of  at  least  500,000  men 
stood  under  arms  ready  to  march  against 
the  king  of  Prussia ;  while  he,  on  the 
other  hand,  could  only  oppose  to  this  migh- 
ty and  overwhelming  force  200,000  men, 
and  those  collected  together  only  at  the 
sacrifice  of  every  resource  at  his  command. 
As  allies  he  only  possessed  England,  the 
landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  the  dukes  of 
Brunswick  and  Gotha,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  leave  them  alone  to  carry  on  the  war 
with  France ;  and,  with  respect  to  the 
other  powers,  he  hoped  to  make  up  for  his 
inferior  force  by  the  ability  of  his  great 
generals  and  doubling  his  strength  by 
rapid  marches,  and  thus  swiftly  passing 
with  the  same  army  from  one  point  to 
another,  be  enabled  to  fight  his  enemies 
one  after  the  other.  Thence,  he  resolved 
to  direct  his  first  and  principal  effort  against 
Austria,  whom  he  regarded  as  his  chief 
enemy,  while  in  the  mean  time  he  left  be- 
hind 14,000  men  under  the  command  of 
his  old  Field-marshal  Lehwald,  for  the  de- 
fence of  Prussia  itself  against  the  attack 
of  the  Russians,  leaving  only  4000  men 
for  the  protection  of  Berlin  against  the 
Swedes  ;  fortunately,  however,  for  Prussia, 
the  Swedish  portion  of  the  allies  took  no 
very  serious  share  in  the  war. 

Maria  Theresa,  influenced  by  an  extra- 
ordinary predilection  for  her  husband's 
brother,  Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine,  ap- 
pointed him,  although  he  had  already  been 
twice  beaten  by  Frederick,  commander-in- 
chiefof  the  imperial  army;  while,  under 
his  orders  she  placed  the  talented  and  ex- 
perienced soldier,  General  Brown.  Thig 
arrangement  proved  of  great  service  to 


386 


BATTLE  OF  PRAGUE. 


the  king.  Brown,  with  his  usual  prudence 
and  forethought,  advised  Prince  Charles  to 
anticipate  the  quick  movements  of  the 
Prussians  in  the  attack  they  contemplated, 
and  penetrating  into  Saxony  and  Silesia, 
thus  remove  the  seat  of  war  from  the 
hereditary  states  of  Austria  ;  Charles  of 
Lorraine,  however,  although  on  other  oc- 
casions too  precipitate,  resolved  in  this  case 
to  be  the  very  opposite,  preferring  to  adopt 
the  defensive,  and  was  anxious  to  wait  un- 
til he  had  drawn  around  him  all  the  forces 
he  could  collect.  This  was  exactly  what 
Frederick  most  anxiously  desired,  and  he 
contrived  to  strengthen  the  prince  in  the 
belief  that  he  himself,  overmatched  by  so 
many  powerful  enemies,  thought  it  most 
prudent  to  assume  the  defensive  likewise. 
Suddenly,  however,  and  while  the  Austri- 
ans  imagined  themselves  in  perfect  securi- 
ty, the  Prussians  broke  up,  and  dividing 
themselves  into  four  divisions,  poured  forth 
in  rapid  marches  across  the  mountains  into 
Bohemia,  and,  like  so  many  mighty  and 
impetuous  mountain  rivers,  swept  all  before 
them,  taking  possession  of  all  the  supplies 
of  the  imperialists,  which  served  to  furnish 
themselves  with  provisions  during  several 
months,  and  reunited  their  forces  at  a  cer- 
tain hour  in  the  morning  of  the  6th  of 
ftlsy,  at  the  appointed  quarters  in  the 
vicinity  of  Prague. 

The  prince  of  Lorraine,  hastily  collect- 
ing together  all  his  troops,  had  now  taken 
a  strong,  intrenched  position  in  the  moun- 
tains, nof.r  Prague,  where  he  considered 
himself  secured  against  every  attack. 
Frederick,  however,  to  whom  every  hour 
which  delayed  the  execution  of  the  final 
blow  appeared  as  lost,  resolved  to  give  bat- 
tle at  once  now  that  the  enemy  was  within 
sight,  and  in  this  determination  he  was 
cordially  seconded  by  his  favorite  officer, 
General  Winterfeld,  a  bold  and  undaunted 
warrior,  whose  ardor  nothing  could  with- 
stand. Accordingly  the  latter  received 
orders  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy's  position, 
and  he  reported  that  their  right  wing  might 
be  easily  attacked,  as  in  front  of  it  were 
several  green  meadows,  which  would  fa- 
cilitate the  advance  of  the  troops.  But 
these — as  he  thought — meadows,  were  no- 
thing else  but  deep  dried-up  ponds,  with 
slimy  bottoms,  which  had  been  sown  with 
oats,  and  after  the  harvest,  were  again  to 
serve  as  fish  ponds.  This  error  served 
ultimately  to  produce  much  injury  to  the 


Prussians  in  their  attack.  The  venerable 
Field-marshal  Schwerin,  who  had  only  ar- 
rived  at  head-quarters  that  morning  with 
his  fatigued  troops,  and  was  altogether 
unacquainted  with  the  spot  chosen  for  the 
scene  of  action,  suggested  that  they  should 
postpone  operations  until  the  following  day; 
but  the  king,  whose  impetuosity  was  not  to 
be  restrained,  and  who,  having  now  formed 
in  his  mind  completely  the  plan  of  a  glo- 
rious battle,  was  impatient  to  put  it  into 
execution,  would  not  listen  for  a  moment  to 
any  further  delay.  Upon  this  the  old 
warrior,  who,  in  his  seventy-third  year, 
retained  still  a  great  portion  of  his  youth- 
ful fire,  exclaimed,  as  he  pressed  his  hat 
over  his  eyes :  "  Well,  then,  if  the  battle 
shall  and  must  be  fought  this  day,  I  will 
attack  the  enemy  there  on  the  spot  where 
I  see  him !" 

The  battle  only  commenced  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning ;  so  much  time 
having  been  taken  up  in  making  the  neces- 
sary preparations,  as  the  ground  turned 
out  to  be  generally  swampy  and  hilly. 
As  the  Prussians  worked  their  way  through 
and  approached  the  enemy,  they  were  re- 
ceived with  a  terrific  cannonade  ;  the  car- 
nage was  dreadful,  and  whole  ranks  were 
levelled  with  the  ground  ;  indeed,  it  seem, 
ed  impossible  for  human  courage  to  hold 
out  against  such  tremendously  destructive 
odds.  Each  attack  made  was  unsuccess- 
ful, and  the  ranks  of  the  Prussians  began 
to  waver.  At  this  moment  the  brave  old 
marshal,  Schwerin,  seized  an  ensign,  and 
calling  upon  his  troops  to  follow  hirn, 
rushed  into  the  thickest  of  the  fire,  where, 
however,  pierced  with  four  balls,  the  vete- 
ran warrior  fell  and  died  the  death  of  a 
hero.  General  Manteufel  released  the 
gory  standard  from  the  firm  grasp  of  th» 
dead  old  soldier,  and  led  on  the  troops, 
now  burning  with  revenge  at  the  loss  of 
their  brave  commander.  The  king's  broth- 
er, Prince  Henry,  sprang  from  his  horse, 
and  led  on  his  men  against  a  battery, 
which  he  conquered  ;  and  Duke  Ferdinand 
of  Brunswick  attacked  and  overthrew  with 
the  greatest  courage  the  left  wing  of  the 
Austrians,  pursuing  the  enemy  from  moun- 
tain to  mountain,  and  conquering  seven 
intrenchments.  Nevertheless,  the  victory 
remained  undecided  as  long  as  Field-mar- 
shal Brown  was  able,  by  his  influence  and 
command,  to  maintain  order  among  the 
ranks  of  the  Austrians  ;  at  length,  how 


_ 


BATTLE  OF  KOLLIN. 


381 


ever,  he  fell,  mortally  wounded,  and  with 
his  fall  vanished  all  success  from  the  Aus- 
trian side.  King  Frederick,  who  with  his 
keen  eye  surveyed  the  field  of  battle, 
quickly  perceived  the  enemy  begin  to  give 
way,  and  seeing  a  large  gap  in  the  centre 
of  their  ranks,  he  at  once  advanced,  with 
some  of  his  chosen  troops,  and,  dashing 
into  it,  completely  destroyed  all  communi- 
cation between  them,  and  put  them  entirely 
to  rout.  Thus  the  victory  was  gained  : 
the  Austrians  fled  in  every  direction,  the 
greater  portion  of  the  fugitives  throwing 
themselves  into  Prague,  and  the  rest  has- 
tening to  join  Marshal  Daun,  who  was 
posted  in  Kiittenberg  with  an  army  of  re- 
serve. 

Dearly,  however,  was  this  victory  pur- 
chased !  Twelve  thousand  five  hundred 
Prussians  lay  dead  or  wounded  on  the  bat- 
tle-field, and  among  them  was  included 
one  precious  corpse — that  of  Field-mar- 
shal Schwerin  ;  but  the  remembrance  of 
his  heroic  death,  and  the  blood-stained  flag 
he  bore  in  his  nervous  grasp,  were  regard- 
ed by.  the  Prussian  army  as  the  most  sa- 
cred legacy,  serving  them  as  a  continual 
source  of  excitement  to  follow  in  the  same 
path  of  glory.  The  Austrians,  likewise, 
suffered  an  irreparable  loss  in  the  death 
of  Field-marshal  Brown  ;  he  had  grown 
gray  in  the  wars  of  his  country,  and  the 
experience  he  had  undergone  rendered 
him  the  most  distinguished  general  of  his 
day. 

The  struggle  in  Bohemia  was  by  no 
means  decided  by  this  battle,  although  the 
actual  position  of  the  parties  was  such  that 
the  campaign  bid  fair  to  terminate  glori- 
ously in  favor  of  Frederick,  for  he  now 
kept  the  prince  of  Lorraine  a  prisoner  in 
Prague,  together  with  46,000  men,  without 


any 


o 

resources 


left  to  enable  them  to  hold 


out  for  any  length  of  time.  Their  only 
hopes  of  relief  rested  in  Field-marshal 
Daun,  who  was  then  in  the  immediate  vi- 
cinity with  a  considerable  body  of  troops  ; 
but  if  he  himself  should  be  defeated  by  the 
king,  the  army  hemmed  in  within  the  walls 
of  Prague  must  be  lost,  the  campaign  it- 
solf  won  in  the  most  glorious  manner  by 
the  Prussians,  and,  perhaps,  peace  obtain- 
ed, already  in  the  second  year  of  the  war; 
for  Frederick  desired  nothing  more  than 
what  he  obtained  at  the  end  of  the  war — 
the  retention  of  Silesia.  Fate,  however, 
had  not  decreed  that  he  should  obtain  this 


object  so  easily,  and  it  was  decided  that 
his  career  of  success  should  receive  a 
check,  while  his  spirit  was  doomed  to  un- 
dergo bitter  and  painful  trials. 

He  determined  not  to  wait  for  the  attack 
of  Daun,  but  to  anticipate  it ;  and  after  he 
had  remained  five  weeks  before  Prague, 
he  withdrew,  with  twelve  thousand  men, 
in  order  to  join  Prince  Severn,  who  had 
kept  the  army  of  Daun  in  observation,  and 
which  Frederick  forthwith  attacked,  near 
Kollin,  on  the  18th  of  June.  The  plan  of 
the  order  of  battle  adopted  by  the  king 
was  excellent ;  and  had  it  been  followed 
out  entirely  it  would  have  given  him  the 
victory.  Frederick  decided  upon  this  oc- 
casion to  employ  the  same  order  of  battle 
as  that  used  in  ancient  times  by  Epami- 
nondas,  and  by  which  he  overcame  the  in- 
vincible Spartans :  this  was  termed  the 
oblique  line  of  battle.  By  this  plan,  the 
weakest  force,  by  promptitude  of  action, 
was  enabled  to  operate  with  advantage 
over  a  superior  body ;  for  instance,  if  the 
general  in  command  has  recourse  to  such 
a  bold  manoeuvre  it  is  very  rare  if  he  does 
not  succeed,  but  to  ensure  this  victory  he 
must  be  certain  of  the  perfect  co-operation 
of  his  army,  so  that  by  the  celerity  and 
exactitude  of  its  movements  the  enemy 
may  be  completely  deceived  and  van- 
quished before  he  has  even  had  time  to 
perceive  the  plan  of  attack  by  which  it 
has  been  accomplished.  Such  was  the 
manoeuvre  practised  by  the  Prussians  at 
Kollin,  and  the  first  onset  made  by  Gene- 
rals Ziethen  and  Hulsen  upon  the  right 
wing  of  the  Austrians  put  them  entirely  to 
rout.  The  centre  and  the  other  wing  of 
the  Prussian  army  had  now  only  to  follow 
it  up  forthwith,  by  falling  upon  the  enemy's 
flank,  battalion  after  battalion  in  succes- 
sion, and  thus  complete  its  entire  annihila- 
tion. While,  however,  every  thing  was 
thus  operating  in  the  right  direction,  the 
king  himself,  as  if  the  usual  clearness  of 
his  mind  became  suddenly  clouded  in  im- 
penetrable gloom,  gave  orders  for  the  rest 
of  the  army  to  make  a  halt !  In  truth, 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  important 
day,  Frederick  presented  in  his  own  per- 
son and  manner  something  so  unaccounta- 
bly gloomy  and  repulsive  that  it  rendered 
him  total  y  incapable  of  attending  to  the 
ideas  and  observations  suggested  by  those 
around  him  ;  he  rejected  every  thing  they 
advised,  and  his  sinister  look,  together  with 


388 


DEFEAT  OF  FREDERICK.— THE  ALLIED  ARMIES. 


his  bitter  remarks,  only  made  them  shun 
his  presence. 

When,  at  the  most  important  and  deci- 
sive moment,  Prince  Maurice  of  Dessau 
ventured  to  represent  to  the  monarch  the 
serious  consequences  that  must  result  from 
the  change  he  had  commanded  to  take 
place  in  the  plan  of  the  order  of  battle,  and 
reiterated  his  observations  and  arguments 
in  the  most  urgent  manner  possible,  Fred- 
erick rode  up  close  to  his  side  and  with 
uplifted  sword,  demanded,  in  a  loud  and 
threatening  tone  of  voice,  whether  he  would 
or  would  not  obey  orders  ?  The  prince  at 
once  desisted  and  withdrew  ;  but  from  that 
moment  the  fate  of  the  day  was  decided. 
Through  the  halt  thus  made  so  ill-timed, 
the  Prussian  lines  found  themselves  right 
in  front  of  the  position  held  by  the  Aus- 
trians,  and  which  they  had  strongly  in- 
trenched and  made  completely  insurmount- 
able ;  and  when  they  made  an  attempt  to 
take  it  by  assault,  the  regiments  were  swept 
away  one  after  the  other  by  the  destructive 
fire  of  the  Austrian  artillery.  No  exertion, 
no  desperate  effort,  could  now  obtain  the 
victory  ;  fortune  had  now  changed  sides. 
General  Daun,  already  despairing  of  suc- 
cess at  the  commencement  of  the  battle, 
had  marked  down  with  a  pencil  the  order 
to  sound  a  retreat,  when,  just  at  that  mo- 
ment, the  colonel  of  a  Saxon  regiment  of 
cavalry  having  perceived  that  the  ranks  of 
the  Prussians  changed  their  order  of  bat- 
tle, resolved  to  delay  execution  of  orders, 
and  placed  the  official  paper  in  his  pocket. 
The  Austrians  now  renewed  their  attack, 
and  the  Saxon  regiments  of  horse  were 
more  especially  distinguished  for  the  des- 
perate charges  they  made,  as  if  determined 
to  revenge  themselves  for  the  injuries  en- 
dured by  their  country,  lit  order  that  all 
might  not  be  sacrificed,  orders  were  issued 
to  make  a  retreat,  and  Daun,  too  well 
pleased  to  gain  this,  his  first  victory  over 
Frederick  the  Great,  did  not  follow  in  pur- 
suit. The  Prussians  lost  on  this  day 
14,000  men,  in  either  killed,  wounded,  or 
prisoners,  and  forty-five  pieces  of  artillery. 
This  formed  nearly  the  moiety  of  the  Prus- 
sian army,  for  in  this  battle  32,000  Prus- 
sians had  fought  against  60,000  Aus- 
'.rians. 

What  a  change  of  fortune  was  this  to 
Frederick  !  After  having  been  on  the  point 
of  capturing  an  entire  army  in  the  very 
capital  of  the  country,  and  thus  extinguish- 


ing, at  the  first  moment  of  its  commence 
ment,  and  in  the  short  space  of  eight  months, 
the  most  dreadful  war,  he  found  himseli 
forced  to  raise  the  siege  of  Prague,  and 
abandon  Bohemia  altogether ;  having,  in 
addition  to  these  reverses  of  fortune,  to  la- 
ment, with  sincere  grief,  the  death  of  his 
beloved  mother,  who  died  ten  days  after  the 
sad  battle  of  Kollin.  The  allies  of  Aus- 
tria, after  this  unexpected  victory,  resumed 
operations  with  greater  activity  than  ever. 
The  Russians  invaded  the  kingdom  of  Prus- 
sia, the  Swedes  pursued  their  preparations 
more  vigorously,  and  two  French  armies 
crossed  the  Rhine  in  order  to  attack  the  ter- 
ritory of  Hesse,  Hanover,  and  thence  to 
march  against  the  hereditary  states  of  Prus- 
sia. One  of  these  armies,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Prince  Soubise,  advanced  towards 
Thuringia,  in  order  to  form  a  junction  with 
the  imperial  forces  under  the  orders  of  the 
prince  of  Hilburghausen  ;  while  Marshal 
d'Estree,  who  commanded  the  leading 
French  army,  on  entering  Hanover,  fought 
and  beat  the  duke  of  Cumberland  at  the 
head  of  the  Anglo-Germanic  troops,  on  the 
26th  of  July,  near  Hastenbeck,  on  the  We- 
ser.  This  defeat  was  produced  through 
the  inexperience  and  imbecility  of  the  Eng- 
lish general  ;  for  his  army,  although  limit- 
ed in  force,  had,  nevertheless,  obtained  con- 
siderable advantages  through  the  courage 
and  good  generalship  of  the  hereditary 
prince  of  Brunswick,  and  had  forced  the 
French  general  to  sound  a  retreat,  when 
the  duke,  to  the  no  little  surprise  and  in- 
dignation of  every  one,  abandoned  the  field 
of  battle,  nor  halted  in  his  shameful  retreat 
until  he  reached  the  Elbe  near  Stade.  Nay, 
to  complete  the  disgrace,  he  was  forced 
shortly  afterwards  to  conclude  at  Closter- 
seven,  on  the  9th  of  September,  a  conven- 
tion by  which  he  engaged  to  disband  his 
troops,  and  give  up  to  the  French  Hanover, 
Hesse,  the  duchy  of  Brunswick,  and  the 
whole  of  the  country  situated  between  the 
Weser  and  the  Rhine. 

The  duke  of  Richelieu,  who  succeeded 
Marshal  d'Estree  in  the  command  of  the 
French  troops,  was  a  man  of  a  most  over- 
bearing and  prodigal  character,  devoid  of 
all  conscientious  feeling  or  principle,  and 
gloried  in  draining  the  country  by  every 
possible  means  of  cruel  exaction ;  and  as 
all  around  him  followed  his  example,  and 
made  the  gain  of  money  and  licentiousness 
their  all-ruling  passion,  this  degrading 


BATTLE  G  •"  GROSSJAGERlSfDORF. 


practice  spread  more  and  more  widely 
throughout  the  ranks  of  the  entire  army, 
until  there  was  no  excess  to  which  it  did 
not  resort.  In  their  system  of  devastation, 
indeed,  the  French,  although  belonging  to 
a  more  polished  nation,  surpassed  even  the 
Cossacks  and  Cal mucks,  who,  at  this  mo- 
ment, were  similarly  occupied  in  the  king- 
dom of  Prussia  itself.  The  destruction  of 
morals  is  more  surely  to  be  dreaded  from  a 
civilized  than  a  barbarous  people  ;  because, 
under  the  charm  of  seduction,  it  leaves  be- 
hind a  consuming  poison  in  every  city  and 
tillage  generally,  and  especially  in  the 
more  sacred  bosom  of  domestic  life.  The 
bad  reputation  of  the  French  army,  and  the 
hatred  felt  and  shown  by  the  Germans,  na- 
turally more  plain  and  simple  in  their  man- 
ners and  customs,  against  the  smooth  and 
polished  mask  of  vice,  contributed  not  a  lit- 
tle to  gain  over  the  hearts  of  the  majority 
of  the  people  throughout  Germany  in  favor 
of  the  cause  of  Frederick.  Indeed,  it  was 
almost  inconceivable,  with  what  joy  the 
people  generally  received  the  news  of  the 
victories  he  gained,  although  perhaps  at  the 
same  moment  their  own  princes,  as  mem- 
bers of  the  imperial  states,  were  in  arms 
against  him.  Such  is  the  commanding  in- 
fluence exercised  by  a  superior  mind  over 
his  age ;  such  the  sympathy  which  a  gen- 
erous heart  can  rarely  withhold  from  him 
who  by  strength  and  courage  is  enabled  to 
battle  with  an  overpowering  and  inflexible 
destiny  !  But  much  of  this  feeling  was 
produced,  likewise,  through  beholding  how 
Frederick,  with  the  aid  only  of  his  own 
Prussians,  had  to  contend  against  hordes  of 
barbarians  from  the  east,  as  well  as  the 
hated  and  most  formidable  enemy  from  the 
west ;  while  in  the  interior,  he  had  to  face 
the  Austrian  armies  composed  of  soldiers 
all  differing  in  language,  customs,  and  man- 
ners, but  all  equally  eager  after  pillage, 
including  Hungarians,  Cro?.tians,  and  Pan- 
el urians.  Had  Frederick  carried  on  the 
war  merely  against  the  Austrians  and  other 
Germans,  true  patriots  would  only  have 
deplored  the  blindness  of  the  hostile  parties 
in  thus  contending  against  each  other  when 
they  ought,  on  the  contrary,  to  have 
sheathed  the  sword  and  held  out  to  each 
other  the  hand  of  fraternal  peace  and  friend- 
ship. The  north  of  Germany  was  more 
especially  attached  to  Frederick,  ranking 
itself  on  the  side  of  his  own  people,  and 
participating  in  their  joys  and  sorrows  ;  for 


as  that  was  the  seat  of  war  against  the 
French,  the  cause  of  Frederick  was  regard- 
ed as  that  of  Germany. 

The  convention  of  Clostersevcn  paved  the 
way  for  the  French  as  far  as  the  Elbe  and 
Magdeburg  itself;  and  their  second  army, 
now  united  with  the  imperial  troops,  was 
already  in  Thuringia,  and  made  prepara- 
tions for  depriving  the  Prussians  of  the 
whole  of  Saxony,  whence  the  latter  received 
their  stores  and  supplies  of  provisions. 

This  was  not  the  only  side  by  which 
Frederick  was  hard  pressed.  The  Swedes 
spread  themselves  throughout  the  whole  of 
Pomerania  and  Ukermark,  and  laid  those 
countries  under  heavy  contributions,  while 
they  had  only  to  avail  themselves  of  their 
whole  force  in  order  to  advance  direct  upon 
Berlin  itself,  and  make  themselves,  with 
scarcely  any  opposition,  masters  of  that  city. 
The  Russian  general,  Apraxin,  had  already 
entered  Prussia  with  100,000  men,  and  to 
oppose  him,  Field-marshal  Lehwald  had 
only  24,000  men  ;  nevertheless,  he  was 
forced  to  give  the  Russians  battle,  however 
great  the  sacrifice,  as  Frederick  sent  him 
strict  orders  to  drive  out  these  barbarians  and 
put  an  end  to  their  devastations.  Accord- 
ingly the  action  took  place  at  Grossjligern- 
dorf,  near  Welau  ;  but  the  most  undaunted 
and  desperate  courage  displayed  by  the 
Prussians  was  employed  in  vain  against 
a  force  so  overwhelming.  Lehwald  was 
forced  to  retreat,  after  a  loss  of  several 
thousand  men,  and  thus  Prussia  now  ap- 
peared irretrievably  lost — when,  to  the  asto- 
nishment of  all,  Apraxin,  instead  of  advan- 
cing, withdrew  to  the  Russian  frontiers  ten 
days  after  the  battle  he  had  gained. 

Thus  we  find,  from  time  to  time,  the 
troubled  path  of  Frederick  illumined  by  a 
glimmering  ray  of  hope,  which  appeared 
to  lead  him  on  to  better  fortune.  This  time 
it  originated  in  the  serious  illness  of  the 
empress  Elizabeth  of  Russia ;  and  the 
grand-chancellor  Bestuschef,  believing  her 
death  close  at  hand,  and  having  his  eye 
directed  to  her  successor,  Peter  III. — 
an  admirer  and  friend  of  the  Prussian 
hero — lost  not  a  moment  in  commanding 
General  Apraxin  to  withdraw  his  troops 
from  the  Prussian  dominions.  This  enabled 
the  army  under  Lehwald  to  march  against 
the  Swedes,  who,  on  the  approach  of  the 
Prussians,  evacuated  the  entire  country 
and  retreated  as  far  as  Stralsund  and 
Rugen. 


CONTINUATION  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR. 


CHAPTER     XXXI. 

I  fcnfcauation  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  1757-1760— Bat- 
tle of  Rossbach,  1757— Total  Defeat  of  the  French- 
General  Seidlitz  and  the  Prussian  Cavalry— Reverses 
of  Frederick— Silesia— Battle  of  Leuthen,  1757— Fred- 
erick's Appeal  to  his  Officers  and  Army — Their 
Enthusiasm— Complete  Overthrow  of  the  Austrians— 
Glorious  Results  to  Frederick— His  Proposals  of  Peace 
rejected  by  Maria  Theresa — France — Russia — Eng- 
land's Enthusiasm  for  Frederick— William  Pitt—Eng- 
land supports  Frederick— Treaty  of  Closterseven 
disavowed— Duke  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick  General- 
in-Chief  of  the  Allied  Army — Defeats  and  drives 
away  the  French  from  Germany— Frederick  in  Silesia 
— Schweidnitz— Frederick's  rapid  March  intoMoravia 
— Olmxitz — Bohemia —  Pomerania —  Battle  between 
the  Russians  and  Prussians  at  Zorndorf,  1758 — Dread- 
ful Slaughter  and  Defeat  of  the  Russians— The  Prus- 
sians attacked  and  defeated  by  the  Austrians  at  Hoch- 
kirch,  1758— Frederick's  Presence  of  Mind— The  Prus- 
sian Army — The  Imperial  Diet — The  Prince  of  Meck- 
lenburg—The Imperial  Ban  against  Frederick  pro- 
posed—Negatived— The  Allied  and  French  Armies- 
Battle  of  Bergen,  1759— Partial  Success  of  the  French 
— Battle  of  Minden — Shameful  Conduct  of  the  Eng- 
lish General,  Sackville— Defeat  of  the  French— Bat- 
tle of  Kay  and  Kunersdorf,  1759— Total  Defeat  of 
the  Prussians— Frederick's  Misfortunes— His  Despair 
— Prince  Henry  of  Prussia — Continued  Reverses  of 
Frederick— Battle  of  Liegnitz,  1760— The  Prussians 
defeat  the  Austrians— Beneficial  Results  to  Frederick 
—Battle  of  Torgau,  1760^-Total  Defeat  of  the  Aus- 
trians—Frederick  in  Leipsic. 

FREDERICK,  after  having  endeavored  for 
a  considerable  time,  but  in  vain,  to  give 
battle  to  the  Austrians  in  Lusatia,  broke 
up  his  army,  and  in  the  month  of  August 
advanced  up  the  Saale  into  Saxony,  in 
order  to  drive  the  French  out  of  that  coun- 
try. After  various  marches  and  counter- 
marches he  at  length  came  up  with  them 
and  the  imperial  army  on  the  5th  of  No- 
vember, in  the  village  of  Rossbach,  close 
to  the  Saale.  Frederick  had  only  22,000 
men,  while  the  enemy  had  60,000 ;  and 
they  already  began  to  triumph  in  anticipa- 
tion of  his  overthrow,  being  determined 
lhat  the  king,  with  his  handful  of  troops, 
'should  not  escape  them  this  time.  He  en- 
camped his  army  upon  a  height,  and  the 
French  advanced  by  forced  marches,  with 
sound  of  trumpet,  towards  his  camp,  curious 
to  see  whether  or  not  he  would  have  the  cour- 
age to  make  a  stand  against  them,  for  their 
object  was  to  surround  him  completely,  and 
thus,  by  making  him  prisoner,  put  an  end  to 
the  war  at  once.  The  Prussians,  however, 
fired  not  a  single  shot,  but  remained  per- 
fectly quiet,  apparently  unprepared  for,  or 
not  taking  any  notice  of  the  movements  of 
the  enemy  ;  the  smoke  ascending  from  their 
cooking  fires  indicated  their  present  occu- 
pation, while  Frederick  himself  took  his 
meal  with  his  general  officers  and  staff  with 
me  appearance  of  the  greatest  coolness  and 
indifference.  Br<  when  the  favorable  mo- 


ment  arrived,  about  half-past  two  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  he  gave  his  orders  accord 
ingly,  and  in  an  instant,  as  if  by  magic, 
the  tents  were  struck,  the  army  drawn  up 
in  battle  array,  the  artillery  opened  its  tre- 
mendous fire,  and  Seidlitz,  at  the  head  of 
his  brave  cavalry,  dashed  among  the  bat- 
talions of  the  enemy  as  they  arrived.  The 
French  had  never,  hitherto,  encountered 
such  rapidity  of  action  from  the  Germans, 
and  they  found  it  totally  impossible  to  form 
into  line  ;  for  they  were  completely  over- 
whelmed and  routed  before  they  could  even 
attempt  it,  and  in  the  course  of  less  than 
half  an  hour  the  action  was  decided,  and 
the  entire  French  army  put  hors  de  combat. 
They  were  seized  with  such  a  panic  that 
they  never  halted  until  they  reached  the 
middle  states  of  the  empire,  while  many, 
even,  deeming  themselves  still  insecure,  on- 
ly paused  when  they  reached  the  opposite 
banks  of  the  Rhine.  Seven  thousand  pris- 
oners fell  into  the  hands  of  the  king,  in- 
cluding nine  generals  and  three  hundred  and 
twenty  officers  of  every  rank,  together  with 
sixty-three  pieces  of  cannon  and  twenty- 
two  standards  ;  while  this  glorious  victory 
only  cost  the  Prussians  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  in  killed,  and  three  hundred  and 
fifty  wounded.  The  king  was  indebted  for 
this  great  triumph  to  the  excellent  state  of 
discipline  and  order  maintained  throughout 
his  whole  army,  which  was  thus  enabled, 
at  such  momentary  notice,  to  execute  so 
successfully  the  daring  plans  formed  often 
so  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  by  their  royal 
chief;  above  all,  however,  he  owed  much 
of  this  victory  to  the  rapid  and  overwhelm- 
ing courage  of  General  Seidlitz  and  his 
cavalry. 

Saxony  was  now  rescued  and  secured  on 
this  side,  while  the  moral  effect  of  the  bat- 
tle of  Rossbach  produced  much  benefit  to 
the  king ;  nevertheless,  his  military  labors 
and  fatigues,  for  this  year,  were  not  yet 
completed.  For,  during  his  absence,  his 
favorite  and  confidential  friend,  General 
Winterfeld,  had  perished  in  an  action  near 
Moyes ;  the  duke  of  Bevern  had  retreated 
with  his  army  into  Silesia  as  far  as  the  walls 
of  Breslau,  and  as  he  could  not  undertake 
any  thing  against  the  united  forces  of  the 
prince  of  Lorraine  and  Field-marshal  Daun, 
the  important  fortress  of  Schweidnitz  fell, 
on  the  llth  of  November,  into  the  hands  of 
General  Nadasti.  On  the  22d,  the  fintire 
Austrian  army  attacked  the  Prussians  at 


FREDERICK'S  REVERSES-APPEALS  TO  HIS  ARMY. 


391 


Breslau,  and  vanquished  them  after  a  vig- 
orous defence  ;  the  duke  of  Bevern,  dread- 
ing his  sovereign's  wrath,  yielded  himself 
prisoner — according  to  all  appearance  vol- 
untarily so — to  the  Austrians  ;  and,  finally, 
the  capital,  Breslau,  with  all  its  rich  sup- 
plies of  provisions  and  ammunition,  was 
given  up  to  the  imperialists  through  the 
cowardice  of  General  Lestwitz.  Thus 
Silesia  appeared  now  to  be  lost  for  Freder- 
ick ;  for,  if  it  should  be  allowed  to  remain 
only  one  winter  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
they  would  fortify  it  in  every  possible  way, 
so  as  to  make  it  totally  impossible  for  him 
ever  to  reconquer  it.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  appeared  equally  impossible,  unless  by  a 
miracle,  to  recapture  it  with  the  14,000 
men  he  brought  with  him  from  Saxony, 
and  the  16,000  forming  the  remnant  of  the 
vanquished  army  under  the  duke  of  Bev- 
ern. 

It  was  in  moments  like  this,  when  all 
around  him  assumed  that  gloomy  charac- 
ter, such  as  must  naturally  produce  despair 
and  desolation  in  the  mind,  that  King  Fred- 
erick displayed  in  the  most  striking  manner 
the  greatness  of  his  genius,  the  treasure  of 
mental  resources  at  his  command,  and  the 
irresistible  power  with  which  he  operated 
upon  the  feelings  of  all  under  him.  He 
summoned  a  council  of  his  generals  and 
chief  officers,  and  addressed  them  in  such 
soul-inspiring  language,  that  they  were 
aroused  to  a  state  of  the  most  ardent  and 
zealous  enthusiasm.  He  represented  to 
them  the  difficult,  and  even  desperate  con- 
dition in  which  their  country  wus  at  that 
moment  placed,  and  under  whic.*  it  must 
inevitably  sink,  if  he  could  not  calculate 
upon  their  courage  to  save  it.  "  I  know 
you  all  feel  that  you  are  Prussians,"  he 
added,  in  conclusion ;  "  nevertheless,  if 
there  be  one  among  you  who  fears  to  share 
such  dangers  with  me,  he  is  at  liberty  to  re- 
sign his  command  from  this  very  day,  without 
having  the  slightest  reason  to  dread  any  re- 
proach from  me  for  so  doing."  And  when 
in  reply  to  this  he  beheld  in  the  eyes  of  all 
around  him  the  expression  of  the  one  uni- 
versal determined  feeling — that  they  would 
all  rally  around  their  brave  sovereign,  and 
devote  their  lives  to  his  and  their  country's 
cause,  he  exclaimed,  with  gratified  mien  : 
"I  was  well  convinced,  beforehand,  that 
not  one  of  you  all  would  desert  me  in  this 
trying  moment ;  whence  I  am  sanguine  in 
my  hopes  of  victory.  Should  I  fall,  and 


thus  be  prevented  from  rewarding  you  foi 
your  courage,  be  assured  our  country  will 
not  neglect  to  do  so.  Farewell  then,  mv 
friends  and  comrades  ;  in  a  short  time  wo 
shall  either  have  driven  away  the  enemy 
now  before  us,  or  this  will  have  proved  our 
eternal  adieu  !" 

The  enthusiasm  called  forth  by  this  inspi- 
ring language  soon  produced  its  good  effect1! 
throughout  the  entire  army,  and  ail  await- 
ed  with  eager  impatience  the  moment  for 
marching  against  the  foe.  The  latter  had 
taken  up  an  equally  strong  and  advan- 
tageous position  behind  the  river  Lohe, 
where  it  was  extremely  difficult  for  the 
king  to  attack  him.  The  cautious  leader, 
Field-marshal  Daun,  was  desirous  of  hold- 
ing possession  of  it,  for  he  had  already 
learned  to  know  at  Kollin  how  necessary  it 
was  to  command  a  good  position  in  order  to 
check  and  hold  at  bay  the  impetuosity  of  the 
king.  But  General  Luchesi  and  others  of 
the  imperialists,  who  held  it  degrading  to  a 
victorious  army  to  seek  to  intrench  itself  in 
a  position  against  a  force  so  much  inferior  in 
numbers,  persuaded  Prince  Charles  to 
march  at  once  and  meet  the  king,  assuring 
him,  "that  the  parade  guard  of  Berlin" 
as  they  thus  styled  the  Prussian  army, 
"  would  never  be  able  to  make  a  stand 
against  them."  This  advice  was  most  ac- 
ceptable to  the  prince,  naturally  of  a  more 
impetuous  than  reflective  disposition,  and 
he  marched  forth.  The  two  armies  accord- 
ingly met  on  the  vast  plain  in  the  vicinity 
of  Leuthen,  on  the  5th  of  December,  exact- 
ly one  month  after  the  battle  of  Rossbach. 
The  imperial  army,  in  its  plan  of  attack, 
extended  its  lines  over  a  space  of  nearly 
five  miles  ;  while  Frederick  was  forced  to 
have  recourse  to  those  means  by  which  he 
was  enabled  to  double  his  power  by  the  ce- 
lerity of  his  manoeuvres,  and  adopted,  on 
this  occasion,  his  former  oblique  order  of 
battle.  He  caused  a  false  attack  to  be  made 
on  the  right,  while  his  principal  attack  was 
directed  against  the  left  wing ;  and  having 
overcome  this  completely,  the  consequent 
disorder  was  communicated  to  the  whole 
of  the  Austrian  army.  Resistance  had  now 
become  useless,  and  in  the  course  of  three 
hours  Frederick  gained  the  most  complete 
victory.  The  field  of  battle  was  covered 
with  the  slain,  and  whole  battalions  surren- 
dered themselves  prisoners,  amounting  al. 
together  to  21,000  men.  Added  to  this 
the  Prussians  captured  one  hundred  and 


392 


THE  ALLIED  ARMIES 


thirty  cannon,  and  three  thousand  ammuni- 
tion and  other  wagons.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  victories  met  with  in 
history,  where  30,000  men  only  were  op- 
posed to  80,000,  and  by  which  it  was  am- 
ply proved  how  superior  genius  may  some- 
times  triumph  over  superior  numbers,  and 
more  especially  when  the  ideas  and  plans 
formed,  are  seconded  and  carried  out  with 
that  proportionate  activity  and  firmness,  so 
gloriously  displayed  on  this  occasion  by  the 
Prussians. 

Meantime,  Frederick  and  his  army,  how- 
ever great  had  been  their  efforts,  would  not 
allow  themselves  time  for  repose,  although 
so  much  needed,  but  followed  up  without 
the  least  delay  the  fruits  of  their  victory, 
until  they  had  completely  driven  out  the 
Austrians  from  the  Silesian  territories  be- 
yond the  Bohemian  mountains.  This  was 
undertaken  by  the  ever-active  and  indefat- 
igable General  Ziethen,  and  was  accom- 
plished by  him  with  his  usual  success, 
making  immense  booty  and  numerous  pris- 
oners ;  while,  meantime,  the  king  himself 
attacked  Breslau,  which  he  captured  with 
its  garrison  of  17,000  men,  and  in  the  same 
month,  December,  Liegnitz  likewise  sur- 
rendered to  his  conquering  arms.  Thus, 
by  one  bold  stroke,  upon  which  he  risked 
his  all,  cost  what  it  may,  Frederick  recon- 
quered the  whole  of  Silesia — where  he  was 
enabled  to  take  up  his  winter  quarters  as 
far  as  Schweidnitz — as  well  as  Saxony  ; 
and,  what  was  more  than  all,  he  gained  for 
himself  that  immortal  renown  in  the  annals 
of  his  country  which  will  continue  to  be 
handed  down  to  the  latest  posterity.  The 
Austrian  army,  however,  which  so  shortly 
before  was  so  powerful  in  numbers,  exceed- 
ing 80,000  men,  and  so  perfec*.  la  its  ap- 
pointments, had  suffered  so  mucu  that  its 
relics  when  collected  in  Bohemia,  scarcely 
mustered  17,000  fighting  men.  All  the 
Prussian  territories,  as  far  as  Westphalia, 
were  now  completely  freed  of  the  enemy. 

Four  grand  battles,  and  numerous  ac- 
tions more  or  less  important,  had  combined 
to  make  the  preceding  year,  1757,  one  of 
the  most  sanguinary  to  be  found  in  history. 
Both  parties  had  sufficiently  tested  their 
strength  against  each  other ;  and  Frederick 
now  offered  at  the  court  of  Vienna  terms 
of  peace,  manifesting  by  this  the  principles 
of  ancient  Rome — not  to  propose  peace  un- 
til after  he  had  gained  a  victory.  But  the 
Maria  Theresa  still  continued  too 


much  embittered  against  the  conqueror  of 
Silesia  to  admit  of  the  acceptance  of  hi* 
proposals  ;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  every 
care  had  been  taken  to  conceal  from  her 
the  heavy  losses  sustained  by  her  army  at 
the  battle  of  Leuthen,  as  well  as  the  dis 
tressed  condition  to  which  the  war  had  re 
duced  her  states.  She  was  likewise  influ 
enced  in  her  resolution  by  France,  whicll 
insisted  upon  the  continuation  of  the  war  in 
Germany,  otherwise  that  power  would  be 
obliged  to  contend  alone  against  England. 
Thence  the  offers  of  Frederick  were  reject- 
ed, and  preparations  for  a  fresh  campaign 
renewed  on  a  more  extensive  scale  than 
ever.  Prince  Charles  of  Lorraine,  who  had 
lost  the  confidence  both  of  the  army  and  the 
country,  was  forced  to  resign  the  chief 
command.  It  was  found,  however,  ex- 
tremely difficult  to  meet  with  his  substitute, 
for  the  brave  Field-marshal  Nadasti,  ow- 
ing to  the  jealousy  and  intrigue  excited 
against  him,  was  completely  supplanted, 
and  eventually  the  choice  was  fixed  upon 
Field-marshal  Daun,  for  whose  reputation 
the  victory  of  Kollin  had  effected  far  more 
than  his  otherwise  natural  tardiness  of  ac- 
tion and  irresolution  merited. 

The  French  armies  were  likewise  rein- 
forced, and  another  general-in-chief,  Count 
Clermont,  was  appointed  instead  of  the 
duke  of  Richelieu.  The  latter,  accordingly, 
returned  to  France  with  all  the  millions  he 
had  exacted,  during  the  period  of  his  ser- 
vice, upon  which  he  lived  in  the  most  ex- 
travagant, gorgeous  style,  in  the  face  of  the 
whole  world,  and  in  defiance  of  all  shame 
and  disgust.  Russia  also  joined  in  the  de- 
sire for  a  continuation  of  the  war,  and  the 
chancellor  Bestuschef,  who  had  in  the  pre- 
vious year  recalled  the  army  from  Prussia, 
was  removed  from  office,  and  another  lead- 
er, General  Fermor,  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  Russian  troops  ;  he,  in  fact,  lost  not 
a  moment,  but  marched  at  once  against 
Prussia,  in  the  month  of  January,  and  con- 
quered the  kingdom  without  any  resistance, 
owing  to  the  absence  of  General  Lehwald, 
who  with  the  army  was  then  in  Pomerania, 
contending  against  the  Swedes. 

In  order  to  oppose  and  make  a  stand 
against  such  serious  and  overwhelming 
danger,  Frederick  was  forced  to  summon 
together  the  entire  and  extreme  resources 
of  his  own  dominions,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  Saxon  territories.  Levies  in  money 
and  troops  were  forthwith  made  with  equal 


FEUDINAND  OF  BRUNSWICK— DEFEATS  THE  FRENCH. 


393 


activity  and  rigor,  and  the  king  found  him- 
self reduced  to  the  necessity  of  coining  coun- 
terfeit money  for  the  payment  of  his  troops  : 
a  measure  which  such  a  case  of  extreme 
npcessity  alone  can  justify  or  excuse.  He 
knew,  however,  too  well  that,  since  the  feu- 
da!  system  of  war  had  been  succeeded  hy 
that  of  modern  times,  the  grand  principle 
upon  which  war  must  now  be  carried  on 
was  founded  upon  the  employment  of  its  in- 
fluential agent — money.  For  as  regarded 
allies  upon  whom  he  might  place  depend- 
ence, he  possessed  only  England  and  a  few 
princes  in  the  north  of  Germany,  and  these 
were  already  paralyzed  by  the  disgraceful 
convention  of  Closterseven.  Fortune,  how- 
ever, served  him  very  favorably  at  this 
moment  in  England  ;  the  British  nation, 
always  ready  to  acknowledge  and  appreci- 
ate patriotic  achievements  in  every  quarter, 
was  inspired  by  the  battle  of  Rossbach  with 
the  greatest  enthusiasm  for  Frederick ; 
while  the  most  complete  disgust  was  gen- 
erally excited  against  the  shameful  conven- 
tion of  Closterseven.  In  accordance  with 
these  feelings,  the  celebrated  William  Pitt, 
who  had  just  been  appointed  prime  minis- 
ter, caused  this  treaty,  which  had  not  as 
yet  been  confirmed,  to  be  at  once  disa- 
vowed, and  determined  to  continue  the  war 
with  renewed  vigor.  The  army  was  forth- 
with augmented,  and  the  appointment  of  its 
leader  was  intrusted  to  Frederick  himself. 
His  eagle  eye  soon  fixed  upon  the  genius 
best  adapted  for  its  extraordinary  powers  to 
be  chosen  to  co-operate  with  himself,  and 
he  accordingly  furnished  the  allied  army 
with  a  truly  distinguished  chief,  Ferdinand, 
duke  of  Brunswick,  who,  by  his  good 
generalship,  so  well  justified  Frederick's 
choice,  that  his  name  will  ever  continue  to 
maintain  its  brilliant  position  on  the  side  of 
that  of  the  great  king,  in  the  records  of  this 
sanguinary  war. 

According  to  a  plan  agreed  upon  between 
Frederick  and  himself,  the  duke  already 
opened  the  campaign  in  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, and,  marching  at  the  head  of  his 
small  army,  he  surprised  the  French  in 
their  winter  quarters,  where  they  were  liv- 
ing in  abundance  and  luxury  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  Hanoverians  and  Hessians ; 
jhe  odds  between  the  two  armies  were 
great,  for  the  duke  had  only  30,000  men 
against  their  100,000.  But  with  him  all 
his  measures  were  so  well  calculated, 
while  on  the  part  of  his  adversaries  so 


much  negligence  and  frivolity  existed,  if 
combination  with  the  incapacity  of  their 
general,  that  in  a  very  few  weeks  the  duke 
completely  succeeded  in  driving  them  out 
of  the  entire  country  situated  between  the 
Aller  and  Weser,  and  the  Weser  and  the 
Rhine ;  their  haste  being  such  that  they 
abandoned  all  their  provisions  and  ammu- 
nition, and  more  than  11,000  were  taken 
prisoners  by  the  allied  army.  They  re- 
crossed  the  Rhine  near  Diisseldorf,  hoping 
there  to  be  secure ;  in  this  however  they 
deceived  themselves.  Duke  Ferdinand 
pursued  them  to  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine, 
attacked  them  at  Crefeld,  and,  in  spite  of 
their  superiority  in  numbers,  he  put  them 
completely  to  rout,  causing  them  a  loss  of 
seven  thousand  slain.  After  this  battle  the 
city  of  Diisseldorf  surrendered  to  the  duke, 
and  his  light  cavalry  scoured  the  country 
throughout  the  Austrian  Netherlands,  even 
to  the  very  gates  of  Brussels  itself. 

Frederick,  during  this  interval,  had  not 
been  idle.  He  commenced  with  laying 
siege  to  Schweidnitz,  which  strong  and  im- 
portant place  still  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  Austrians,  and  carried  it  by  assault 
on  the  18th  of  April.  Field-marshal  Daun 
meantime  remained  stationary  in  Bohemia, 
and  used  every  exertion  to  cut  off  the 
march  of  Frederick  into  that  country,  for 
he  fully  expected  to  be  attacked  there  by 
the  king.  But  while  he  imagined  himself 
perfectly  secure,  Frederick  suddenly  broke 
up  with  his  army,  and  instead  of  proceeding 
to  Bohemia,  advanced,  by  forced  marches, 
to  Moravia,  and  laid  siege  to  Olmiitz.  In 
this  expedition  was  shown  the  peculiarity 
of  Frederick's  genius,  which  led  him  to 
undertake  the  most  bold,  extraordinary, 
and  perilous  enterprises,  while  his  constant 
aim  and  glory  was  to  take  his  enemy  by 
surprise  ;  and  on  this  occasion  he  was  more 
especial' y  influenced  by  the  idea,  that  if  he 
once  became  master  of  Olmiitz,  he  would 
then  have  the  command  of  the  most  im- 
portant position  in  an  Austrian  territory 
hitherto  perfectly  undisturbed,  and  thus  be 
enabled  to  threaten  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  yienna  itself.  Fortune,  however,  did 
not  this  time  second  his  bold  design  ;  the 
place  defended  itself  with  the  greatest  bra- 
very, the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  faith, 
ful  to  their  empress,  annoyed  the  Prussians 
as  far  as  was  in  their  power,  and  conveyed 
intelligence  to  the  imperial  army  of  all 
their  movements.  By  this  means  Daun 


394 


BATTLE  OF  ZORNIORF 


was  enabled  to  intercept  an<:  seize  upon  a 
convoy  of  three  thousand  wagons,  upon  the 
arrival  of  which  the  entire  success  of  the 
siege  depended ;  whence  it  was  obliged  to 
be  given  up.  But  now  the  retreat  into 
Silesia  was  blocked  up;  and  Daun,  hav- 
ing taken  possession  of  every  road,  felt  cer- 
tain that  he  had  caught  the  enemy  within 
his  own  net.  Frederick,  however,  suddenly 
turned  back,  and  marching  across  the  moun- 
tains, arrived  in  Bohemia — where  the  Aus- 
trian general  did  not  at  all  expect  him — 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  wagon  ;  and  he 
would  not  have  been  forced  to  leave  this 
country  so  soon  again  had  not  the  invasion 
of  the  Russians  recalled  him  to  Pomerania 
and  Neumark.  Accordingly  he  recrossed 
the  mountains  from  Bohemia  into  Silesia, 
and  leaving  Marshal  Keith  behind  to  pro- 
tect the  country,  he  hastened  with  14,000 
men  to  attack  the  Russians. 

At  every  step  he  took  as  he  marched 
through  the  provinces  he  met  with  the  sad 
effects  of  the  devastation  committed  by  these 
barbarians,  who  spared  neither  women,  chil- 
dren, the  young,  nor  the  old.  The  town 
of  Ciistrin  was  burnt  to  ashes,  with  the  ex- 
ception  of  three  houses,  and  the  land  around 
presented  one  vast  desert.  When  the  king, 
as  well  as  his  entire  army,  beheld  these 
melancholy  scenes,  they  were  overwhelmed 
with  burning  rage,  and  the  moment  they 
came  in  sight  of  the  enemy  they  com- 
menced the  attack,  when  one  of  the  most 
sanguinary  battles  of  the  entire  Seven 
Years'  War  was  fought,  and  which  raged 
from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  ten 
at  night.  Thirty-seven  thousand  Prussians 
were  opposed  to  sixty  thousand  Russians, 
fighting  hand  to  hand  in  the  manner  of  the 
ancient  Germans,  each  combatant  resolved 
to  perish  rather  than  yield  in  the  fatal 
struggle — and  in  which  the  Prussians,  after 
what  they  had  seen,  were  more  especially 
excited  to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  the 
savage  invaders — giving  by  their  sovereign's 
command  no  quarter,  but  fighting  for  life  or 
death.  On  the  evening  of  this  sanguinary 
day  more  than  19,000  Russians  lay  dead  or 
wounded  on  the  field  of  battle  ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  nearly  11,000  Prussians  were 
slain  or  disabled,  for  the  Russians,  finding 
they  were  completely  edged  in,  and  to  all 
Appearance  without  any  hope  of  escape, 
sold  their  lives  dearly,  and  fought,  like- 
wise, with  desperpte  courage.  If,  indeed, 
it  had  not  been  lor  the  invincible  cavalry 


of  Seidlitz,  which  flew  in  every  directior 
where  the  danger  was  greatest,  to  the  sup. 
port  of  their  sinking  comrades,  and  thus,  by 
efforts  almost  superhuman,  overthrew  whole 
battalions  of  the  enemy,  the  victory  would 
still  have  remained  doubtful,  as  indeed 
was  acknowledged  by  Frederick  himself. 
As  it  was9> however,  the  Russian  general, 
Fermor,  abandoned  Prussia  entirely,  and 
retreated  into  Poland ;  while  Frederick 
marched  into  Saxony,  where  his  brother 
Henry  was  hard  pressed  by  the  superior 
forces  of  the  Austrians. 

General  Daun,  on  the  approach  of  the 
king,  retired  to  a  strong  position  he  had  se- 
lected in  Lusatia.  His  object  was  to  cut 
off  the  passage  of  the  king  into  Silesia,  in 
order  that  his  general,  Harsch,  might  have 
time  to  conquer  the  fortress  of  Neisse. 
Frederick,  however,  who  perceived  his 
aim,  hastened  to  occupy  the  route  to  Sile- 
sia through  Bautzen  and  Gorlitz,  and 
marched  close  past  the  lines  of  the  Austri- 
an army,  in  order  to  encamp  himself  upon 
an  open  plain  situated  between  the  villa- 
ges of  Hochkirch  and  Cotitz.  This  plan 
was  any  thing  but  wise,  although  it  showed 
great  contempt  for  the  enemy.  His  quar- 
ter-master, Marwitz,  and  at  the  same  time 
a  confidential  favorite,  represented  to  him 
the  great  danger  to  which  he  was  exposed 
by  taking  up  this  position,  and,  hesitating 
at  first,  he  finally  refused  to  pitch  the 
camp  there,  in  spite  of  the  king's  commands. 
He  was,  however,  forthwith  placed  under 
arrest,  and  his  duties  transferred  into  the 
hands  of  another.  The  army  continued 
here  encamped  three  days,  completely  ex- 
posed to  the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  so  much 
superior  in  numbers  ;  while  Frederick  re- 
mained obstinately  deaf  to  all  the  repre- 
sentations of  his  generals.  He  considered 
that  as  the  Austrians  had  never  attacked 
him  first,  he  might  easily  calculate  that 
Field-marshal  Daun  would  never  think, 
and  was  quite  incapable  of  undertaking 
such  a  bold  step  ;  while,  in  addition  to 
this  self-deception,  he  was  betrayed  by  an 
Austrian  spy,  whom  the  enemy  had  bought 
over,  and  who  accordingly  furnished  him 
with  false  reports  of  their  plans  and  pro- 
ceedings. 

On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  October, 
and  before  the  dawn  of  day,  the  Prussian 
army  was  aroused  by  a  discharge  of  ar- 
tillery ;  the  Austrians  having,  during  the 
night,  silently  advanced  to  the  village  ot 


BATTLE  OF  HOCIIK1RCH. 


89f 


Hochkirch,  and  exactly  as  the  church- 
clock  chimed  the  hour  of  five,  they  fell 
upon  the  Prussian  advanced  posts,  took 
possession  of  the  strong  intrenchment  at 
the  entrance  of  the  village,  turned  the 
muzzles  of  the  cannon  against  their  ad- 
versaries, and,  by  a  murderous  fire,  de- 
stroyed all  the  Prussians  that  attempted  to 
make  a  stand  in  its  defence.  The  slaughter 
committed  was  dreadful,  for  the  troops 
poured  forth  in  thousands  to  assemble  in 
the  principal  street  of  the  village  as  head- 
quarters. The  generals  and  principal  offi- 
cers endeavored  in  vain,  amid  the  dark- 
ness, to  form  them  in  regular  line  of  battle ; 
the  brave  Prince  Francis  of  Brunswick 
had  his  head  carried  away  by  a  cannon- 
ball,  in  the  very  moment  he  was  about  to 
attack  the  enemy  on  the  heights  of  Hoch- 
kirch ;  Field-marshal  Keith,  a  venerable 
but  equally  brave  and  well-tried  warrior, 
fell  pierced  with  two  bullets,  and  Prince 
Maurice  of  Dessau  was  likewise  danger- 
ously wounded.  Generals  Seidlitz  and 
Ziethen  formed  their  squadrons  of  cavalry 
on  the  open  plain,  and  threw  themselves 
with  all  their  usual  bravery  upon  the  Aus- 
trians ;  but  the  advantages  they  gained 
could  not  compensate  for  the  serious  loss 
already  sustained.  Hochkirch,  the  camp, 
together  with  all  the  baggage  and  ammu- 
nition fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
The  dawn  of  day  brought  with  it  no  ad- 
vantage, for  an  impenetrable  fog  prevented 
the  king  from  reconnoitring  the  enemy's 
position  as  well  as  his  own,  so  as  to  be 
enabled,  perhaps,  by  a  prompt  movement, 
to  bring  back  to  his  colors  that  good  for- 
tune which  had  thus  so  unexpectedly  aban- 
doned him.  Nevertheless,  his  regiments 
lad  novr  through  that  discipline  which 
was  never  so  admirably  displayed  as  at 
this  moment,  succeeded  in  forming  them- 
selves into  regular  order,  and  when,  tow- 
ards nine  o'clock,  the  sun  made  its  ap- 
pearance, he  perceived  that  the  Austrian 
army  had  already  nearly  surrounded  him 
on  every  side,  and  he  accordingly  gave 
orders  for  a  retreat.  This  took  place  in 
such  good  order,  that  the  Austrian  general 
was  taken  so  much  by  surprise  that  he 
found  it  impossible  to  attempt  to  oppose  it, 
and  returned  to  his  old  quarters.  The 
King,  however,  had  suffered  a  loss  of  sev- 
eral of  his  best  generals,  nine  thousand 
good  soldiers,  and  more  than  one  hundred 
pieces  of  cannon ;  and.  as  he  had  lost  all 


his  baggage,  nothing  was  left  wherewith 
to  supply  his  troops  with  clothing  for  the 
approaching  winter. 

Meantime,  the  king  maintained  the  ut- 
most tranquillity  and  firmness  of  mine* 
throughout  this  period  of  trial,  and  his  ap- 
pearance inspired  his  troops  with  the  same 
feeling.  And,  in  truth,  if  Frederick  ever 
showed  himself  great  in  misfortune,  he  did 
so  especially  after  this  serious  loss ;  for 
although  deprived  of  all  the  necessary  pro- 
visions and  supplies  for  his  army,  he  never- 
theless was  not  less  successful  in  accom- 
plishing by  hasty  marches  and  masterly 
manoeuvres  his  original  plan  ;  and  thus, 
deceiving  the  enemy,  and  circuiting  his 
position,  forced  General  Harsch  in  all 
haste  to  raise  the  siege  of  Neisse.  Silesia 
was  now  entirely  freed  from  the  enemy ; 
while  Daun,  conqueror  as  he  was,  after 
being  unable  to  prevent  Frederick  from 
entering  Silesia,  and  obtaining,  by  his  at- 
tack upon  Dresden,  no  other  result  but 
that  of  forcing  the  Prussian  general,  Count 
Schmettau,  in  his  defence  to  set  fire  to  the 
beautiful  suburbs  of  that  capital,  returned 
in  mortification  to  Bohemia,  where  he  es- 
tablished his  winter-quarters.  Thus  su- 
periority of  genius  produced  those  results 
for  the  conquered,  which  otherwise  might 
have  fallen  to  the  share  of  the  conqueror. 

At  the  end  of  this  year  Frederick  found 
himself,  in  spite  of  the  vicissitudes  he  had 
undergone,  in  possession  of  the  same  coun- 
tries as  in  the  preceding  year,  in  addition 
to  which  he  now  had  Schweidnitz,  which 
was  not  in  his  hands  previously ;  while  in 
Westphalia  all  his  provinces  which  had 
been  captured  by  the  French  were  now 
reconquered  by  the  valor  of  Prince  Fer- 
dinand. The  latter  had  not  certainly  been 
able  to  maintain,  with  his  small  army,  his 
position  on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine  ; 
but,  at  the  end  of  the  campaign,  he  forced 
the  French  to  abandon  the  whole  right 
bank  of  that  river,  and  to  establish  their 
winter-quarters  between  the  Rhine  and  the 
Me  use. 

The  following  year,  however,  in  spite  of 
the  perils  he  had  already  undergone  and 
battled  against,  the  heroic  king  found  him 
self  destined  to  encounter  vicissitudes,  which 
rendered  this  period  of  the  war  more  trying 
than  perhaps  any  other.  The  hope  of  be 
ing  at  length  enabled  to  crush  him,  exci- 
ted his  enemies  to  strain  every  effort  in  or 
der  to  effect  this  object.  The  Austriar 


39G 


THE  AUSTRIAN  AND  PRUSSIAN  ARMIES. 


army  was  completely  reorganized  and  rein- 
forced to  its  full  complement,  and  indeed, 
with  every  coming  year,  it  marched  into 
the  field  with  increased  vigor  and  augment- 
ed numbers,  because  the  ranks  were  filled 
up  with  the  hardy  peasantry  of  the  heredi- 
tary lands,  who  were  well  drilled,  and  who 
being  intermingled  with  the  more  experien- 
ced and  well-tried  veterans  of  many  a  hard- 
fought  battle — of  whom,  notwithstanding 
the  heavy  losses  sustained,  the  army  still 
retained  a  powerful  body — were  soon  initi- 
ated in  the  rough  and  perilous  scenes  of 
the  camp.  In  Frederick's  small  army,  on 
the  other  hand,  which  had  to  contend  equal- 
ly with  Austrians,  Russians,  Frenchmen, 
and  Swedes,  as  well  as  with  other  troops  of 
the  empire  itself,  the  number  of  those  who 
had  escaped  the  sword  and  disease,  formed 
but  a  small  body,  and  consequently  its 
ranks  were  principally  filled  with  newly- 
levied  and  inexperienced  recruits.  And 
however  speedily  these  young  soldiers,  who 
often  joined  the  army  at  the  early  age  of 
boyhood,  entered  into  the  spirit  and  honor 
of  the  cause  for  which  they  fought,  and  in 
which  they  emulated,  as  much  as  possible, 
the  acts  of  their  more  veteran  comrades — 
sometimes,  perhaps,  even  surpassing  them 
in  daring  courage — still  their  number  was 
far  inferior  compared  with  those  levied  in 
Saxony,  Anhalt,  Mecklenburg,  and  such 
as  were  collected  in  various  other  parts, 
consisting  chiefly  of  deserters.  Thence, 
although  the  Prussian  army  was  soon  com- 
pleted in  all  its  numbers  and  appointments, 
it  fell  far  short  when  compared  with  the 
Austrians  in  internal  organization  and  uni- 
ted strength.*  Besides  this,  Frederick's 
own  estates,  as  well  as  those  of  Saxony  and 
Mecklenburg,  suffered  so  much  by  oppres- 

*  A  foreigner  of  rank  and  great  wealth,  having  rt- 
quested  to  be  permitted  to  serve  in  the  campaign  of  1757 
as  a  volunteer,  Frederick  granted  his  wish,  and  the  no- 
ble recruit  arrived  in  a  splendid  carriage,  and  attended 
by  several  servants  ;  in  fact,  displaying  an  unusual  lav- 
ishment  of  expense  and  luxury.  He  received,  how- 
ever, no  mark  of  distinction,  and,  indeed,  very  little  or 
no  attention,  being  generally  stationed  in  the  (vagon- 
train.  He  bore  no  part  in  any  engagement,  much  less 
in  any  general  battle,  and  had  to  experience  the  morti- 
fication of  not  sharing  in  the  victorious  action  of  Ross- 
bach.  He  had  often  sent  a  written  complaint  to  the 
kins,  but  without  any  effect;  at  length,  however,  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  addressing  the  king  in  person, 
when,  in  reply  to  Ins  representations  upon  the  subject, 
Frederick  said,  "  Your  style  of  living,  sir,  is  not  the 
fashion  in  my  army  ;  in  fact,  it  is  highly  objectionable 
and  offensive.  Without  the  greatest  moderation,  it  is 
impossible  to  learn  to  bear  the  fatigues  which  accom- 
pany every  war,  and  if  you  cannot  determine  to  sub- 
mit to  the  strict  discipline  my  officers  and  troops  are 
forced  to  undergo,  I  would  advise  you.  in  a  friendly 
*\iy,  to  return  to  your  own  country."— Mulcher. 


sive  taxation,  and  the  continual  conscription, 
which  thus  seriously  diminished  the  male 
population,  that  it  seemed  as  if  they  never 
could  recover  from  the  sad  effects.  The 
duke  of  Mecklenburg,  indeed,  in  his  indig- 
nation, acted  with  such  imprudence  at  the 
diet  of  Ratisbon,  as  to  place  himself  at  the 
head  of  those  princes  who  were  most  loud 
and  bitter  in  their  complaints  against  Fred- 
erick, and  demanded  nothing  less  than  that 
the  ban  of  the  empire  should  be  at  once 
pronounced  against  him  ;  for  which  act  the 
duke's  land  was  subjected  to  the  most  ex. 
treme  severity  of  treatment,  and,  in  fact, 
dealt  with  rather  as  that  of  an  enemy  than  an 
ally.  The  imperial  ban,  however,  was  not 
adjudged  against  the  king,  for  as  the  same 
sentence  must  have  been  pronounced  against 
the  elector  of  Hanover,  the  evangelic  states 
refused  to  condemn  two  such  distinguished 
members  of  their  body.  Besides  which, 
this  word,  which  in  ancient  times  was  more 
fatally  annihilating  in  its  effects  than  the 
sharp  edge  of  the  sword  itself,  had,  unfor- 
tunately, long  since  become  void  of  power 
and  effect,  and  if  pronounced,  would  only 
have  exposed  more  degradingly  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Germanic  confederation. 

Maria  Theresa,  however,  by  her  urgent 
appeals  to  the  sovereigns  of  France  and 
Russia  to  carry  on  the  war,  endeavored  to 
effect  the  destruction  of  Frederick  with  far 
more  certainty  than  could  have  been  ac- 
complished by  all  the  bans  pronounced 
against  him  by  the  imperial  diet.  The 
empress  of  Russia,  in  order  to  obliterate  the 
stain  of  the  battle  of  Zorndorf,  sent  fresh 
troops  under  the  command  of  General  Solti- 
kow,  a  brave  and  active  officer.  In  Paris, 
the  duke  of  Choiseul,  hitherto  French  am- 
bassador at  Vienna,  and  the  chief  promoter 
of  the  war  against  Frederick,  was  now 
chosen  prime-minister,  and  he  determined 
to  employ  all  the  forces  at  command,  in 
order  to  reconquer  Westphalia,  Hanover, 
and  Hesse.  Had  this  design  been  brought 
into  execution,  these  countries  would  have 
experienced  the  most  dreadful  persecution, 
and  Hanover  more  especially  would  have 
been  singled  out  by  France  upon  which  to 
wreak  her  vengeance,  for  the  losses  she  had 
sustained  both  at  sea  and  on  her  coasts, 
from  the  naval  expeditions  of  Great  Britain. 
For  the  glorious  victories  obtained  by  the 
British  men-of-war  had  completely  dimin- 
ished the  maritime  force  of  France,  while 
both  in  North  America  an  1  the  East  Indies 


BATTLES  OF  BERGEN  AND  MIND] 


all  her  settlements  and  possessions  were 
reduced  or  captured.  Prince  Ferdinand, 
with  his  small  army,  was,  however,  the 
only  disposable  power  at  command  to  op- 
pose the  enemy  in  his  designs  against  Ger- 
many from  this  quarter. 

Ferdinand  was  menaced  upon  two  sides  : 
on  that  of  the  Maine  Dy  the  army  of  the 
duke  of  Broglio,  whose  head-quarters  were 
at  Frankfort,  which  he  had  taken  by  sur- 
prise— for,  in  spite  of  its  being  an  imperial 
free  city,  and  although  it  had  accordingly 
furnished,  without  hesitation,  its  quota  of 
contributions  to  the  confederation  in  men 
and  money  for  the  war  against  Frederick, 
it  was  not  the  less  exposed  to  attack  ;  and 
from  the  point  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  Marshal 
de  Contade  advanced  with  the  main  body 
of  the  army,  to  invade  and  overrun  Hano- 
ver. Ferdinand  was  in  hopes  of  being 
able,  like  Frederick,  to  make  a  successful 
stand  against  both  armies  through  the  ce- 
lerity of  his  movements,  and  marching  at 
once  against  the  duke  of  Broglio  at  the 
opening  of  the  campaign,  came  up  with 
him  on  the  12th  of  April  at  Bergen,  near 
Frankfort.  He  immediately  attacked  him 
with  his  brave  Hessians,  but  the  position 
occupied  by  the  French  was  too  strong, 
while  they  were  enabled  to  replace  the 
troops  they  lost  by  continual  fresh  sup- 
plies, whence  the  Hessians  were  repulsed 
in  three  attacks.  Ferdinand  now  pru- 
dently resolved  not  to  expose  his  army  to 
the  chances  of  a  total  defeat,  and  accord- 
ingly made  a  retreat  in  good  order.  It  re- 
quired, however,  the  exercise  of  all  the 
genius  and  experience  he  possessed  to  ena- 
ble him  to  protect  Lower  Saxony  against 
the  attack  of  Marshal  de  Contade.  This 
general  had  succeeded  in  crossing  the 
Rhine  near  Diisseldorf,  and,  marching 
through  the  Weser  forest  towards  Giessen, 
formed  a  junction  with  Broglio,  and  tookCas- 
sel,  Paderborn,  Miinster,  and  Minden,  on  the 
Weser.  In  all  his  operations  thus  far  he 
was  equally  prompt  and  successful,  and 
Ferdinand  found  himself  forced  to  with- 
draw as  far  back  as  the  mouth  of  the  Weser 
near  Bremen,  while  the  French  general 
now  regarded  Hanover  as  already  within 
nis  grasp. 

In  Paris  all  were  in  high  glee  at  this 
glorious  beginning — but  the  German  hero 
soon  changed  that  exultation  into  the  oppo- 
site feelings  of  sorrow  and  depression  by 
gaining  a  brilliant  victory.  Ferdinand, 


placing  full  confidence  in  his  re-sources, 
marched  to  meet  the  French  army,  and 
found  it,  on  the  1st  of  August,  near  Minden, 
occupying  a  position,  the  nature  of  which 
offered  him  every  advantage  for  the  attack. 
Contade  was  forced  to  fight,  inasmuch  as 
his  supplies  were  cut  off,  but  he  calculated 
upon  his  superiority  in  numbers ;  he,  how- 
ever, gave  very  few  proofs  on  this  day 
of  his  talent  and  experience,  although  ai 
other  times  he  had  not  shown  himself  want- 
ing in  ability.  Contrary  to  all  military 
practice  hitherto,  he  placed  his  cavalry  ir 
the  centre,  and  this  very  error  in  his  tac- 
tics, and  which,  no  doubt,  he  expected  must 
opeivte  to  his  advantage,  produced  his  de- 
feat and  Ferdinand's  triumph.  He  order- 
ed the  British  and  Hanoverian  infantry, 
whose  steady  firmness  he  had  already  test- 
ed, to  advance  and  charge  the  enemy's  cav- 
alry— a  bold  and  happy  idea,  and  which 
by  the  results  effected,  was  through  its  re- 
alization an  additional  evidence  of  Ferdi- 
nand's superior  genius, ,  which  at  such  a 
moment  directed  him  to  swerve  from  the 
ordinary  course  of  operations.  The  French 
cavalry,  forming  the  tiite  of  the  whole  ar- 
my, astounded  at  this  daring  attack  of  the 
allied  infantry,  met  the  charge  with  tolera- 
ble firmness  at  first,  and  endeavored  to 
force  the  ranks  of  their  bold  opponents  and 
gallop  over  them  ;  but  every  attempt  they 
made  against  these  solid  and  invulnerable 
ranks  of  bayonets  was  completely  defeated, 
and  at  length  the  sweeping  discharges  of 
the  artillery,  together  with  the  destructive 
execution  made  by  the  well-aimed  muskets 
of  the  infantry,  produced  the  greatest  con- 
fusion among  them,  and  put  them  complete- 
ly to  flight.  Ferdinand  now  gave  orders 
to  General  Sackville  to  dash  through  the 
hollow  space  thus  left  in  the  centre  of  tb« 
French  line  with  his  British  cavalry,  ana 
to  pursue  the  flying  enemy  ;  by  obeying 
which  orders  he  would  have  completely 
divided  the  two  wings  of  the  French  army, 
and  thus  overpowered  by  the  allies,  its  en- 
tire destruction  must  inevitably  have  fol- 
lowed. But  whether  it  was  through  jeal- 
ousy or  cowardice — for  his  unaccountable 
behavior  has  never  been  clearly  explain- 
ed— the  English  general  turned  traitor,  dis- 
obeyed the  order  given  by  the  duke,  and 
thus  allowed  the  French  time  to  reasserrble 
and  make  good  their  retreat.  As  it  vas, 
however,  they  lost  eight  thousand  men  and 
thirty  pieces  of  cannon.  But  the  results 


398 


BATTLE  OF  KA*. 


of  this  battle  were  still  more  important. 
Contade,  being  now  continually  pursued, 
withdrew  along  the  Weser  to  Cassel,  and 
thence  continued  his  retreat  southward  to 
Giessen ;  while  the  army  of  Ferdinand  cap- 
tured successively  Marburg,  Fulda,  and 
Miinster,  in  Westphalia,  so  that,  by  the  end 
of  the  year,  this  distinguished  general  found 
himself  once  more  in  possession  of  the  same 
territories  he  occupied  at  its  commence- 
ment. 

King  Frederick  had  not  snown  his  usual 
eagerness  to  open  the  campaign  this  year, 
inasmuch  as  his  advantage  did  not  now,  so 
much  as  at  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
depend  upon  the  results  of  prompt  meas- 
ures ;  but  the  main  object  of  his  plans  at 
his  moment  was  rather  if  possible  to  pre- 
vent the  junction  of  the  Russian  and  Aus- 
trian armies.  He  encamped  himself  in  a 
strong  position  near  Landshut,  whence,  by 
sudden  incursions  directed  equally  against 
the  Russians  in  Poland  and  the  Austrians 
in  Bohemia,  he  wrested  from  them  their 
most  valuable  magazines,  and  thus  prevent- 
ed both  armies,  for  a  considerable  time, 
from  undertaking  any  important  enterprise ; 
for  when,  according  to  the  system  pursued 
by  the  belligerent  parties  at  this  period,  the 
armies  remained  quartered  in  a  country  for 
any  length  of  time,  they  abstained  as  much 
as  possible  from  depriving  the  inhabitants 
of  all  their  provisions  ;  whence  much  great- 
er supplies  were  rendered  necessary  for  the 
troops. 

At  length,  however,  the  Russians,  con- 
sisting of  40,000  men,  crossed  the  Oder, 
and  Laudon  was  waiting  ready  to  join  them 
with  his  20,000  Austrians.  Frederick,  in 
such  an  extremity,  resolved,  in  order  to  save 
himself,  to  have  recourse  to  extraordinary 
measures.  Among  his  generals  he  had 
one,  young  it  is  true,  but  at  the  same  time 
distinguished  beyond  any  other  for  his  dar- 
ing courage  in  difficult  circumstances :  this 
was  General  Wedel.  Him  he  held  as  best 
qualified  to  be  intrusted  with  the  command 
againsi  the  Russians,  but  he  was  doubtful 
whether  or  not,  perhaps,  the  senior  generals 
would  submit  to  his  orders.  The  king, 
however,  decided  at  once  to  adopt  the  plan 
of  the  Romans — who  in  extreme  danger 
made  it  a  rule  to  place  the  whole  authority 
and  direction  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of  one 
man,  whom  tht  y  styled  their  dictator — and 
accordingly  appointed  General  Wedel  dic- 
'ator  over  the  army  opposed  to  the  Rus- 


sians. According  to  the  royal  instructions 
he  received,  he  was  to  attack  the  enemy 
wherever  he  came  up  with  them.  These 
instructions  the  young  dictator  obeyed  to 
the  letter,  but  without  reflecting  upon  what 
such  orders  presupposed.  Accordingly  he 
attacked  the  Russians  on  the  23d  of  June, 
at  the  village  of  Kay,  near  Ziillichau,  but 
planned  his  attack  so  badly  that,  in  ordei 
to  make  it,  his  army  was  forced  to  cross  a 
bridge  and  march  through  a  long  narrow 
line  of  road,  in  single  files,  so  that  the  bat- 
talions were  only  able  to  reach  the  field  of 
battle  in  successive  bodies ;  where,  as  they 
arrived,  they  were  received  by  a  murder- 
ous discharge  of  grape-shot,  and  were  thus 
destroyed  in  detail  by  the  Russians.  The 
Prussians  lost  more  than  5000  men,  and  the 
enemy  being  thus  no  longer  opposed,  effect- 
ed a  junction  with  Laudon  without  any 
further  delay. 

It  was  necessary  now  that  Frederick 
himself  should  hasten  with  his  43,000  men 
to  meet  the  combined  forces  of  the  enemy. 
He  knew  and  felt  the  great  danger  to 
which  he  was  about  to  expose  himself  per- 
sonally, and  summoning  his  brother  Henry 
from  his  camp  at  Schmottseifen,  gave  him 
strict  charge  to  watch  the  movements  of 
Field-marshal  Daun,  and  besides  this,  ap- 
pointed him  regent  of  the  Prussian  domin- 
ions, in  case  he  himself  should  be  either 
killed  or  taken  prisoner  in  this  expedition. 
At  the  same  time,  however,  in  the  event  of 
such  a  misfortune,  he  demanded  from  him 
the  most  solemn  promise,  never  to  submit 
to  a  peace  which  in  the  slightest  degree 
might  bring  shame  or  disgrace  upon  the 
house  of  Prussia.  Frederick  well  knew 
how  to  live  and  die  as  a  king,  and  he  would 
willingly  have  lost  his  life  rather  than  be 
made  a  prisoner ;  for  he  was  too  well  aware 
what  great  sacrifice  his  enemies  would 
have  demanded  for  his  ransom. 

On  the  12th  of  August,  he  found  the 
united  forces  of  the  Russians  and  Austri- 
ans, amounting  to  60,000  men,  strongly  in. 
trenched  upon  the  heights  of  Kiinersdorf, 
near  Frankfort  on  the  Oder.  After  recon- 
noitring their  position,  he  formed  his  plan 
of  battle,  and  which  was  so  drawn  out  at 
to  ensure  not  only  a  complete  victory,  bu, 
likewise  the  entire  annihilation  of  the  ene. 
my.  Many  have  condemned  the  king  for 
conceiving  his  plan  upon  such  desperate 
and  cruel  principles  ;  but  this  very  plan  is 
a  characteristic  evidence  of  the  greatness 


BATTLE  OF  KUNERSDORF. 


309 


of  a  general,  who  prefers  terminating  the 
war  with  one  blow  rather  than  tediously 
prolonging  it  by  a  succession  of  insignifi- 
cant actions,  and  which,  nevertheless,  when 
summed  together,  prove  by  their  results 
still  more  murderous  in  the  lives  sacrificed. 
And,  again,  why  should  such  a  reproach 
be  made  against  Frederick,  seeing  how 
many  enemies  he  had  to  battle  with  at 
once,  and  how  much  reason  he  had  rather, 
if  possible,  to  bring  hostilities  to  an  end 
with  each,  by  contending  with  them  sepa- 
rately ?  But  the  plan  of  the  battle  of 
Klinersdorf  was  not  the  cause  of  the  mis- 
fortune of  the  day  ;  it  was  produced,  firstly, 
through  ignorance  of  the  different  localities 
around — for  although  the  king  had  collect- 
ed information  from  those  who  knew  the 
country,  he  was  still  left  without  an  exact 
knowledge  of  the  field  of  battle;  and, 
secondly,  through  the  too  great  confidence 
he  placed  in  human  strength.  For  after 
having  succeeded,  by  the  most  extraordi- 
nary exertions  of  his  troops,  in  his  attack 
against  the  left  wing  of  the  Russians,  cap- 
turing ninety  pieces  of  cannon,  and  putting 
the  whole  of  this  left  wing  to  flight — so  that 
the  king,  in  his  elated  hopes,  had  already 
dispatched  a  courier  to  Berlin  with  the  an- 
nouncement of  victory — and  the  day  now 
declining,  his  generals  advised  him  to  pause 
and  spare  his  worn-out  soldiers,  especially 
as  the  Austrians  had  not  as  yet  taken  any 
share  in  the  battle,  and  the  right  wing  of 
the  Russians  still  remained  immoveable. 
They  likewise  added  their  expectations, 
that  the  enemy  would  withdraw  from  the 
field  in  the  course  of  the  night  of  his  own 
accord.  The  king,  however,  who  would 
not  hear  of  any  work  being  half  done,  paid 
no  attention  to  their  representations  ;  while 
at  the  same  time,  no  doubt,  he  perceived 
how  dangerous  it  would  be  to  break  off 
the  fight  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
Austrian  army,  ready  prepared  and  wait- 
ing for  battle;  accordingly,  he  gave  imme- 
diate orders  to  make  a  fresh  attack.  Thus 
the  soldiers,  already  faint  and  exhausted 
with  the  great  exertions  they  had  made 
during  the  whole  of  that  hot  day,  were 
again  doomed  to  scale  the  heights  and  con- 
quer the  strongest  positions,  whence  the 
batteries  of  heavy  artillery  scattered  the 
most  dreadful  havoc  among  their  ranks. 
The  greatest  courage  could  not  possibly 
hold  out  before  such  superiority  of  force ; 
each  time  that  their  generals,  and  the  king 


himself,  led  them  on  to  the  attack,  they 
were  repulsed,  until  at  last  the  entire  army 
was  seized  with  terror  and  dismay,  and 
took  to  flight.  .The  Austrian  cavalry  now 
pursued  and  fell  upon  the  fugitives,  causing 
the  most  dreadful  carnage,  and  all  hopes 
of  making  a  retreat  in  good  order  were  out 
of  question.  Frederick  himself,  when  he 
witnessed  the  defeat  of  his  troops,  a  defeat 
such  as  he  had  never  before  experienced, 
was  seized  with  such  overpowering  feel- 
ings  of  depression  and  despair,  that  he  re 
nounced  all  thought  of  saving  his  own  life, 
there  he  \vas  seen  amidst  the  dead,  the 
dying,  and  the  wounded,  in  every  part  of 
the  field,  during  which  he  had  two  horses 
killed  under  him,  and  he  himself  received 
a  bullet  in  his  left  side  which  penetrated 
through  his  coat  to  his  waistcoat  pocket, 
where  fortunately  its  dangerous  course  was 
stopped  by  his  gold  snuff-box.  At  length, 
as  he  continued  utterly  regardless  of  all 
that  passed  around  him,  paying  no  atten- 
tion to  the  warnings  of  those  near  him  to 
save  his  life,  and  as  at  that  moment  several 
squadrons  of  the  Austrian  cavalry  were 
galloping  towards  him,  some  of  his  suite 
seized  the  bridle  of  his  horse  and  led  him 
away  almost  by  force  from  the  field  of 
battle.  He  was  conveyed  under  the  es- 
cort of  Captain  Prittwitz  and  his  troop  of 
hussars  to  a  temporary  place  of  security. 
Here  the  king  wrote  with  his  pencil  a 
hasty  note  to  his  minister,  Finkenstein, 
saying,  "All -is  lost!  save  the  royal  fam- 
ily !"  and  a  few  hours  afterwards  he  sent 
another  note  with  the  words  :  "  The  conse- 
quences of  this  lost  battle  will  be  still  more 
dreadful  than  the  battle  itself.  I  shall  not 
survive  the  ruin  of  my  country.  Farewell 
forever !" 

Such  was  the  depressed  and  gloomy  state 
of  Frederick's  mind  and  heart ;  and  when 
on  the  evening  of  that  dreadful  day,  as  he 
lay  stretched  sleepless  upon  his  bed  of 
straw,  in  the  almost  roofless  hut  of  a  poor 
peasant,  in  the  village  of  Oetscher,  and 
while  his  small  retinue  were  asleep  on  the 
stone  floor  around  him,  he  was  thus  aban- 
doned to  his  own  thoughts,  he  felt  more 
acutely  than  ever  how  little  it  is  that  man, 
with  all  his  strength,  can  accomplish  when 
left  to  himself,  and  how  vain  are  all  his 
calculations.  For,  in  his  present  reverses, 
he  saw  and  acknowledged  that  if  he  and 
his  nation  were  not  rescued  by  a  higher 
power,  they  must  be  irretrievably  lost.  The 


400 


JEALOUSY  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  AND  AUSTRIAN  GENERALS. 


road  to  Berlin  was  now  left  completely  open 
for  the  invasion  of  the  conquering  enemy, 
and  he  would  be  enabled  to  penetrate  without 
opposition  into  the  very  heart  of  the  king- 
dom. Of  the  Prussian  army  the  king,  on 
the  morning  after  the  battle,  was  only  able 
to  collect  together  about  10,000  men,  and 
it  was  only  after  some  time  had  elapsed, 
when  a  considerable  body  of  the  fugitives 
had  returned,  and  he  had  been  joined  by  all 
the 'stray  troops  he  could  muster,  that  his 
whole  force  was  increased  to  20,000  men ; 
while  with  great  difficulty  he  partially  re- 
placed the  165  pieces  of  cannon  he  had 
lost  at  Kiinersdorf,  by  a  fresh  supply  from 
Berlin.  Nevertheless,  his  capital  was 
saved  ;  for  the  Russian  general — influ- 
enced either  by  some  secret  consideration 
towards  his  hereditary  prince,  Peter,  or 
perhaps,  by  the  indignation  excited  against 
the  Austrians  for  their  inactivity,  did  not 
follow  up  his  victory.  For  when  he  was 
summoned  by  Field-marshal  Daun  to  ad- 
vance with  his  forces,  Soltikow  wrote  to 
him  in  reply  :  "  I  have  already  gained  two 
battles,  and  now  I  only  wait  to  march  in 
advance  until  I  receive  news  that  you  have 
gained  two  victories  likewise.  It  is  not 
just  that  the  troops  of  my  empress  should 
be  expected  to  do  every  thing  alone," 
This  jealousy  and  discontent  between  the 
leaders  of  both  nations  continued  during 
the  whole  war,  and  produced  more  than 
once  the  salvation  of  the  Prussian  monarch 
in  moments  of  extreme  difficulty  and  dan- 
ger. 

Meantime  the  Austrian  general  was  de- 
tained in  Lusatia  by  the  king's  brother, 
Prince  Henry,  who  on  this  occasion  em- 
ployed every  stratagem  in  the  art  of  war  to 
gain  his  object,  and  by  continual  marching 
and  counter-marching,  without  risking  a 
single  battle,  forced  his  enemy  to  retreat 
across  the  mountains  of  Bohemia.  The 
prudence  and  caution  exercised  by  the 
prince  in  conducting  this  war  were  such, 
that  he  effected,  without  shedding  a  drop 
of  blood,  that  which  the  impetuosity  and 
rash  courage  of  his  brother  would  only 
have  accomplished  after  a  sanguinary  bat- 
tle ;  and  it  appeared  as  if  fate  had  brought 
the  two  together,  in  order  that  the  one 
brother  might  repair  the  faults  of  the  other. 
Frederick  himself  has  avowed  this  charac- 
ter of  his  brother,  when  he  says  :  "  He  was 
the  only  general  throughout  the  entire  war 
who  committed  no  faults." 


Nevertheless,  Prince  Henry  could  not 
prevent  the  king  from  suffering  at  the  end 
of  this  campaign  two  severe  losses.  The 
first  was  the  evacuation  of  Dresden,  the 
most  important  place  for  the  Prussian* 
during  the  whole  war,  and  which  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  Austrians.  Frederick, 
after  the  battle  of  Kiinersdorf,  had  sent 
orders  to  Count  Schmettau,  the  governor  of 
that  city,  in  case  he  was  seriously  attack- 
ed, to  save,  before  every  thing  else,  the 
military  chest  which  contained  seven  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  Following  but  too  exactly 
these  commands,  General  Schmettau  gave 
up  the  city  to  the  imperial  army  the  same 
day  (the  4th  of  September)  on  which  Gen- 
eral Wunsch — sent  too  late  by  the  king  to 
the  succor  of  the  city — arrived  in  the 
vicinity.  The  chest  was  saved,  but  all 
the  provisions,  together  with  the  place  it- 
self, were  sacrificed  :  a  loss  which  enabled 
General  Daun  to  establish  his  winter  quar- 
ters for  the  first  time  in  Saxony.  Frede- 
rick used  all  his  efforts  in  order  to  dislodge 
him  from  this  position.  He  dispatched 
General  Fink  with  13,000  men  to  attack 
the  rear  of  the  Austrian  army  near  Maxen  ; 
but,  in  his  desire  to  see  the  idea  he  had 
formed  brought  into  operation,  the  king 
lost  sight  of  the  danger  of  the  enterprise. 
The  general,  who,  however,  at  once  per- 
ceived this  peril,  but  who,  in  spite  of  his  re- 
presentations, was  forced  to  proceed  to  ac- 
tion, lost,  immediately  on  being  attacked, 
all  confidence  and  presence  of  mind,  and, 
after  a  brief  but  sanguinary  combat,  sur- 
rendered, together  with  the  remains  of  his 
army,  about  5000  fighting  men,  to  the 
Austrians.  Such  an  event  was  hitherto 
unheard-of  in  the  Prussian  army,  and  it 
served  as  an  expiation  for  the  14,000  Sax- 
ons who,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
were  made  prisoners  by  the '  Prussians 
nearly  on  the  very  same  spot.  Daun 
entered  the  city  of  Dresden  with  his  prison- 
ers in  triumph,  and  nothing  could  now  alter 
his  determination  to  take  up  his  winter 
quarters  in  Saxony.  The  king,  who  could 
not  endure  the  idea,  resolved  to  harass  him 
by  his  firmness,  and  remained  encamped, 
in  the  open  plain,  and  in  spite  of  the  most 
severe  frost,  near  Wildsruf,  during  the 
space  of  six  weeks ;  through  which  he  for- 
ced Daun  to  do  the  same,  and  to  suffei 
equally  from  the  inclemency  of  the  season. 
Finally,  however,  in  the  month  of  January, 
1760,  the  excessive,  rigorously  cold  weather 


CONTINUED  DISASTERS  OF  FREDERICK. 


401 


forced  both  leaders  to  afford  their  armies 
some  repose,  and  the  king,  determined  not 
to  abandon  that  portion  of  Saxony  which 
still  belonged  to  him,  established  his  head- 
quarters  in  Freiburg. 

The  situation  of  King  Frederick  became 
more  and  more  difficult  at  the  opening  of 
every  fresh  campaign.  The  sphere  of  in- 
dependence  which  he  could  still  call  his 
own,  and  in  which  he  could  move  freely, 
had  not  been  much,  if  at  all,  circumscribed  ; 
but  the  resources  upon  which  he  depended 
for  life  and  strength  to  carry  on  the  war, 
declined  materially.  His  army  was  con- 
siderably diminished  in  numbers,  and  was 
very  deficient  in  its  appointments  ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  forces  of  the  enemy 
appeared  to  increase  more  numerously  after 
each  successive  loss.  His  ever  bold  and 
enterprising  spirit,  which  indeed  was  only 
brought  into  full  operation  when  on  the 
attack,  was  now  forced  to  submit  to  a  war 
of  defence ;  and  even  this,  at  the  com- 
mencement, yielded  him  but  little  advan- 
tage. In  this  campaign  he  determined  to 
protect  Saxony  himself,  while  his  brother 
Henry  was  to  maintain  the  Marches  against 
the  Russians,  and  General  Fouquet  was  to 
defend  Silesia  against  the  Austrians,  under 
Laudon.  But  the  latter,  the  most  distin- 
guished of  all  the  Austrian  generals,  had 
under  his  command  an  army  thrice  the 
strength  of  that  of  the  Prussians,  and  was 
enabled  to  hold  it  in  a  state  of  perfect  inac- 
tivity, while  a  detachment  of  his  own  forces 
laid  siege  to  the  important  town  and  citadel 
of  Glatz.  Fouquet,  therefore,  now  relin- 
quished his  position  in  the  Silesian  moun- 
tains, in  order  to  afford  more  immediate 
succor  wherever  it  might  be  required. 
But  now  the  towns  and  villages  in  the 
mountains,  inhabited  by  an  active  and  in- 
dustrious people,  were  forthwith  most  se- 
verely and  cruelly  handled  by  the  Austrian 
troopers,  and  their  urgent  appeals  deter- 
mined the  king  to  give  his  general  orders 
to  resume  his  former  post  in  the  mountains 
near  Landshut.  Fouquet,  who  was  of  a 
severe  and  austere  disposition,  whence  he 
was  by  no  means  liked  in  Silesia,  although 
at  the  same  time  he  was  a  most  brave  and 
determined  soldier,  perceived  the  peril  he 
was  in  ;  but,  as  his  representations  were 
quite  ineffectual,  he  resolved,  at  any  rate, 
to  meet  his  fate,  not,  like  Fink  at  Maxen, 
by  a  surrender,  but  by  defending  himself 
to  the  last.  Accordingly,  when  on  the 


23d  of  June,  he,  with  his  8000  Prussians, 
was  attacked  and  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  30,000  Austrians,  he  bravely  maintain- 
ed the  unequal  contest  for  more  than  eight 
hours,  and  in  order  to  resist  the  charges  of 
the  Austrian  cavalry,  he  formed  his  infantry 
into  squares,  and  thus,  as  long  as  strength 
prevailed,  they  disputed  every  inch  of 
ground.  At  length,  however,  the  brave 
general's  charger  having  received  a  sjiot, 
fell  and  overthrew  his  rider,  who  must 
have  been  cut  to  pieces  by  the  enemy,  had 
not  his  faithful  yiiger  rushed  forward,  and, 
shielding  him  with  his  own  body,  received 
the  thrusts  aimed  at  his  master.  The 
general  was  then  recognised  by  an  Austri- 
an officer,  who,  seeing  his  wounded  state, 
took  him  under  his  own  charge  and  saved 
him.  The  Prussian  cavalry  cut  their  way 
through,  but  the  whole  of  the  infantry, 
with  the  exception  of  four  thousand  prison- 
ers, were  put  to  the  sword. 

This  was  .a  severe  blow  to  Frederick ; 
Fouquet  was  his  friend,  and  Silesia  now  lay 
open  before  the  enemy.  Nevertheless,  he 
soon  rallied,  and  with  the  view  of  oblitera- 
ting, by  one  bold  act,  the  impression  of  this 
defeat,  he  deceived  Field-marshal  Daun  by 
simulated  marches,  got  considerably  in  ad- 
vance  of  him,  and  appeared  suddenly  be- 
fqre  the  walls  of  Dresden,  which  he  imme- 
diately bombarded.  It  would  have  been 
of  great  advantage  to  him,  had  he  been  able 
to  make  himself  master  of  that  place  ;  but 
its  brave  commandant,  General  Macquire, 
although  a  third  portion  of  that  handsome 
city  was  completely  laid  in  ashes  by  the 
vigorous  firing  of  the  Prussians,  would  not 
for  a  moment  think  of  a  surrender,  know- 
ing, as  he  did,  that  the  grand  Austrian  ar- 
my was  following  close  in  the  rear  of  the 
king,  and  must  shortly  relieve  the  place. 
And,  as  he  expected,  Daun  did  come  up 
just  in  time  before  the  city  was  forced  to 
surrender  ;  and  had  that  tardy  general  on- 
ly been  more  prompt  in  his  measures,  he 
might  have  averted  the  whole  of  the  inju- 
ries inflicted  upon  Dresden.  The  king 
abandoned  the  siege  and  hurried  on,  in 
hasty  marches,  to  Silesia,  where  a  fresh 
disaster  had  summoned  his  presence :  Gen- 
eral Laudon,  having,  through  the  treachery 
and  cowardice  of  the  commandant,  Oo,  an 
Italian,  made  himself,  in  one  day,  master 
of  Glatz — after  Magdeburg,  the  most  im- 
portant fortification  of  the  Prussian  states, 
and  the  key  to  the  whole  of  Silesia.  For 


402 


BATTLE  OF  LIEGNITZ— SILESIA  FREED. 


tunately,  Laudon  found  in  the  governor  of 
Breslaw  (the  capital)  General  Tauenzien, 
a  most  determined  opponent,  whom  nothing 
could  dismay,  and  who  was  soon  relieved 
by  Prince  Henry 

The  king  had  now  likewise  arrived  in 
Silesia,  followed,  or  rather  accompanied,  by 
the  Austrian  army  ;  for,  on  one  side  of  him 
inarched  Field-marshal  Daun,  and  on  the 
other,  General  Lasci ;  and,  at  length, 
amidst  constant  fighting  by  day  and  night, 
being  incessantly  attacked  by  the  lighter 
troops,  his  army  took  up  its  position  at  Licg- 
nitz.  Beyond  this,  Frederick  was  unable 
to  proceed ;  for  Daun,  who  had  now  form- 
ed a  junction  with  the  army  of  Laudon, 
blocked  up  his  passage  towards  Breslaw 
and  Schweidnitz,  which  contained  all  his 
magazines ;  while,  on  the  other  side,  Prince 
Henry  was  detained  by  the  Russians  on  the 
Oder.  The  king  had  only  enough  provi- 
sions to  serve  his  army  for  a  few  days,  and 
the  Austrians  were  as  near  to  him  as  at 
Hochkirch,  so  that  he  was  forced  to  change 
his  quarters  every  night,  in  order  to  secure 
himself  against  a  surprise.  At  length  the 
Austrians  thought  they  had  found  the  fa- 
vorable moment  for  giving  battle,  and  ac- 
cordingly, on  the  night  preceding  the  15th 
of  August,  Laudon  marched  in  advance,  in 
order  to  gain  possession  of  the  heights  of 
Puffendorf,  and  thus  take  the  Prussians  "in 
the  rear.  It  was  resolved  to  attack  the  king 
on  every  side,  and,  if  possible,  to  completely 
annihilate  him.  But  it  happened  that  on 
this  very  night  the  king  had  ordered  his 
army  to  remove  their  camp  in  the  greatest 
order  and  silence,  inasmuch  as,  on  the  pre- 
ceding day,  the  Austrians  had  caused  his 
position  to  be  too  closely  reconnoitred,  and 
accordingly  he  encamped  his  troops  on 
those  very  eminences  of  PufFendorf  towards 
which  Laudon  was  now  advancing.  The 
watch-fires,  kept  up  by  peasants,  were  still 
seen  burning  in  the  old  forsaken  camp,  and 
patrols  of  Prussian  hussars  continued  to  cry 
out  the  challenge  every  quarter  of  an  hour ; 
but  the  king  and  his  troops  were  already 
established  in  their  new  quarters.  The 
soldiers  lay  with  their  arms  in  their  hands; 
while  the  king  himself,  wrapped  in  his  mil- 
itary cloak  and  seated  by  the  fire,  with  his 
brave  and  faithful  Ziethen  and  a  few  others 
of  his  principal  officers  around  him,  had 
gradually  fallen  asleep.  A  solemn  still- 
ness reigned  throughout  the  whole  army ; 
all  noise,  the  slightest  sound  was  interdict- 


ed, and  either  slumbering  upon  their  arms 
or  softly  whispering  together  as  they  lay  in 
groups,  the  warriors  awaited  the  approach 
of  day.  Towards  two  o'clock,  however, 
the  officer  in  command  of  the  patrol  of  hus- 
sars arrived  at  the  royal  tent  in  full  gallop, 
and  awoke  the  king  with  the  unexpected 
report  that  the  foe  was  at  hand,  and  within 
a  hundred  yards  only  of  the  camp  !  This 
announcement  acted  like  an  electric  shock ; 
in  a  few  moments,  however,  the  generals 
were  already  mounted  in  their  saddles,  the 
troops  under  arms  and  drawn  up  in  line  01 
battle,  and  the  cannon  poured  form  its  de- 
struction. The  astonished  Laudon  soon 
perceived,  as  the  day  dawned,  that  he  had 
before  him  the  greater  part  of  the  Prussian 
army,  but  far  from  being  discouraged  by 
that,  he  redoubled  the  ardor  of  his  attack, 
in  hopes  that  Daun  might  hear  the  thunder 
of  the  cannon  and  march  to  his  aid ;  but 
this  was  prevented  by  an  adverse  wind, 
which  turned  aside  the  echo,  and  that  gene- 
ral heard  nothing.  After  a  conflict  of  three 
hours,  the  battle  was  decided.  Laudon 
had  lost  four  thousand  killed,  six  thousand 
wounded,  together  with  eighty-two  pieces 
of  artillery,  and  was  forced  to  retreat  in  all 
haste  across  Katzbach.  Daun,  who  ad- 
vanced on  his  side  against  the  king's  army, 
fell  in  with  the  right  wing  of  the  Prussians, 
commanded  by  General  Ziethen,  and  was 
received  by  a  heavy  discharge  of  artillery, 
and  having  then  found  that  Laudon  had 
been  defeated,  he  likewise  made  a  retreat. 

This  victory,  with  which  the  king  was 
so  opportunely  favored  by  his  good  fortune, 
ameliorated  his  condition  materially,  and 
he  proceeded  at  once  to  profit  by  it  with 
his  usual  promptitude.  Three  hours  after 
the  termination  of  the  battle,  he  was  al- 
ready on  his  march,  the  prisoners  in  the 
centre,  the  wounded,  both  friends  and  foes, 
being  conveyed  in  wagons,  in  the  rear,  and 
the  captured  cannon  added  to  the  train  of 
artillery.  The  main  body  of  the  army 
marched  that  day  more  than  fifteen  miles, 
and  the  road  to  Breslaw  was  now  no  longer 
obstructed,  neither  was  there  any  tear  of 
the  supplies  being  cut  off. 

Silesia  was  now  in  a  great  measure  de- 
livered; but,  meantime,  sad  reverses  had 
taken  place  in  the  Marches  and  in  Sax. 
ony.  The  Russians  had  retreated  from 
Breslaw,  in  order  to  advance  along  the 
Oder,  and  they  resolved  to  mai  ch  on  with 
20,000  men,  in  junction  with  15,000  Ana 


BATTLE  OF  TORGAU— DREADFUL  CARNAGE. 


403 


trians  under  General  Lasci,  to  Berlin  it- 
self. This  city  was  unable,  with  its  feeble 
garrison,  to  make  any  stand  against  such 
a  formidable  force,  and  on  the  4th  of  Octo- 
ber it  surrendered  to  the  Russian  general, 
Totleben.  Fortunately  for  Berlin,  this, 
general  was  of  a  mild  and  humane  dispo- 
sition, and  preserved  the  place  from  pil- 
lage, with  the  exception  of  the  royal  sum- 
mer residences  in  the  vicinity,  and  several 
monuments  of  art,  which  were  despoiled 
by  the  Saxons.  The  allies  held  possession 
of  the  city  during  the  space  of  an  entire 
week,  and  large  sums  of  money  were  ex- 
tracted from  the  citizens  ;  however,  it  be- 
ing reported  that  the  king  was  on  his  march 
to  the  relief  of  his  capital,  the  enemy  im- 
mediately abandoned  their  conquest,  and 
-etired  into  Saxony  and  across  the  Oder. 

Frederick  came  not  merely  on  account 
of  his  captured  city,  but  more  especially 
on  account  of  Saxony.  While  he  was 
occupied  in  Silesia  the  imperial  army  had 
entered  that  territory,  and,  meeting  with 
no  resistance,  had  taken  possession  of  the 
entire  country.  Daun  had  now  arrived 
likewise  with  his  army  and  encamped  near 
Torgau,  in  a  very  strong  position.  It  was 
now  necessary  for  Frederick,  if  he  did  not 
wish  to  lose  that  beautiful  country  alto- 
gether, nor  renounce  the  hope  of  fixing  his 
winter  quarters,  for  the  first  time,  on  his 
own  soil,  to  reconquer  it  before  the  coming 
winter.  No  alternative  was  left  him  ;  and, 
as  had  happened  several  times  already  at 
the  end  of  a  campaign,  he  was  once  more 
forced  to  stake  a  great  loss  against  a  great 
gain,  and,  in  truth,  this  time  his  deduc- 
tion appeared  inevitable  should  this  peril- 
ous chance  miscarry.  Nevertheless,  he 
appears  in  such  case  to  have  made  up  his 
mind  to  die— and  as  it  proved,  he  was  this 
time  once  again  nearly  on  the  point  of 
losing  the  battle. 

The  attack  upon  the  strongly-intrenched 
lines  of  the  enemy  on  the  heights  of  Tor- 
gau, was  to  be  made  on  the  3d  of  Novem- 
ber from  two  sides  by  two  separate  divi- 
sions of  the  army,  one  headed  by  the  king 
in  person,  the  other  by  Ziethen,  who  was 
to  lead  his  men  round  towards  the  Siptit- 
zer  heights,  arid  thus  fall  upon  the  rear  of 
the  Austrians.  A  thick  forest  concealed 
the  king's  approach,  but  his  troops  became 
more  and  more  bewildered  in  the  wood  as 
they  advanced,  and  were  obliged  to  halt 
several  times,  which  produced  considerable 


delay ;  as  soon,  however,  as  the  king  with 
the  advanced  guard  emerged  therefrom,  he 
Heard  a  heavy  firing  proceed,  as  he  thought, 
from  Ziethen's  division,  and  concluded  that 
he  was  now  fully  engaged  with  the  enemy. 
This,  however,  was  not  the  case,  as  the 
firing  only  proceeded  from  the  advanced 
posts,  and  Daun  was  enabled  to  turn  his 
whole  force  against  the  king  ;  accordingly, 
when  the  latter  in  his  impetuous  haste,  and 
without  waiting  for  the  rest  of  his  infantry 
and  cavalry,  led  on  his  grenadiers  against 
the  Austrian  intrenchments,  he  was  re- 
ceived with  such  a  destructive  cannonade 
from  more  than  two  hundred  pieces  of  ar- 
tillery that  whole  lines  of  his  men  were 
swept  away  as  if  by  a  thunderbolt,  and 
their  bodies,  thus  stretched  in  rows  upon 
the  ground,  prevented  his  cannoniers  from 
bringing  their  guns  to  bear  against  the  foe, 
and  they  themselves,  with  their  horses, 
were  laid  prostrate  by  the  murderous  fire, 
which  continued  without  ceasing.  The 
king  himself  declared  to  those  around  him 
that  he  had  never  witnessed  such  a  scene 
of  carnage  ;  while  the  loud,  thundering 
peals  of  the  artillery  instantaneously  de- 
prived many  of  those  who  survived  this 
dreadful  day  of  their  hearing.  A  grazing 
shot  struck  the  king  on  his  breast,  but, 
happily,  without  producing  any  material 
effect.  Fresh  battalions  of  the  Prussian 
infantry  came  up  and  gained  some  ground, 
but  they  were  beaten  back  by  the  Aus- 
trian  cavalry,  who,  however,  were  re- 
pulsed in  their  turn  by  the  Prussian  horse, 
which  had  at  length  arrived  on  the  field  of 
battle,  and  now  the  conflict  was  kept  up 
with  varying  success  until  night.  But 
the  heart  of  the  king  was  bowed  down 
with  grief  and  affliction  ;  the  flower  of  his 
infantry  lay  before  him  on  the  field,  and 
yet  the  Austrian  bulwarks  were  not  gained, 
while  Field-marshal  Daun  had  even  dis- 
patched a  courier  to  his  empress  with  the 
announcement  of  victory.  Fortune,  how- 
ever,  had  ordained  otherwise. 

While,  on  the  king's  side,  the  contest 
was  still  carried  on  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  and  often  friend  against  friend,  ow- 
ing to.  the  number  of  troops  who  had  lost 
their  way;  and  while,  on  account  of  the 
bitter  coldness  of  the  night,  innumerable 
fires  were  kept  burning  on  the  heath  of 
Torgau,  to  which  both  the  unwounded  as 
well  as  the  wounded  were  glad  to  creep, 
including  even  enemies  as  well  as  friends, 


404 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR. 


and  again,  just  as  the  disheartened  king, 
seated  on  the  lowest  step  of  the  altar  of 
the  iittie  church  in  the  village  of  Elsnig, 
was  occupied  in  writing  his  dispatches,  his 
veteran  general,  Ziethen,  had  gained  the 
summit  of  the  Siptitzer  heights,  after  hav- 
ing fought  his  way  through  until  ten 
o'clock  at  night,  and  finally  formed  a 
junction  with  General  Saldern.  By  this 
the  position  of  the  Austrians  became  bro- 
ken ;  they  were  unable  to  resume  the 
action  next  morning,  and  Daun,  who  had 
nimself  received  a  wound  in  the  heat  of 
the  battle,  retreated  during  the  night,  in 
the  greatest  silence,  through  Torgau  across 
the  Elbe  to  Dresden.  This  retreat  was 
effected  so  secretly  that  the  Prussians  were 
even  preparing  for  a  fresh  action  on  the 
following  morning,  completely  unconscious 
of  the  withdrawal  of  the  enemy.  When, 
however,  Frederick  rode  out  of  the  village 
at  early  dawn,  he,  to  his  no  little  surprise, 
found  the  field  of  battle  abandoned  by  the 
Austrians,  and  he  was  hailed  as  victor  by 
his  troops.  By  this  sanguinary  battle  he 
reconquered  the  greater  part  of  Saxony, 
and  he  accordingly  fixed  the  winter  quar- 
ters of  his  army  there,  and  established  his 
own  head-quarters  in  Leipsic  itself. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

Conclusion  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  1761-1762— The 
Austrian  and  Russian  Annies— The  Camp  of  Bun- 
zelwitz — Frederick's  difficult  Position — Jealousy  be- 
tween Generals  Butterlin  and  Laudon — Schweidnitz, 
Glatz,  and  Colberg— Saxony— Berlin  threatened  by 
the  Russians— The  Prussians  rise  en  masse  to  expel 
them— Death  of  Elizabeth  of  Russia— Peter  III.— 
Peace  and  Alliance  between  Russia  and  Prussia- 
Sweden— Battle  of  Reichenbach— Frederick  victo- 
rious-pSchweidnitz— Final  Battle  and  Defeat  of  the 
Austrians  at  Freiberg — Peace  between  France  and 
England,  1763— Peace  between  Prussia  and  Austria 
at  Huberteburg,  1763— Observations— The  Age  of 
Frederick  the  Great— His  Army— Exerts  himself  to 
repair  the  Calamities  of  his  Country — His  indefatiga- 
ble Industry— His  Labors  and  Recreations— Genius 
for  Poetry  and  Music— His  Early  Years— His  Father's 
Tyranny— Its  sad  effects  eventually  proved— His  Pre- 
dilection for  French  Education  and  Literature — 
Voltaire— Helvetius,  &c.— His  Anti-German  Feel- 
ings and  neglect  of  National  Genius—  Lessing— Klop- 
etock — Goethe — K  ant — Fichte — J  acobi ,  &c . — Joseph 
II.,  1765-1790— Dismemberment  of  Poland,  1773— 
Prussia  and  Russia— Stanislaus  Poniatowski— Bava- 
rian War  of  Succession,  1778— Death  of  Maria  The- 
resa, 1780 — Innovations  and  intolerant  Measures  of 
Joseph  II.— Frederick  and  the  Allied  Princes  of  Ger- 
many against  Joseph  II.— Death  *f  Frederick  the 
Great,  1786— Death  of  Joseph  II.,  1"/90— Leopold  II., 
1790-1792. 

THE  concluding  years  of  the  war  are 
l«2ss  distinguished  for  great   and   striking 


events.  The  exhaustion  of  the  troops  be 
came  more  and  more  apparent,  and  Fred. 
erick,  who  had  usually  been  the  foremost 
in  enterprising  vigor  and  activity,  wag 
forced  to  act  on  the  defensive,  and  to 
devote  all  his  strength  in  protecting  what 
he  still  possessed,  which  truly  was  no  easy 
task.  In  1761  he  himself  took  the  com- 
mand  in  Silesia,  and  employed  every 
stratagem  in  order  to  prevent  the  junction 
of  the  Russian  army  under  Butterlin  with 
Laudon,  who  alone  led  on  72,000  Austri 
ans ;  and  in  this  the  king  succeeded  for  a 
time,  by  which  a  great  portion  of  the  sum- 
mer passed  away  in  inaction,  an  advantage 
Frederick  was  anxious  to  avail  himself  of. 
At  length,  however,  the  two  armies  united 
together  on  the  12th  of  August,  in  the  en- 
virons of  Strigau,  and  thus  combined 
formed  a  force  of  130,000  men,  by  which 
Frederick  found  himself  forced  with  his 
50,000  men  to  retire  to  a  strong  position. 
Accordingly  he  fixed  his  quarters  near 
Bunzelwitz,  where,  for  the  space  of  twen- 
ty days,  he  was  kept  completely  shut  in 
by  the  enemy,  and  was  forced  to  employ 
so  much  vigilance  that  his  men  were  kept 
under  arms  and  formed  in  battle  array 
during  the  night,  being  only  able  to  take 
their  rest  in  the  day-time.*  And  his  ad- 
versaries being,  as  they  were,  nearly  three- 
times  his  superior  in  number,  by  falling 
upon  and  overwhelming  the  weakest  points 
of  his  intrenchments,  might  have  com- 
pletely conquered  the  king,  had  they  been 
under  the  guidance  of  a  genius  capable  of 
acting  with  the  energy  so  necessary  ;  but 
the  two  generals  not  being  of  accord, 
either  in  feeling  or  principle,  and  jealous 
of  each  other's  claims  to  distinctions,  they 

*  In  the  intrenched  camp  near  Bunzelwitz  Frede- 
rick shared  in  all  the  fatigues  and  sufferings  of  his  com- 
mon soldiers.  Many  nights  he  slept  on  one  of  the  bat- 
teries, reposing  on  a  bundle  of  straw  among  his  men. 
One  night  he  rose  and  thoughtfully  proceeded  with 
GeneralZiethen  between  the  lines  of  watchfires,  around 
which  his  worn-out  men  were  lying  asleep.  One  troop- 
er, however,  was  very  busy  baking  a  cake,  made  of 
bacon  and  flour.  The  fragrant  smell  reached  the  king^s 
nose  ;  he  halted,  and  addressing  the  busy  soldier  in  a 
friendly  tone,  said  :  "  That  cake,  comrade,  smells  very 
nice !"  "  Yes,"  returned  the  man,  without  looking  up 
from  his  cake,  "  I  believe  you,  but  you  won't  catch  any 
more  than  a  smell  of  it— that  I  can  tell  you  !"  "  Hush, 
for  heaven's  sake !"  exclaimed  one  or  two  of  his  com- 
rades, who  had  started  up  at  the  king's  voice.  "  What 
are  you  about  ?  Why,  don't  you  see  that  is  the  king 
himself?"  The  soldier,  believing  they  were  only  joking, 
and  still  attending  to  his  cake  without  allowing  him- 
self to  be  disturbed,  exclaimed  laughingly  :  "Ha!  ha! 
Well,  and  suppose  it  really  was  old  Fritz,  why  what 
would  that  matter  ?"  "  Come  along,  Ziethen,"  said 
the  king  to  his  companion,  "  I  see  we  shan't  be  invited 
to  supper  here  to-night  l"—M&chlcr. 


THE  AUS1RIANS  IN  SILESIA. 


405 


refused  to  co-operate  either  for  the  renown 
of  the  one  or  the  other.  Each  imagined 
he  was  burdened  with  the  most  heavy  por- 
tion of  the  common  labor,  and,  as  was 
usual  in  this  war,  the  Russians  not  being 
able  to  act  in  unison  with  the  Austrians, 
they  again  on  this  occasion  separated  with- 
out having  effected  any  thing.  Thus 
Frederick  with  his  army  was  now  left  in 
greater  freedom,  and  in  order  to  secure 
himself  against  all  pursuit  from  the  Rus- 
sians— at  least  for  this  year — he  caused  all 
their  magazines  in  Poland  to  be  pillaged 
and  destroyed  by  a  bold  expedition  he 
placed  under  the  orders  of  General  Platen ; 
in  the  execution  of  which  commission  that 
brave  commander  so  well  succeeded,  that 
the  Russian  army  was  completely  para- 
lyzed for  this  campaign. 

Nevertheless,  this  year  was  not  to  pass 
away  without  some  misfortune  for  the 
king.  When  he  abandoned  his  camp  of 
Bunzelwitz,  in  order  to  allure  the  Aus- 
trians down  to  the  plains  of  Silesia,  Lau- 
don  suddenly  descended  the  mountains, 
and  instead  of  following  the  king,  he  di- 
rected his  march  at  once  to  Schweidnitz, 
which  he  surprised,  and  it  being  but 
slightly  garrisoned,  he  took  it  by  assault  in 
the  night  of  the  1st  of  October.  Thus,  by 
the  occupation  of  Schweidnitz  and  Glatz, 
the  Austrians  had  now  at  command  the 
entire  moiety  of  Silesia,  and  were  enabled 
to  pass  the  winter  there.  In  addition  to 
this  the  Russians,  on  their  part,  took  pos- 
session of  Colberg  on  the  13th  of  Decem- 
ber, after  a  siege  of  fourmarUhs,  by  which 
they  were  enabled  to  establish  their  winter 
quarters  for  once  at  least  in  Pomerania. 

The  king  had  never  before  been  so  com- 
pletely hemmed  in.  Prince  Henry,  it  is 
true,  had,  during  the  summer,  succeeded 
against  all  the  attacks  of  Daun's  forces,  in 
maintaining  possession  of  the  whole  of  that 
portion  of  Saxony  still  remaining  in  his 
brother's  hands,  but  this  only  formed  the 
moiety  of  that  country,  and  thus  the  Rus- 
sians, in  the  course  of  the  coming  spring, 
would  be  enabled  to  advance  within  a  few 
yards  of  Berlin  itself.  Reduced  to  such 
extremity,  it  might  have  been  expected 
that  the  Prussian  nation  would  have  at 
length  resigned  all  hope  ;  on  the  contrary, 
however,  they  did  not  abandon  themselves 
.o  despair,  but,  showing  themselves  worthy 
of  their  king,  they  cheered  ard  supported 
him  in  this  adversity  by  one  enthusiastic, 


ardent  expression  of  that  confidence  with 
which  he  inspired  all  classes  \  a  cordiality 
of  feeling  which  was  echoed  forth  in 
strains  of  loyalty  and  patriotism  by  the 
youth  of  all  ranks  throughout  the  land,  as 
they  hastened  to  join  the  standard  of  their 
heroic  leader.  Thence  it  was  clearly 
manifested  that  as  long  as  they  continued 
to  be  thus  strengthened  by  the  zealous  co- 
operation of  the  inhabitants  themselves, 
both  the  king  and  his  army  might  still  bid 
defiance  to  the  invaders  :  for  king,  army, 
and  people,  being  firmly  united  by  one  in- 
dissoluble bond,  the  ruin  with  which  all 
were  threatened,  should  it  prove  inevitable, 
must  at  least  be  gloriously  shared  by  all. 

The  new  year,  however,  unexpectedly 
brought  with  it  a  bright  ray  of  hope  \  for 
on  the  5th  of  January,  1762,  the  Russian 
empress,  Elizabeth,  died,  and  in  her  Fred- 
erick was  relieved  of  one  of  his  bitterest 
foes.  Her  nephew,  Peter  III.,  now  as- 
cended the  throne,  and  being  an  enthusias- 
tic admirer  of  Frederick  the  Great,  he 
obeyed  at  once  the  impulse  of  his  mind,  and 
forthwith  discharged  all  the  Prussian  prison- 
ers without  any  ransom,  and  not  only  signed 
on  the  5th  of  May,  at  St.  Petersburg,  a 
treaty  of  so  disinterested  a  character,  that 
he  relinquished  the  whole  of  Prussia  with- 
out any  indemnity  whatever,  but  likewise 
immediately  formed  an  alliance  with  Fred- 
erick, and  caused  his  own  general,  Czer- 
nitschef,  to  march  with  20,000  Russians 
to  the  aid  of  the  Prussians  in  Silesia. 

Sweden  followed  the  example  of  Russia ; 
for,  weary  of  a  campaign  producing  so 
little  honor  and  glory,  she  made  peace 
likewise  with  Prussia,  at  Hamburg,  on  the 
22d  of  May. 

Frederick  was  now  enabled  to  employ 
all  his  energies  against  the  Austrians,  and 
calculated  upon  speedily  recovering  Sile- 
sia from  them.  He  resolved  to  commence 
with  Schweidnitz  itself;  and  as  Field- 
marshal  Daun  protected  it  from  a  very 
strong  position  he  occupied  near  Burkers- 
dorf,  Frederick  decided  accordingly  to  at- 
tack him  at  this  point  immediately  after 
being  joined  by  his  Russian  allies.  He 
was  already  on  his  march,  when  suddenly 
the  discouraging  report  reached  him  that 
the  Russian  empercr,  Peter  III.,  had  been 
murdered,  and  his  consort  Catherine  pro- 
claimed empress,  news  almost  immediately 
confirmed  by  the  commands  received  from 
St.  Petersburg  by  Czernitschef,  to  return 


10G 


CATHERINE  OF  RUSSIA. 


\vith  his  army  to  Poland  forthwith.  The 
young  emperor,  on  coming  to  the  throne, 
had  imprudently  and  most  prematurely 
commenced  introducing  many  innovations 
into  Russia,  by  which  he  produced  great 
irritation  and  disgust  among  the  clergy 
and  nobility,  in  addition  to  which  he  had 
ill-used  his  wife,  and  by  various  ill-judged 
acts,  evinced  a  striking  partiality  for  the  Ger- 
mans around  him,  whence  he  was  deprived 
of  his  throne  and  life  within  six  months  after 
the  commencement  of  his  reign. 

Frederick  beheld  himself  now  again 
threatened  with  danger  from  a  quarter 
whence  he  had  vainly  hoped  to  receive 
important  aid  in  his  war  against  Aus- 
tria ;  for  he  could  not  but  anticipate  that 
Catherine  would  be  similarly  disposed  to- 
wards him  as  had  been  her  predecessor, 
Elizabeth.  Nevertheless  he  took  courage, 
and  arranging  his  plans,  resolved  at  any 
rate  to  derive  all  the  advantage  he  could 
from  the  presence  of  the  Russians.  And 
so  great  was  the  influence  of  Frederick's 
genius  over  other  men,  that  he  soon  pre- 
vailed upon  General  Czernitschef  to  with- 
hold from  the  knowledge  of  his  army,  at 
least  for  three  days,  the  orders  he  had  re- 
ceived for  his  return ;  and  marching  with 
him  against  the  Austrians  on  the  day  of 
attack,  thus  succeeded  by  his  presence  in 
holding  a  portion  of  the  enemy's  troops  in 
check — a  service  which  Czernitschef,  al- 
though he  could  not  resist  the  king's  per- 
suasion, felt  he  yielded  at  the  risk  of  his 
head.  Frederick  gave  battle  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  and  gained  it.  The  Russian 
army  next  day  separated  from  the  king, 
and  retired.  Czernitschef,  however,  was 
not  called  to  account  for  his  conduct  in  this 
affair,  inasmuch  as  the  opinions  and  feel- 
ings of  the  empress  towards  Frederick  had 
now  undergone  a  favorable  change.  She 
had  at  first  imagined  that  Frederick  him- 
self had  excited  her  husband  to  adopt  the 
harsh  measures  he  had  pursued  against 
her ;  but  when,  after  the  death  of  Peter, 
she  looked  through  his  papers,  and  unex- 
pectedly found  several  letters  addressed  to 
him  by  Frederick,  in  which  he  exhorted 
him  most  earnestly  to  exercise  prudence  in 
all  the  measures  he  adopted,  and  more  es- 
pecially to  act  with  kind  and  gentle  feelings 
towards  his  wife,  the  empress  immediately 
changed  the  course  of  her  policies  against 
Frederick,  and  ratified  the  peace  made  be- 
tween her  late  husband  and  the  king,  yet 


without  committing  herself  by  promising 
him  her  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
against  Austria. 

Frederick  now  commenced  the  siege  of 
Schweidnitz,  which,  however,  occupied  the 
entire  summer  ;  for  badly  as  the  Russians 
themselves  had,  on  the  one  hand,  on  two  pre- 
vious occasionsdefended  this  important  place, 
it  was  now  determined  by  the  Austrians,  on 
their  part,  to  maintain  its  possession  as  long 
as  they  possibly  could,  and  with  which  ob- 
ject, General  Guasco,  the  commandant,  and 
Gribauval,  its  engineer,  exerted  all  their 
courage  and  skill.  The  siege  lasted  nine 
weeks,  the  king  himself  superintending  the 
operations  with  unabated  zeal  to  the  last 
moment ;  and  it  was  not  until  they  had  lost 
all  hopes  of  relief,  and  were  left  completely 
without  provisions,  that  the  Austrians  at 
length,  on  the  9th  of  October,  surrendered 
the  place  with  its  garrison  of  10,000  men 
to  Frederick. 

This  year  Prince  Henry,  with  his  usual 
measures  of  prudence,  conducted  the  war 
in  Saxony  so  successfully,  that  he  retained 
possession  of  the  whole  country  with  the 
exception  of  Dresden,  while  he  at  the  same 
time  was  equally  fortunate  in  the  expedi- 
tions he  made  into  Bohemia  and  the  impe- 
rial states,  in  which  he  was  ably  seconded 
by  the  brave  generals  under  his  orders, 
Seidlitz,  Kleist,  and  Belling.  When  finally 
the  Austrians,  with  the  imperial  auxiliaries, 
attempted  by  superiority  of  numbers  to 
drive  him  from  the  advantageous  position 
he  held  in  Freiberg,  he  attacked  them  at 
once  on  t\  e  29th  of  October,  and  com- 
pletely routed  them.  This  was  the  last  and 
concluding  engagement  in  the  Seven  Years' 
War.  The  king,  on  the  24th  of  Novem- 
ber, signed  an  armistice  with  Austria,  and 
distributed  his  troops  in  their  winter  quar- 
ters, extending  through  the  country  from 
Thuringia  to  Silesia  ;  General  Kleist,  how- 
ever, was  left  with  10, 000  men  to  keep  the 
field  against  the  princes  of  the  empire,  and 
penetrating  into  Franconia,  forced  each 
prince,  one  after  the  other,  to  conclude  a 
peace. 

Duke  Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  mean- 
time, during  the  last  three  years  of  the 
war,  had  well  and  gloriously  maintained 
his  reputation  in  defending  Lower  Saxony 
and  Westphalia.  France  employed  all 
her  powers  to  reconquer  these  countries, 
and  preserve  the  honor  of  her  arms  ;  fresh 
commanders  were  continually  aonointed 


END  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR. 


407 


and  her  army  in  1761  was  reinforced  to  the 
number  of  150,000  men,  but  which,  allhougl 
only  opposed  by  a  force  of  80,000  men, 
could  effect  nothing  but  the  occupation  of 
Hesse,  which  it  was  impossible  for  Ferdinand 
to  defend,  inasmuch  as  he  was  threatened 
from  two  quarters  at  once,  viz.,  from  the 
Lower  Rhine  and  the  Maine.  On  the 
other  hand,  neither  stratagem  nor  menace 
could  make  him  quit  his  position  on  the  left 
oank  of  the  Weser  and  on  the  Dimel, 
whence  he  protected  Lower  Saxony  and 
Westphalia  simultaneously.  The  gener- 
als under  his  command — the  hereditary 
prince  of  Brunswick,  Sporken,  Kielmann- 
segge,  and  Luckner,  distinguished  them- 
selves in  many  separate  engagements.  At 
the  close  of  the  last  campaign,  a  success 
ful  battle  near  Wilhelmsthal  placed  the 
duke  in  a  position  by  which  he  was  enabled 
to  act  on  the  offensive,  and  by  a  second 
engagement  near  Lutterberg,  which  ter- 
minated equally  to  his  advantage,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  driving  the  French  from  the  vi- 
cinity of  Cassel,  and  thus  completed  the 
campaign  of  the  year  176*2,  as  well  as  the 
entire  war,  by  the  conquest  of  this  city,  on 
the  1st  of  November.  An  armistice  was 
now  likewise  concluded  with  the  imperial 
powers  in  this  quarter. 

The  whole  of  the  belligerent  nations 
were  now  exhausted  and  longed  for  repose. 
England  had  made  great  and  important 
conquests  beyond  the  seas,  but  had  at  the 
same  time  increased  her  national  debt  by 
at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty  millions 
sterling,  and,  since  the  demise  of  George 
II.,  and  after  the  earl  of  Bute,  the  precep- 
tor of  the  new  sovereign,  had  become 
prime-minister  instead  of  Pitt,  a  desire  for 
peace  was  more  and  more  strongly  felt,  a 
feeling  in  which  France  likewise  joined. 
Thus  Frederick  and  Maria  Theresa  were 
now  left  to  carry  on  the  war  alone;  but  Aus- 
tria, although  amply  provided  with  troops, 
being,  nevertheless,  without  money  to  fur- 
nish the  necessary  supplies,  was  not  in  a 
condition  to  continue  hostilities  unaided,  and 
as  Frederick's  only  object  from  the  first 
was  to  retain  possession  of  Silesia,  he  agreed 
accordingly,  upon  having  that  territory 
secured  >o  him,  to  sign  a  treaty  of  peace. 
Austria  having,  therefore,  yielded  to  him 
ihis  poin.t,  he  at  once  ratified  the  convention 
as  framed  by  his  own  plenipotentiary  and 
those  of  Austria  and  Saxony,  in  the  castle 
of  Hubertsburg  in  Saxony.  A  restitution 


of  conquests  was  made — the  prisoners  ex. 
changed — and  neither  party  claimed  in 
demnification  for  the  expenses  or  losses  in. 
curred.  Frederick  remained,  therefore,  in 
possession  of  Silesia,  and  he  restored  to 
the  elector  of  Saxony  his  estates.  Thus 
this  severe  and  sanguinary  war  had  in  its 
results  produced  no  change  in  the  external 
state  of  things,  although  it  had  at  least  in- 
culcated certain  great  lessons,  and  to  which 
it  cannot  be  denied  but  that  Europe  was 
indebted  for  the  happy  state  of  tranquillity 
she  enjoyed  after  the  conclusion  of  this 
peace,  during  the  space  of  nearly  thirty 
years.  Agitation  in  public  affairs,  suspi- 
cion and  jealousy,  productive  of  so  much 
hostility  among  states,  were  now  at  an  end, 
and  all  were  sincere  in  the  conviction  that 
the  actual  condition  of  affairs  would  be 
lasting.  Fate  had  pronounced  its  decree 
in  favor  of  Prussia,  that,  viz.,  its  power  rest- 
ed upon  a  sure  and  solid  basis  as  long  as  it 
was  guided  and  governed  by  united  thought 
and  action,  however  limited  might  be  its 
sphere.  An  earnest,  industrious,  and  war- 
like feeling  evinced  both  by  king  and  peo- 
ple, justice  and  economy  in  the  administra- 
tion of  affairs,  a  progressive  spirit  of  re- 
search for  all  that  the  age  brings  with  it 
and  yields  of  the  really  good  and  noble- 
such  were  the  means  which  enabled  Fred- 
erick  and  his  nation  to  maintain  single- 
handed  the  war  against  the  moiety  of  Eu- 
rope, and  such  means  must  ever  continue 
to  operate  for  the  preservation  of  Prussia, 
as  long  as  she  knows  how  to  treasure  up 
and  avail  herself  of  these  resources. 

Austria  indicated  at  this  time,  likewise, 
as  on  every  former  occasion  when  threat- 
ened with  the  danger  of  vicissitude,  that 
her  power  was  not  so  easily  destroyed,  that 
her  rich  and  beautiful  domains,  the  faithful 
adherence  and  co-operatio'n  of  her  inhabit- 
ants, their  attachment  to  a  mild  and  pater- 
nal government,  nourished  within  them- 
selves a  germ  of  life,  unchangeable  and 
•msurpassed.  And  equally  on  their  parts 
tue  Hessians,  Hanoverians,  and  the  troops 
of  Lower  Saxony,  when  fighting  against 
the  French  invaders,  evinced  enduring  per- 
severance and  courage  to  such  a  degree  as 
to  add  greatly  to  the  glory  of  the  German 
name  ;  and,  in  fact,  the  fame  of  this  war 
conduced  especially  to  the  honor  of  the  Ger- 
mans generally. 

And  when  it  was  inquired  who  had  shown 
a  superiority  of  mind  in  the  tumult  of  bat 


108 


OBSERVATIONS—MERITS  OF  BOTH  ARMIES. 


tie,  and  had  given  undeniable  proofs  of  that 
rapidity  of  thought  which  knows  how  to 
seize  the  immediate  moment  for  action,  all 
mouths  proclaimed  and  referred  to  the 
names  of  Frederick  the  Great  and  Duke 
Ferdinand  of  Brunswick.  Nor  was  it  for- 
gotten to  include,  as  equally  worthy  of  dis- 
tinction, that  of  Prince  Henry,  who,  as  the 
model  of  what  a  prudent  and  wary  general 
should  be,  well  knew  how  to  keep  an  enemy 
of  far  superior  force  in  constant  exercise, 
while  at  the  same  time,  by  wisely-laid  plans, 
he  adroitly  maintained  his  own  ground  with- 
out exposing  his  little  band  to  that  destruc- 
tion otherwise  so  inevitable.  Finally,  in 
the  list  of  heroic  names,  those  of  Ziethen* 
and  Seidlitz,  who  so  especially  distinguished 
themselves  at  the  head  of  their  cavalry,  ap- 
peared conspicuous  with  the  rest.  On  the 
other  hand,  all  who  wished  to  study  the  art 
of  selecting  good  and  masterly  positions  for 
an  army,  or  of  choosing  the  critical,  well- 
timed  moment  for  bringing  the  guns  to  work 
with  fatal  and  unerring  effect,  were  referred 
to  the  Austrians,  and  the  names  of  Generals 
Brown,  Laudon,  Nadasti,  Lacsi,  and  others, 
were  justly  registered  on  the  side  of  the 
older  celebrated  generals  of  Austria. 

It  is  consoling  to  reflect  that  such  great 
renown  was  calculated  to  mitigate  at  least 
the  sorrow  and  pain  arising  from  the  state 
of  embittered  strife  existing  between  the  ri- 
val nations  of  a  country  with  which  all  were 
equally  allied  as  its  children,  and  who, 
forgetting  all  distinctions,  and  considering 
themselves  as  one  people,  ought  rather  to 
ha.ve  joined  in  the  grasp  of  fraternal  friend- 
ship and  peace ;  while  these  warlike 
achievements  served  in  some  measure  to 
throw  into  the  shade  the  bad  system  pur- 
sued by  the  internal  government  of  the 

*  Once  Frederick  marched  at  the  head  of  the  grena- 
diers  of  his  guard  until  the  depth  of  night.  At  length 
lie  made  halt,  dismounted,  and  said:  "Grenadiers,  it 
is  cold  to-night.  Come,  light  a  fire  and  let  us  warm 
ourselves."— Saying  which,  he  wrapper  x's  blue  man- 
tle around  him  and  seated  himself  upon  some  bundles 
of  wood,  while  some  of  his  grenadiers  laid  themselves 
down  around  him.  At  length  General  Ziethen  came 
up  and  sat  himself  down  next  to  the  king,  and  both, 
extremely  tired  and  worn  out,  soon  fell  asleep.  The 
king,  however,  was  the  first  to  awake,  and  observing 


indeed  knocked  up!"  Just  afterwards  another  grena- 
dier, only  half  awake,  sprang  up,  and  proceeding  to 
.ight  his  pipe,  happened  to  touch  against  the  old  war- 
rior's foot.  Frederick  rose  ur>  suddenly,  and  holding  up 
his  finger  to  the  soldier,  said,  in  a  whisper,  "Hush, 
grenadier!  Take  care,  don't  wake  up  our  old  Ziethen. 
Fie  is  tired  enough.  Let  him  sleep  on  ;  Jie  lias  watched 
ong  and  often  enough  for  us  l"—Miichler. 


empire.  The  condition,  in  fact,  of  the  de- 
liberaave  and  influential  portion  of  our  con. 
stitution  was  so  imperfect ;  the  forms  es- 
tablished for  the  direction  of  affairs  were  so 
antiquated  ;  the  course  of  proceedings  so 
tedious  and  inefficient — that  unless  both 
heart  and  arm  had  done  their  duty  so  well 
and  thus  shown  to  other  lands  that  the  mar 
tial  spirit  of  ancient  Germany  had  not  ye? 
vanished,  the  country  must  long  ere  this 
have  become  the  spoil  of  the  stranger. 

France  gained  but  little  honor  in  this 
war ;  her  feeble,  unsystematic  government 
had  clearly  shown  that  its  administration 
was  in  the  hands  of  women  and  their  favor- 
ites, and  thence  it  languished  in  mortal 
throes.  Nevertheless,  that  country  did  not 
lose  so  much  by  the  peace  of  Paris,  which 
was  signed  five  days  previous  to  that  of 
Hubertsburg,  as  might  have  been  expected 
after  the  success  of  the  English  at  sea  ;  but 
this  peace  was  brought  about  by  the  not 
over-sagacious  statesman,  the  earl  of  Bute, 
while  Pitt,  on  the  contrary,  when  presiding 
at  the  head  of  the  administration,  had  in  the 
course  of  the  war  made  manifest  in  the  most 
brilliant  manner  what  extraordinary  energy 
dwelt  in  the  English  nation,  and  which  only 
waited  for  the  proper  moment  to  be  brought 
into  full  operation. 

During  the  period  of  repose,  which  con- 
tinued  for  nearly  thirty  years,  consequent 
upon  the  peace  of  Hubertsburg,  various 
new  developments,  the  germs  of  which  had 
been  planted  at  an  earlier  date,  now  began 
to  attain  a  degree  of  perfection.  With  the 
view  of  characterizing  this  era  by  one 
term,  we  have  denominated  it  the  Age  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  because  in  him  was 
embodied  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  in  him 
were  seen  on  a  grand  scale  both  the  good 
and  the  evil  of  his  contemporaries.  It  re- 
mains for  us,  in  order  to  become  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  man,  to  contemplate 
his  character  in  peace  as  well  as  during 
the  continuance  of  war. 

The  first  and  most  immediate  ooject  of 
Frederick's  attention  and  anxiety  was  the 
re-establishment  of  his  army,  in  order  that 
no  enemy  might  hope  to  reap  advantage 
from  a  sudden  renewal  of  hostilities.  In 
order  to  bring  the  recently-levied  troops 
upon  a  par  with  his  veteran  well-trained 
warriors — of  whom,  however,  but  a  very 
small  number  still  remained — military  ex- 
ercise and  drilling  were  enforced  with  the 
most  rigorous  exactness.  But  in  this  instance 


FREDERICK'S  GREAT  ECONOMY— IMPROVES  fUS  KINGDOM. 


400 


rt  happened,  as  is  too  frequently  the  case  in 
the  generality  of  human  affairs,  whenendeav- 
ors  are  made  to  preserve  entire  and  perpetu- 
ate an  institution  which  in  the  moment  of  its 
most  glorious  development  appeared  perfect, 
that  the  form  which  then  belonged  to  it  be- 
comes essential,  while  the  spirit,  which  can 
never  assume  a  second  time  the  same  mode, 
abandons  that  form,  and  gradually  puts  on 
another  which  is  new  and  strange  ;  but 
men  continue  for  a  length  of  time  to  respect 
that  which  is  merely  the  envelope,  equally 
as  much  as  if  they  possessed  the  reality  it 
encloses.  The  illustrious  monarch  himself, 
when  he  beheld  the  whole  of  Europe  adopt 
his  military  tactics,  was  deceived  in  the 
over-estimation  of  their  value.  The  sys- 
tem of  maintaining  standing  armies  was 
carried  to  its  highest  point,  and  became  the 
principal  object  in  the  administration  of 
every  state  ;  grave  utility  degenerated  into 
mere  display,  until  a  grand  convulsion  of 
the  world  made  its  vanity  and  puerility  but 
too  apparent. 

The  care  taken  by  Frederick  to  effect 
the  restoration  of  his  overwhelmed  country 
was  a  much  more  beneficent  employment 
of  his  energies,  and  was  productive  of  in- 
calculable good,  while  it  formed  the  most 
imperishable  leaf  in  his  wreath  of  glory. 
The  corn  which  was  already  bought  up 
for  the  next  campaign  he  bestowed  upon 
the  most  destitute  of  his  people,  as  seed  for 
sowing,  together  with  all  his  superfluous 
horses.  The  taxes  were  remitted  for  six 
months  in  Silesia,  and  for  two  years  in 
Pomerania  and  Neumark,  which  were  com- 
pletely devastated.  Nay,  the  king,  in  or, 
der  to  encourage  agriculture  and  industry, 
appropriated  large  sums  of  money  for  that 
purpose  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of 
the  exigency,  and  these  various  sums 
amounted  altogether  during  the  four-and- 
twenty  years  of  his  reign  after  the  peace  of 
Hubertsburg,  to  no  less  than  twenty- four 
millions  of  dollars.  Such  noble  generosity 
redounds  still  more  to  the  glory  of  Freder- 
ick, inasmuch  as  it  was  only  practicable 
through  the  exercise  of  great  economy, 
and  to  promote  which,  he  subjected  himself 
to  every  personal  sacrifice.  His  maxim 
was  that  his  treasure  belonged  not  to  him- 
self, but  to  the  people  who  supplied  it ;  and 
while  many  other  princes — not  bearing  in 
mind  the  heavy  drops  of  sweat  which  ad- 
hered to  each  of  the  numerous  gold  pieces 
from  their  subiects—  only  thought  of 


dissipating  the  entire  mass  in  the  most  un 
licensed  prodigality  and  waste,  he  lived  in 
a  style  so  simple  and  frugal,  that  out  or' 
the  sum  appropriated  to  the  maintenance 
of  his  court,  he  saved  annually  nearly  a 
million  of  dollars 

He  explained  on  one  occasion  to  M.  de 
Launay,  the  assessor  of  indirect  taxes,  the 
principles  by  which  he  was  actuated  in 
this  respect,  in  clear  and  distinct  terms: 
"  Louis  XV.  and  I,"  he  said,  "  are  born 
more  needy  than  the  poorest  of  our  sub- 
jects ;  for  there  are  but  few  among  them 
who  do  not  possess  a  small  inheritance,  or 
who  cannot  at  least  earn  it  by  their  labor 
and  industry ;  while  he  and  I  possess  noth- 
ing, neither  can  we  earn  any  thing  but 
what  must  belong  to  the  state.  We  are 
merely  the  stewards  appointed  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  general  fund  ;  and  if,  as 
such,  we  were  to  apply  to  our  own  personal 
expenditure  more  than  is  reasonably  neces- 
sary, we  should,  by  such  proceeding,  not 
only  bring  down  upon  ourselves  severe 
condemnation  in  the  first  place  for  extrava- 
gance, but  likewise  for  having  fraudulently 
taken  possession  of  that  which  was  confided 
to  our  charge  for  the  public  weal." 

The  particular  care  and  interest  shown  by 
the  king  in  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  pro- 
duced its  speedy  improvement.  Large  tracts 
of  land  were  rendered  arable,  fresh  supplies 
of  laborers  were  procured  from  other  coun . 
tries,  and  where  formerly  marsh  and  moor 
were  generally  prevalent,  fertile,  flourish- 
ing corn-fields  were  substituted  instead. 
These  happy  results,  which  greeted  the  eye 
of  Frederick  whenever  betook  his  regularly- 
appointed  journeys  throughout  his  domin- 
ions, were  highly  grateful  to  his  feelings ; 
while  during  these  tours  of  survey  nothing 
escaped  his  acutely-observing  mind  ;  so 
much  so,  that  few  sovereigns  could  boast 
of  such  a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  do- 
mains— even  to  the  most  trifling  details — 
as  the  king  of  Prussia  acquired  of  his  own 
estates  through  continual  and  indefatigable 
application  to  this  one  object.  Silesia, 
which  had  suffered  so  much,  was  especially 
dear  to  his  feelings,  and  to  that  territory  he 
devoted  particular  attention  ;  when,  there- 
fore, upon  a  general  census  in  the  year 
1777,  he  found  it  contained  180,000  more 
inhabitants  than  in  the  year  1756,  when 
the  war  commenced  ;  and  when  he  perceiv- 
ed the  losses  sustained  during  that  wai 
thus  amply  repaired,  and  the  glorious  re- 


110 


FREDERICK'S  INDUSTRY 


RECREATIONS 


suits  produced  by  agricultural  labor  and 
commercial  enterprise,  he,  in  the  gladness 
of  his  heart,  expressed,  in  a  letter  to  his 
friend  Jordan,  the  sensations  he  felt  at  be- 
holding the  flourishing  state  of  a  province, 
the  condition  of  which  was  but  a  short  time 
before  so  sadly  depressed  and  miserable. 

Industry  is  indispensable  in  a  people 
who  depend  on  their  energy  and  activity 
for  their  rank  among  nations;  but  this 
rank  is  not  the  only  attendant  advantage  : 
a  benefit  far  greater  is  the  fresh,  healthy 
vigor  it  imparts  to  the  people.  And  in 
this  respect  Frederick  the  Great  was  a 
striking  example,  truly  worthy  of  imitation 
by  all  his  subjects  ;  for  even  during  the 
early  period  of  his  life,  he  already  wrote 
to  his  friend  Jordan  thus:  "You  are  quite 
right  in  believing  that  I  work  hard  ;  I  do 
so  to  enable  me  to  live,  for  nothing  so  near- 
ly approaches  the  likeness  of  death,  as  the 
half-slumbering,  listless  state  of  idleness.3' 
And,  subsequently,  when  he  had  become 
old  and  feeble,  this  feeling  still  retained 
its  power,  and  operated  with  all  its  original 
influence  upon  his  mind,  for  in  another  let- 
ter to  the  same  friend,  he  says  :  "  I  still  feel 
as  formerly  the  same  anxiety  for  action  ;  as 
then,  I  now  still  long  to  work  and  be  busy, 
and  my  mind  and  body  are  in  continual 
contention.  It  is  no  longer  requisite  that 
I  should  live,  unless  I  can  live  —  and  work." 

And  truly  in  making  a  profitable  use  of 
his  time,  King  Frederick  displayed  a  per- 
severance which  left  him  without  a  rival, 
and  even  in  his  old  age  he  never  swerved 
from  the  original  plan  he  had  laid  down 
and  followed  from  his  earliest  manhood, 
for  even  on  the  very  day  before  his  death 
he  was  to  be  seen  occupied  with  the  busi- 
ness of  his  government.  Each  hour  had 
its  occupation,  and  the  one  grand  principle 
which  is  the  soul  of  all  industry,  viz.,  to 
leave  over  from  to-day  nothing  for  the  mor- 
row, passed  with  Frederick  as  the  inviola- 
ole  law  of  his  whole  life.  The  entire  day 
—commencing  at  the  hour  of  four  in  the 
morning  and  continuing  until  midnight, 
accordingly  five-sixths  of  the  day  —  was 
devoted  to  some  occupation  of  the  mind  or 
heart,  for  in  order  that  even  the  hour  of 
repast  might  not  be  wholly  monopolized  by 
the  more  gratification  of  the  stomach,  Fred- 
erick assembled  around  him  at  mid-day 
and  in  the  evening,  a  circle  of  intellectual 


and  these  conversaziones  —  in  which 
he  king  himself  took  an  important  share  — 


were  of  such  an  animated  and  enlivening 
nature,  that  they  were  not  inaptly  compar- 
ed to  the  entertainments  of  Socrates  him. 
self.  Unfortunately,  however,  according 
to  the  taste  of  that  age,  nothing  but  wit- 
ticisms  and  humorous  sallies  were  made 
the  subject  of  due  appreciation  and  ap 
plause.  Vivacity  of  idea  promptly  ex 
pressed,  and  strikingly  apropos  allusions, 
were  the  order  of  the  day,  while  profun- 
dity  of  thought,  and  subjects  of  more  grave 
and  serious  discussion,  were  banished  as 
ill-timed  and  uncalled-for :  a  necessary 
consequence,  arising  from  the  exclusive 
adoption  of  the  French  language  which 
formed  the  medium  of  communication  at 
these  reunions  of  Frederick  the  Great.  The 
rest  of  the  day  was  passed  in  the  perusal 
of  official  dispatches,  private  correspond- 
ence, and  ministerial  documents,  to  each 
of  which  he  added  his  replies  and  observa- 
tions in  the  margin.-.  After  having  gone 
through  this  all-important  business-routine 
of  the  day,  he  directed  his  attention  to  the 
more  recreative  occupations  of  his  pleas- 
ure-grounds and  literary  compositions — of 
which  latter  Frederick  has  left  behind  him 
a  rich  collection ;  and  finally,  as  a  last  re- 
source of  amusement,  he  occasionally  de- 
voted a  few  stolen  moments  to  his  flute, 
upon  which  he  was  an  accomplished  per- 
former.* This,  his  favorite  instrument  in- 
deed, like  an  intimate  and  faithful  friend, 
served  often  to  allay  the  violent  excite- 
ments of  his  spirit,  and  while  he  strolled 

*  In  the  course  of  a  journey  which  Frederick  once 
made  into  Holland,  quite  incognito,  giving  himself  out 
as  a  musician,  he  arrived  at  a  small  tavern  in  Amster- 
dam, especially  celebrated  for  the  rich  cakes  produced 
there.  Feeling  a  desire  to  taste  one,  he  commanded 
his  travelling  companion  and  aide-de-camp,  Colonel 
Von  Balby,  to  order  one  of  the  landlady.  The  colonel 
obeyed  the  command,  but  the  landlady,  rather  suspi- 
cious of  her  plainly-dressed  guests,  measured  the  mes- 
senger from  top  to  toe,  and  exclaimed,  "  Why,  it  is  all 
very  well  for  you  to  order  it,  but  pray,  sir,  can  you  pay 
for  it  when  it  is  made  ?  Do  you  know  that  such  a  cake 
as  you  order  will  cost  more  than  six  or  seven  guilders  ?" 
To  this  the  colonel  replied  by  assuring  her  that  the 
gentleman  with  whom  he  travelled  was  immensely 
rich,  that  he  played  the  flute  so  beautifully,  that  when- 
ever he  performed  in  public  a  considerable  sum  was 
collected  in  a  very  short  time.  "Indeed!  Oh,  then," 
said  the  landlady,  "  I  must  certainly  hear  him  directly, 
I  am  so  very  fond  of  music."  Saying  which,  she  hur- 
ried on  before  the  colonel  to  the  king's  chamber,  and 
said  very  politely :  "  I  understand,  sir,  that  you  play  a 
tune  very  well ;  oblige  me  by  warbling  something  foi 
me  to  hear !"  Frederick  could  not,  at  first,  imagine 
what  she  meant,  but  the  colonel  explaining  to  him  in 
French  the  origin  of  this  singular  request,  he  laughed, 
and  seizing  his  flute  from  the  table,  played  in  such  a 
masterly  style,  that  the  listener  was  struck  with  admi- 
ration, and  when,  to  her  sorrow,  he  ceased,  she  ex- 
claimed, "  Excellent !  You  do,  indeed,  play  sweetly, 
and  I  dare  say  can  earn  a  few  guilders.  Well,  you  *hal 
have  your  cake,  at  any  rate  V—MilcMer 


HIS  YOUTH— EDUCATION— HIS  DESPOTIC  FATHER. 


411 


with  it  through  his  suite  of  rooms,  often  for 
nours  together,  his  thoughts,  as  he  himself 
relates,  became  more  and  more  collected, 
and  his  mind  better  prepared  for  calm  and 
serious  meditation.  Nevertheless,  he  never 
permitted  affairs  of  state  to  be  neglected 
for  the  sake  of  the  enjoyments  he  sought 
both  in  music  and  in  poetry,  and  in  this 
point  of  view  Frederick's  character  must 
ever  command  respect  and  admiration. 
Hence  how  glorious  might  have  been  the 
reign  of  this  monarch,  and  overwhelming 
every  intervening  obstacle,  how  nobly  might 
he  have  exalted  the  age  he  lived  in,  and  by 
his  acts  have  identified  himself  with  the 
elevated  position  to  which  his  nation  might 
have  aspired,  had  his  mind,  when  in  its 
infancy,  received  from  the  cherishing  hand 
of  his  parents  that  encouraging  and  uner- 
ring direction  by  which  those  noble,  honest, 
and  upright  feelings  implanted  in  him  by 
nature  must  have  become  more  and  more 
developed  and  confirmed. 

Unhappily,  however,  the  bad  education 
t  rederick  received  left  many  a  noble  germ 
within  him  neglected.  His  father,  Fre- 
derick William  I.,  was  a  man  of  a  stern 
and  forbidding  character,  for  whom  the 
muses  had  no  charms,  neither  did  he  ever 
show  the  least  affection  for  his  son  Fre- 
derick, who  from  his  earliest  age  evinced 
a  strong  desire  to  cultivate  habits  of  a  more 
refined  nature  than  those  indulged  in  by 
his  father,  whence  the  latter  subjected  him 
to  the  most  harsh  and  despotic  treatment. 
He  placed  no  confidence  in  him  as  his 
successor  to  the  throne,  and  he  even  pro- 
jected substituting  his  second  son,  Augustus 
William,  instead ;  and  by  this  means  the 
heart  of  Frederick  became  more  and  more 
estranged  from  the  paternal  roof,  until  it 
was  rendered  cold  and  dead  to  all  the  ties 
of  filial  affection.  At  length  this  state  of 
things  operated  with  such  influence  upon 
his  mind,  that  in  the  year  1730  the  prince, 
when  on  a  journey  to  Wesel  with  his  father, 
made  a  desperate  attempt  to  escape  from 
the  oppression  he  endured  under  the  pa- 
ternal control  ;  but  being  discovered  and 
retaken,  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that 
he  escapes  being  made  a  sacrifice  to  the 
indignant,  ungovernable  rage  of  his  ruth- 
less father,  who  would  but  too  willingly 
have  sentenced  his  pe.secuted,  although 
perhaps  imprudent,  son  to  the  guillotine. 
Thus  Frederick  grew  up  to  manhood  with- 
out experiencing  the  true  warmth  of  affec- 


tion, which  alone  is  capable  of  developing 
the  tender  feelings  of  youth,  and  this  want 
he  continued  to  evince  unhappily  through- 
out his  entire  after-life  to  the  day  of  hig 
death.  In  the  fire  of  youth  his  heart  was 
open  to  impressions  of  the  most  enthusiastic 
friendship  ;  but  this  ardor  of  feeling,  how- 
ever sincere  and  pure,  gradually  dissolved 
into  icy  indifference  and  misanthropy  un- 
der the  rigor  of  discipline  to  which  he  was 
subjected ;  so  that,  finally,  the  great  king 
saw  himself  abandoned  and,  anchorite-like, 
left  to  the  solitary  enjoyment  of  his  own 
thoughts  and  feelings. 

The  injurious  and  baneful  custom  of  the 
age  required  that  French  preceptors  and 
French  books  should  furnish  the  means  by 
which  to  direct  the  sphere  of  thought  both 
of  the  boy  and  youth  ;  and  already,  in  the 
earlier  period  of  his  youth,  Frederick  un- 
happily became  acquainted  with  the  wri- 
tings of  a  man,  whose  influence  upon  the 
age  he  lived  in  produced  no  little  evil,  and 
whose  acute  mind  and  satirical,  cutting  wit, 
left  nothing  sacred  undefiled.  This  man — 
Voltaire — was  to  the  youthful  and  suscep- 
tible mind  of  the  prince,  a  model  worthy  ol 
imitation.  The  productions  of  this  writer 
were  daily  studied  by  him,  and  they  so 
completely  fascinated  his  mind,  that  he  re- 
garded him  as  exalted  above  all  other  men, 
and  impelled  by  his  enthusiasm,  he  sought 
the  friendship  of  that  dangerous  individual 
as  a  treasure  far  beyond  appreciation.  The 
vain  and  selfish  Frenchman  well  knew  how 
to  profit  by  this  feeling,  so  clearly  expressed 
in  the  letters  he  received  from  the  young 
prince.  He  flattered  his  royal  friend  in 
return,  and  in  this  game  of  reciprocal 
egotism,  Frederick  imagined  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  forming  the  basis  of  a  friendship 
which  should  prove  to  be  not  only  sincere, 
but  lasting.  But  as  friendship  can  only 
subsist  on  a  foundation  of  truth,  and  in  con- 
nection with  joint  and  zealous  efforts  for  the 
attainment  of  virtue,  the  union  of  these  two 
men,  resting  upon  so  unstable  a  basis, 
could  not  withstand  the  force  of  any  severe 
test.  In  their  subsequent  intercourse,  after 
Voltaire,  in  1750,  had  taken  up  his  resi- 
dence at  the  court  of  the  king,  the  cold- 
ness, jealousy,  and  malignity  of  the  favorite 
became  more  and  more  manifest ;  the  film 
of  fascination  dropped  from  before  the  king's 
eyes,  the  sentiments  of  friendship  between 
the  two  declined  with  each  day,  and  be 
coming  eventually  estranged  from;  and  in. 


FREDERICK'S  DESPOTIC  GOVERNMENT. 


imically  inclined  towards  each  other,  they  I  sive  light,  the  bearings  of  the  intricate  ques- 
parted  as  enemies.  Voltaire,  however,  on  his  tions  connected  with  government.     Never- 


return  to  France,  gave  vent  to  his  revengeful 
feelings  by  writing  the  most  bitter  satires 
against  the  king.* 

Such  mortifying  results  closed  the  neart 
of  Frederick  more  and  more  against  all 
amicable  impressions,  and  produced  a  mis- 
anthropy, which  previously  formed  no  part 
of  his  character,  and  the  necessary  effect 
of  which  is  to  overshadow  the  path  of  life 
with  the  clouds  of  gloom. 

The  government  of  the  king  itself  was 
impressed  with  this  mark  of  the  reserved 
and  isolated  state  of  his  soul ;  for  it  was  a 
despotic  government  in  the  most  strict  sense 
of  the  word ;  every  thing  emanated  from 
the  king,  and  every  thing  reverted  to  him 
again.  He  never  accorded  any  share  in 
the  administration  to  an  assembly  of  states, 
nor  even  to  the  state  council — which, 
composed  of  the  most  enlightened  men, 
would  have  been  able  to  have  presented  to 
their  sovereign,  in  a  clear  and  comprehen- 

*  In  1752  an  Englishman  was  received  at  court  who 
possessed  an  extraordinary  memory,  so  much  so,  that 
after  some  fifty,  nay,  a,  hundred  pages  of  a  work  had 
been  read  to  him,  he  could  forthwith  repeat  the  whole, 
word  for  word,  from  recollection.  Frederick  was  much 
eiriick  with  this  person's  gift  of  memory,  and  putting 
it  one  evening  to  the  proof,  found  by  the  result  a  confir- 
mation of  the  statement.  Just  as  lie  was  about  to  dis- 
miss the  Englishman.  Voltaire  sent  to  inquire  if  his 
majesty  had  half  an  hour's  leisure  time  to  hear  him 
read  a  poem  he  had  just  completed  ?  Frederick,  struck 
with  the  inquiry  coming  so  apropos,  determined  upon 
passing  a  joke  at  that  vain  man's  expense,  and  sent  a 
reply  in  the  affirmative.  He  ordered  the  Englishman 
to  take  his  station  behind  a  screen,  and  requested  him 
to  treasure  up  in  his  memory  every  line  and  word  that 
Voltaire  might  recite.  The  great  poet  arrived  and  read 
through  the  whole  of  his  verses  vvith  great  declamation 
and  evident  self-satisfaction.  The  king  listened  with 
apparent  coolness  and  indifference,  and  then  said, 
44  Why,  I  must  candidly  confess,  my  dear  Voltaire,  that 
it  strikes  me  you  appropriate  as  your  own  the  produc- 
tions of  others!  I  have  noticed  it  more  than  once  be- 
fore ;  this  poem  is  again  another  instance."  His  indig- 
nation at  being  thought  a  plagiarist  produced  upon 
Voltaire's  countenance — always  a  subject  for  the  cari- 
caturist— an  expression  more  than  usually  harsh  and 
bitter.  He  expressed  himself  highly  offended  and 
mortified ;  his  majesty  had  been  misled  by  his  treacher- 
ous memory  to  commit  a  great  error,  and  he  had  acted 
with  still  greater  injustice.  "  But  how  if  I  prove  to 
you  that  these  verses  are  already  well-known  to  an 
Englishman  at  my  court  here?"  "  All  that  your  majesty 
may  bring  forward  in  contradiction,  all  assurances  are 
to  me  mere  empty  words,  for  I  can  disprove  all  and 
every  thing !"  Upon  this  Frederick  ordered  the  Eng- 
lishman (who  liad  just  before  glided  away  from  his 
screen  into  the  next  room)  to  be  introduced.  He  was 
commanded  by  the  king  to  recite  the  verses  he  had 
shortly  before  heard  repeated,  and  accordingly  gave  the 
whole  of  Voltaire's  poem  word  for  word,  without  a 
single  omission.  Almost  mad  with  rage,  the  poet  rose 
and  exclaimed :  "  Heaven !  destroy  with  thy  thunder 
this  robber  of  my  verses  !  Here  is  some  magic  in  play 
which  will  drive  me  to  desperation !"  With  these 
worde  he  rushed  from  the  king's  presence  in  the  great- 
est agitation.  Fiederick  was,  however,  delighted  with 
this  mystification,  a  proof  how  little  he  esteemed  Vol- 
taire at  heart.— Muchler. 


theless,  however  penetrating  his  eagle  eye, 
that  individual  survey  was  not  sufficiently 
comprehensive  to  command  a  knowledge  of 
every  thing,  whence  many  essential  cir- 
cumstances must  have  remained  concealed 
from  his  view. 

Thence  it  is,  that  a  government  supported 
by  the  states  of  the  kingdom  is  difficult  to 
be  overturned,  while  its  power  increases  in 
proportion ;  inasmuch  as  according  to  the 
form  of  such  government,  the  voice  of  the 
most  enlightened  and  well-intentioned  of 
the  public  may  be  heard  by  the  whole  na- 
tion through  legitimate  means,  and  thug 
every  active  member  of  the  state  may,  al- 
though he  holds  no  office,  aid  his  country 
with  his  opinions  and  advice. 

But  such  views  and  principles  were  alto- 
gether unknown  at  this  period,  which  devi- 
ated from  the  simple  course  of  nature,  and 
only  endeavored  to  elevate  itself  upon  the 
basis  of  the  subtlety  of  the  mind  ;  the  ob- 
ject then  sought  was  to  found  the  stability 
of  a  government  upon  the  ground-work  of 
mere  external  forms,  while,  on  the  contra- 
ry, its  security  rests  upon  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  all  for  the  common  weal  of  the 
country,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  individual 
power.  These  magnanimous  principles  of 
government  would,  no  doubt,  have  operated 
with  happy  results  upon  the  naturally  vig- 
orous and  clear  mind  of  Frederick,  had 
they  been  at  all  brought  forward  during 
his  time  ;  but  they  could  not  originate  with 
him,  inasmuch  as  he  felt  in  himself  the 
power  to  govern  alone,  seconded  by  the 
strongest  desire  of  making  his  people  happy 
and  great.  Thence  it  appeared  to  his  mind, 
that  the  predominant  strength  of  a  state 
was  based  upon  the  means  which  are  the 
readiest  and  most  efficacious  in  the  hands 
of  one  person,  viz. :  in  his  army,  and  in 
the  treasury.  His  chief  aim,  therefore, 
was  to  manage  that  these  two  powerful  im- 
plements of  government  should  be  placed 
in  the  most  favorable  condition  possible  ; 
and  thus  we  find,  that  Frederick  often 
sought  the  means  to  obtain  this,  his  grand 
object,  without  sufficiently  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  effect  they  might  subsequent- 
ly produce  upon  tho  disposition  and  moral 
ity  of  the  nation.  In  acco/dance  with  thh 
principle,  he,  in  the  year  1764,  invited  a 
distinguished  fermier-general  of  France, 
Helvetius,  to  Berlin,  in  order  to  consult  him 


TRIUMPH  OF  NATIVE  OVER  FRENCH  LITERATURE 


413 


upon  the  means  of  augmenting  the  revenues 
of  the  state,  and  in  consequence  of  his 
suggestions,  measures  were  adopted  which 
were  extremely  obnoxious  to  the  public,  and 
caused  many  to  defraud,  instead  of  co-ope- 
rating with,  the  government.  At  the  same 
time,  however,  by  these  and  other  means 
resorted  to  by  the  king,  the  revenues  of  the 
kingdom  were  increased  considerably.  It 
must,  however,  be  advanced  in  Frederick's 
vindication,  firstly,  that  he  adopted  these 
measures,  not  for  his  own  individual  advan- 
tage, but  for  the  benefit  of  all ;  and,  sec- 
ondly— we  must  again  repeat  it — that  the 
great  errors  of  the  age  completely  obscured 
his  own  view.  With  what  eagerness  would 
not  his  clear  mind  have  caught  at  the  en- 
lightenment produced  by  reform,  had  he  but 
lived  in  a  time  when  freedom  of  thought 
was  more  appreciated,  for  to  him  this  free- 
dom of  thought  was  so  dear,  that  he  nev- 
er attacked  the  public  expression  of  opin- 
ion. His  subjects  enjoyed  under  his  reign, 
among  other  privileges,  that  of  the  liberty 
of  the  press  ;  and  he  himself  gave  free  scope 
to  the  shafts  of  censure  and  ridicule  aimed 
against  his  public  and  private  character: 
for  the  consciousness  of  his  own  perseve- 
ring endeavors  in  the  service  of  his  coun- 
try, and  of  his  sincere  devotion  to  his  duties, 
elevated  him  beyond  all  petty  susceptibility. 
The  chief  object  of  the  king's  care  was  a 
search  into  truth  and  enlightenment,  as  it 
was  then  understood.  But  this  enlighten- 
ment consisted  in  a  desire  to  understand 
every  thing  :  to  analyze,  dissect,  and — de- 
molish. Whatever  appeared  inexplicable 
was  at  once  rejected  ;  faith,  love,  hope,  and 
filial  respect — all  those  feelings  which  have 
their  seat  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  soul, 
were  destroyed  in  their  germination. 

But  this  annihilating  agency  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  state  ;  it  manifested  itself  also  in 
science,  in  art,  and  even  in  religion.  The 
French  were  the  promoters  of  this  pheno- 
menon, and  in  this  they  were  eventually 
imitated  throughout  the  world,  but  more 
especially  in  Germany.  Superficial  orna- 
ment passed  for  profound  wisdom,  and  witty, 
sarcastic  phraseology  assumed  the  place 
of  soundness  and  sincerity  of  expression. 
Nevertheless,  even  at  this  time,  there  were 
a  few  chosen  men  who  were  able  to  recog- 
nise that  which  was  true  and  just,  and  rais- 
ed their  voices  accordingly ;  and,  in  the 
world  of  intellect,  the  names  of  Lessing, 
Klopstock,  Goethe,  &c.,  need  alone  be  men- 


tioned, being,  as  they  were,  the  founders  of 
a  more  sterling  age.  They  were  joined  by 
many  others,  and  thus  united,  they  consti- 
tuted an  intellectual  phalanx  in  opposition 
to  the  progress  made  by  the  sensual  French 
school.  These  intellectual  reformers  were 
soon  strengthened  by  such  auxiliaries  as 
Kant,  t'ichte,  Jacobi,  &c.,  who  advanced 
firmly  under  the  banner  of  science,  and 
from  such  beginnings  grew,  by  degrees, 
that  powerful  mental  reaction,  which  has 
already  achieved  such  mighty  things,  and 
led  the  way  to  greater  results  still. 

This  awakening  of  the  German  mind  was 
unnoticed  by  King  Frederick ;  he  lived  in 
the  world  of  French  refinement,  separate 
and  solitary,  as  on  an  island.  The  waves  of 
the  new  rushing  stream  of  life  passed  with- 
out approaching  him,  and  struck  against  the 
barriers  by  which  he  was  enclosed.  His 
over-appreciation  and  patronage  of  foreign- 
ers, however,  impelled  the  higher  classes 
of  society  to  share  in  his  sentiments,  equal- 
ly as  much  as  his  system  of  administration 
had  served  as  a  model  for  other  rulers  to 
imitate.  Several  among  his  contempora- 
ries resolved,  like  him,  to  reign  indepen- 
dently, but  without  possessing  the  same  com- 
manding genius,  whence,  however  well- 
intentioned,  they  were  wrecked  in  their 
career;  among  whom,  may  be  more  es- 
pecially included,  Peter  III.  of  Russia, 
Gustavus  III.  of  Sweden,  and  Joseph  II. 
of  Germany. 

In  the  year  1765,  Joseph  II.  was  ac- 
knowledged as  successor  to  his  father, 
Francis  I.,  who  died  in  the  same  year,  but 
whose  acts  as  emperor  present  little  or  no- 
thing worthy  of  record.  His  son,  however, 
was,  on  this  very  account,  the"  more  anx- 
ious to  effect  great  changes,  to  transform 
ancient  into  modern  institutions,  and  to 
devote  the  great  and  predominating  power 
with  which  he  was  endowed  towards  re- 
modelling the  entire  condition  of  his  states. 
All  his  projects,  however,  were  held  in 
abeyance  until  the  death  of  his  mother, 
Maria  Theresa,  in  1780,  who,  ever  wise 
and  active,  had,  even  to  the  last  momenta 
of  her  existence,  exercised  all  her  powei 
and  influence  in  the  administration  of  af 
fairs,  and,  accordingly,  her  maternal  au- 
thority operated  effectually  upon  his  feel- 
ings  as  a  son,  and  served  for  a  time  to  sus- 
pend the  accomplishment  of  his  desires. 
Meantime,  in  the  interval  between  the  yea? 
1765  and  1780,  various  events  took  place. 


414 


DISMEMBERMENT  OF  POLAND. 


which  exercised  an  important  influence 
upon  the  last  ten  years  of  his  reign. 
Among  the  rest  may  be  more  especially 
mentioned  the  dismemberment  of  Poland  in 
1773,  and  the  war  of  the  Bavarian  succes- 
sion in  1778. 

Augustus  III.,  king  of  Poland,  died  in 
the  year  1765,  leaving  behind  him  a  grand- 
son, only  as  yet  a  minor;  consequently 
the  house  of  Saxony,  which  had  held  pos- 
session of  the  throne  of  Poland  during  a 
space  of  sixty-six  years,  now  lost  it.  Both 
Russia  and  Prussia  stepped  forward  forth- 
with, and  took  upon  themselves  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  affairs  of  Poland :  an  in- 
terference which  that  nation  was  now  un- 
able to  resist,  for  strong  and  redoubtable 
as  it  had  been  formerly,  dissension  had  so 
much  reduced  its  resources,  that  it  was,  at 
this  moment,  wholly  incapable  of  main- 
taining, or  even  acting  for  itself.  Both 
powers  required  that  Poland  should  choose 
for  her  sovereign  a  native-born  prince,  and 
an  army  of  10,000  Russians  which  sud- 
denly advanced  upon  Warsaw,  and  an 
equal  number  of  Prussian  troops  assem- 
bled upon  the  frontiers,  produced  the  elec- 
tion of  Stanislaus  Poniatowski  to  the  throne. 
Henceforth  there  was  no  longer  an  impe- 
rial diet  held  at  which  foreigners  did  not 
endeavor  to  bring  into  effect  all  their  in- 
fluence. 

Shortly  after  this  event,  a  war  took 
place  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  in 
which  the  former  took  possession  of  Mol- 
davia and  Wallachia,  which  that  power 
was  extremely  desirous  of  retaining.  This, 
however,  Austria  opposed  most  strenuous- 
ly, lest  Russia  should  become  too  power- 
ful, and  Frederick  the  Great  found  himself 
in  a  dilemma  how  to  maintain  the  balance 
between  the  two  parties.  The  most  expe- 
dient means  of  adjustment  appeared  in  the 
end  to  be  the  spoliation  of  a  country  which 
was  the  least  able  to  oppose  it.  viz.,  Po- 
land ;  and,  accordingly,  a  portion  of  its 
territory  was  seized  and  shared  between 
the  three  powers — Russia,  Prussia,  and 
Austria.  With  whom  this  idea  first  ori- 
ginated has  not  been  clearly  ascertained, 
but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  was  quite  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  character  of  the  times. 
For  as  the  wisdom  of  that  age  only  based 
Us  calculations  upon  the  standard  of  the 
senses,  and  estimated  the  power  of  states 
merely  by  their  square  miles,  amount  of 
population,  soldieis,  and  revenue,  the  grand 


aim  of  the  then  state-policy  was  to  devote 
every  effort  towards  aggrandizement ;  noth- 
ing was  held  more  desirable  than  some 
fresh  conquest,  which  might  advantageous- 
ly round  off  a  kingdom,  while  all  consider- 
ation of  equity  and  justice  was  forced  tc 
yield  before  this  imperious  principle.  When 
one  of  the  larger  states  effected  such  an 
acquisition,  the  others,  alarmed,  considered 
the  balance  of  Europe  compromised  and 
endangered. 

In  this  case,  however,  the  three  king- 
doms bordering  upon  Poland,  having  shared 
between  them  the  spoil,  were  each  aug- 
mented in  proportion,  whence  all  fear  of 
danger  was  removed.  This  system  had 
become  so  superficial,  so  miserable  and 
absurd,  that  they  lost  sight  altogether  of 
the  principle  that  a  just  equilibrium  and 
the  permanent  safety  of  all  can  only  be 
secured  by  the  inviolable  preservation  of 
the  rights  of  nations.  The  partition  of 
Poland  was  the  formal  renunciation  itself 
of  that  system  of  equipoise,  and  served  as 
the  precursor  of  all  those  great  revolutions, 
dismemberments,  and  transformations,  to- 
gether with  all  those  ambitious  attempts  at 
universal  monarchy,  which,  during  a  space 
of  five-and-twenty  years,  were  the  means 
of  convulsing  Europe  to  her  very  founda- 
tions. 

The  people  of  Poland,  menaced  as  they 
were  in  three  quarters,  were  forced  in  the 
autumn  of  1773  to  submit  to  the  dismem- 
berment cf  their  country,  of  which,  ac- 
cordingly, three  thousand  square  miles 
were  forthwith  divided  between  Russia, 
Prussia,  and  Austria. 

Maximilian  Joseph,  elector  of  Bavaria, 
having  died  in  1777  without  issue,  the  in- 
heritance of  his  estates  and  electoral  dig- 
nity came  into  the  hands  of  the  elector 
palatine.  The  emperor  Joseph,  however, 
with  his  usual  rashness,  resolved  to  avail 
himself  of  this  inheritance  in  favor  of  Aus- 
tria ;  he  accordingly  raked  up  old  claims, 
and  marched  suddenly  with  his  army  intr 
Bavaria,  of  which  he  took  immediate  pos- 
session. The  pacific  palatine,  Charles 
Theodore,  thus  surprised  and  overawed, 
signed  a  treaty,  by  which  he  ceded  two 
thirds  of  Bavaria  to  the  house  of  Austria, 
in  order  to  secure  to  himself  possession  of 
at  least  the  other  third  portion.  The  con- 
duct  of  Austria  on  this  occasion,  together 
with  the  part  she  had  previously  taken  in 
the  dismemberment  of  ill-fated  Poland,  wan 


DEATH  OF  MARIA  THERESA.— JOSEPH  II. 


415 


:he  more  unexpected,  inasmuch  as  she  was 
the  only  one  of  all  the  superior  states  which 
had  hitherto  abstained  from  similar  acts  of 
aggression.  But  the  mutability  of  the  age 
had  now  destroyed  likewise  in  Austria  the 
uniform  pacific  bearing  for  which  she  had 
so  long  been  distinguished. 

These  proceedings  gave  rise  to  serious 
commotions  in  various  parts  of  the  empire, 
and  Frederick  the  Great  more  especially 
felt  he  could  not  and  ought  not  to  remain 
an  inactive  observer  of  what  was  passing. 
Accordingly  he  entered  the  lists  against 
Austria  at  once,  and  commenced  opera- 
tions as  protector  of  the  heir  of  Charles 
Theodore,  the  duke  of  Deux-Ponts,  who 
protested  against  the  compact  signed  by 
fhe  former  with  Austria,  and  claimed  the 
assistance  of  the  king  of  Prussia.  The 
young  and  hot-headed  emperor  Joseph  ac- 
cepted the  challenge  forthwith,  and  taking 
up  a  position  in  Bohemia,  he  there  awaited 
the  king;  the  latter,  who  had  already 
crossed  the  mountains,  finding  him,  how- 
ever, so  strongly  intrenched,  was  reluctant, 
to  hazard  an  attack  under  such  difficult 
circumstances,  and  withdrew  from  Bohe- 
mia. After  a  few  unimportant  skirmishes 
between  the  light  troops  of  both  sides, 
peace  was  signed  by  the  mediation  of 
France  and  Russia,  at  Teschen,  on  the 
13th  of  May,  1779,  even  before  the  end  of 
the  first  year  of  the  war.  The  empress 
Maria  Theresa,  now  advanced  in  years, 
by  no  means  shared  in  her  son's  taste  for 
war,  but,  on  the  contrary,  earnestly  de- 
sired peace  ;  while  Frederick  himself,  who 
had  nothing  to  gain  personally  by  this  cam- 
paign, was  equally  anxious  for  a  recon- 
ciliation. Moreover,  he  was  likewise  far 
advanced  in  years,  and  possessed  an  eye 
sufficiently  penetrating  to  perceive  that  the 
former  original  spirit  and  energy  of  the 
army,  which  had  performed  such  prodigies 
of  valor  in  the  war  of  Seven  Years,  had 
now  almost  disappeared,  although  the  dis- 
cipline under  which  it  was  still  placed  was 
equally  severe  and  tyrannical  as  in  former 
times.  Under  these  and  other  circum- 
stances, therefore,  peace  was  preferable  to 
war.  By  the  treaty  now  concluded,  Aus- 
tria restored  to  the  palatine  house  all  the 
estates  of  Bavaria,  except  the  circle  of 
Burgau,  and  the  succession  was  secured  to 
the  duke  of  Deux-Ponts. 

After  the  death  of  Maria  Theresa,  in 
780,  Joseph  II    strove,  with  all  the  im- 


petuosity of  his  fiery  and  enterprising  na- 
ture, to  bring  into  immediate  execution  the 
great  and  ambitious  plans  he  had  formed, 
and  to  give  to  the  various  nations  spread 
over  the  boundless  surface  of  his  vast  pos- 
sessions, one  unique  and  equal  form  of 
government,  after  a  model  such  as  he  had 
himself  formed  within  his  own  mind.  In- 
deed, from  the  daring,  reckless  character 
he  displayed,  and  the  conduct  he  pursued, 
he  might  with  justice  have  been  regarded 
as  one  only  anxious,  by  the  changes  he 
made,  to  pave  the  way  for  the  most  unpre- 
cedented revolution  in  the  annals  of  Eu- 
rope. But  this  prince,  together  with  others 
of  the  age  he  lived  in  and  that  which  fol- 
lowed, beheld  all  their  creations  destroyed 
almost  as  suddenly  as  they  had  been 
formed,  inasmuch  as  they  had  involved 
themselves  in  the  error  of  believing  that 
they  could  change,  in  the  short  space  of  a 
man's  life,  or  perhaps  of  only  a  few  years, 
that  which  the  human  race  was  only  able 
to  bring  into  operation  in  the  slow  growth 
of  centuries.  This  arrogant  presumption 
evinced  by  a  man,  who  would  thus  pretend 
to  realize  the  ideas  he  has  conceived  sole- 
ly because  he  deems  their  realization  pos- 
sible— however  opposed  they  may  be  to 
reason — was  manifested  in  Joseph  in  the 
highest  degree,  and  hence  he  was  frus- 
trated and  disappointed  in  all  his  expecta- 
tions and  good  intentions.  He  himself  was 
influenced,  it  is  true,  by  a  mere  desire  for 
all  that  is  just  and  good,  for  the  prosperity  of 
his  dominions,  for  the  progress  of  enlighten- 
ment and  liberty  of  spirit ;  but  he  neglect- 
ed to  search  strictly  but  calmly  into  human 
nature,  and  thus  make  himself  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  peculiar  character  of 
his  variously-disposed  subjects.  What  he 
undertook  to  effect  was  too  often  altogether 
unsuited  to  their  actual  condition,  and  what 
was  acceptable  to  one  was  repugnant  to 
another.  In  the  feeling  of  his  good  inten- 
tions, Joseph  adopted  as  his  model  the  ab- 
solute principles  of  Frederick  in  his  system 
of  government ;  but  Frederick  occupied 
himself  more  with  external  arrangements, 
with  the  administration  of  the  state,  the 
promotion  of  industry,  and  the  increase  of 
the  revenue,  interfering  very  little  with  the 
progress  of  intellectual  culture,  which  fol- 
lowed its  particular  course,  often  altogeth- 
er without  his  knowledge ;  while  in  this 
respect  Joseph,  by  his  new  measures,  often 
encroached  upon  the  dearest  privileges  of 


416 


INNOVATIONS— FREDERICK  AND  THE  ALLIEJ)  PRINCES. 


his  subjects.  He  insisted  certainly  upon 
liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  of 
thought ;  but  he  did  not  bear  in  mind,  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  acknowledgment 
of  this  principle  depended  upon  that  close 
conviction  which  cannot  be  forced,  and 
can  only  exist  in  reality  when  the  light  of 
truth  has  gradually  penetrated  to  the  depth 
of  the  heart. 

The  greatest  obstacles,  however,  thrown 
in  the  way  of  Joseph's  innovations  pro- 
ceeded from  the  church  ;  for  his  grand 
object  was  to  confiscate  numerous  monas- 
teries and  spiritual  institutions,  and  to 
change  at  once  the  whole  ecclesiastical 
constitution  :  that  is,  he  contemplated  ob- 
taining during  the  first  year  of  his  reign, 
what  would  of  itself  have  occurred  in  the 
space  of  half  a  century. 

By  this  confiscation  of  ecclesiastical  pos- 
sessions more  than  one  neighboring  prince 
of  the  empire,  such  as  the  bishop  of  Passau 
and  the  archbishop  of  Salzburg,  found 
themselves  attacked  in  their  rights,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  complain  loudly  ;  and  in 
the  same  way  in  other  matters,  various 
other  princes  found  too  much  reason  to 
condemn  the  emperor  for  treating  with 
contempt  the  constitution  of  the  empire. 
Their  apprehensions  were  more  especially 
increased  when  the  emperor,  in  the  year 
1785,  negotiated  a  treaty  of  exchange  of 
territory  with  the  electoral  prince-palatine 
of  Bavaria,  according  to  which,  the  latter 
was  to  resign  his  country  to  Austria,  for 
which  he  was  to  receive  in  return  the  Aus- 
trian Netherlands  under  the  title  of  a  new 
kingdom  of  Burgundy  :  an  arrangement 
by  which  the  entire  south  of  Germany 
would  have  come  into  the  exclusive  pos- 
session of  Austria.  The  prince-palatine 
was  not  at  all  indisposed  to  make  the  ex- 
change, and  France,  as  well  as  Russia,  at 
first  favored  it  in  its  principle  ;  but  Fred- 
erick II.  once  more  stepped  forward  and 
disconcerted  their  plans,  in  which  he  suc- 
ceeded likewise  in  bringing  Russia  to  co- 
operate with  him. 

The  commotions,  however,  produced  by 
these  efforts  made  by  Joseph  to  bring  his 
rash  projects  into  immediate  operation, 
caused  the  old  king  of  Prussia  to  form  the 
idea  of  establishing  an  alliance  of  the  Ger- 
man princes  for  the  preservation  of  the 
imperial  constitution,  similar  in  charac- 
ter to  the  unions  formed  in  previous  times 
for  mutual  defence.  Such  at  least  was  to 


be  the  unique  object  of  this  alliance  *t 
cording  to  the  king's  own  words  ;  and  this 
league  was  accordingly  effected  in  the 
year  1785,  between  Prussia,  Saxony,  Han- 
over,  the  dukes  of  Saxony,  Brunswick, 
Mecklenburg,  and  Deux-Ponts,  the  land, 
grave  of  Hesse,  and  several  other  princes, 
who  were  soon  joined  by  the  elector  of 
Mentz.  This  alliance  was  based  upon 
principles  in  their  nature  less  inimical 
than  strictly  surveillant ;  nevertheless,  it 
effected  the  object  contemplated,  by  acting 
as  a  check  upon  the  house  of  Austria  in 
the  various  innovations  threatened  by  the 
emperor,  while  it  operated  as  a  lesson  in- 
dicating to  that  house  that  its  real  distinc 
tion  among  the  other  nations  of  Europe 
was  to  preserve  the  present  order  of  things, 
to  protect  all  rights  and  privileges,  to  op, 
pose  the  spirit  of  conquest,  and  thus  to  con- 
stitute itself  the  bulwark  of  universal  lib- 
erty ;  but  failing  in  all  this,  it  must  inevi- 
tably lose  at  once  all  public  confidence. 
This  alliance  of  princes,  however,  pro- 
duced little  or  no  important  results  for  the 
advantage  of  Germany,  owing  partly  to 
the  death  of  Frederick  II.,  which  took 
place  in  the  following  year,  and  partly  to 
the  circumstance  of  the  successors  of  Jo- 
seph II.  happily  returning  to  the  ancient 
hereditary  principles  of  the  house,  both  in 
its  moderation  and  circumspection ;  and 
finally,  owing  to  the  unheard-of  events 
which  transpired  in  Europe  during  the  last 
ten  years  of  this  century,  and  which  soon 
produced  too  much  cause  for  forgetting  all 
previous  minor  grievances. 

This  alliance  of  the  princes  of  the  em. 
pire  was  the  last  public  act  of  the  great 
Frederick  of  any  consequence ;  and  he 
died  in  the  following  year.  He  continued 
active  and  full  of  enterprise  to  the  last,  in 
spite  of  his  advanced  age,  but  his  condition 
became  gradually  more  isolated,  inasmuch 
as  all  the  companions  of  his  former  days 
had  in  turns  disappeared  and  sunk  into 
their  last  resting-place  before  himself,  the 
last  among  them  being  the  brave  old  war- 
rior, Ziethen,  who  died  in  the  January 
previous  of  the  same  year  as  his  roya; 
master,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven  ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  heaven  had  not  blessed 
him  with  any  family,  and  thus  he  was  de- 
barred from  the  endearing  enjoyment  ex- 
perienced by  a  father,  when  he  sees  him- 
self growing  young  again,  and  revivified 
in  his  posterity.  At  the  same  time,  he 


DEATH  OF  FREDERICK— DEATH  OF  JOSEPH  II. 


41 


was  wanting  in  all  those  feelings  condu- 
cive to  this  state  of  life — a  state  against 
which  his  whole  nature  recoiled. 

His  mind,  with  scarcely  any  interrup- 
tion, retained  all  its  power  during  the  long 
space  of  seventy-four  years,  although  his 
body  had  latterly  become  much  reduced 
and  enfeebled.  Through  the  extravagant 
use  he  had  always  made  of  strong  spices 
and  French  dishes,  he  dried  up  the  springs 
of  life,  and  after  suffering  severely  from 
dropsy,  he  departed  this  life  on  the  17th  of 
August,  1786,  and  was  buried  in  Potsdam, 
under  the  pulpit  of  the  church  belonging 
to  the  garrison.* 

Although  the  news  of  Frederick's  death 
at  such  an  advanced  age  excited  no  very 
great  astonishment,  it  nevertheless  produ- 
ced a  considerable  sensation  throughout 
the  whole  of  Europe.  He  left  to  his  suc- 
cessor a  well-regulated  state,  containing  a 
population  of  six  millions  of  inhabitants;  a 
powerful,  strictly-organized  army,  and  a 
treasury  well  provided  ;  the  greatest  trea- 
sure however  he  left,  was  the  recollection 
of  his  heroic  and  glorious  acts,  which  in 
subsequent  times  has  continued  to  operate 
upon  his  nation  with  all  its  awakening 
power  and  heart-stirring  influence. 

The  emperor  Joseph,  meantime,  had  en- 
gaged, in  1788,  in  a  war  with  the  Turks, 
which  did  not  produce  the  results  he  had 
been  led  to  anticipate.  His  army  suffered 
very  considerable  losses,  more  especially 
through  sickness,  and,  although  he  himself 
was  present  in  person,  his  troops  effected 
nothing,  for  he  was  wholly  without  those 
necessary  qualifications — firmness  and  pres- 
ence of  mind ;  characteristics  so  highly 
requisite  in  a  general,  in  order  to  ensure 
success.  About  this  time  also  the  Hun- 
garians began  to  show  strong  symptoms  of 
discontent,  caused  by  the  unjust  treatment 
they  received  at  the  hands  of  him  they  had 
formerly  saved  when  appealed  to  by  his 
mother,  Maria  Theresa.  In  the  Nether- 
lands, however,  the  whole  population  broke 


*  In  his  last  illness  Frederick  displayed  great  mild- 
ness and  patience,  and  acknowledged  with  gratitude 
the  trouble  and  pain  he  caused  those  around  him. 
During  one  of  his  sleepless  nights  he  called  to  the  page 
who  kept  watch  in  the  room,  and  asked  him  what 
o'clock  it  was  ?  The  man  replied  it  had  just  struck 
two.  "Ah,  then  it  is  still  too  soon!"  exclaimed  the 
king,  "  but  I  cannot  sleep.  See  whether  any  of  the 
other  attendants  are  awake,  but  do  not  disturb  them  if 
they  are  still  sleeping,  for,  poor  fellows,  they  are  tired 
enough.  But  if  you  find  Neuman  (his  favorite  yager) 
stirring,  say  to  him,  you  believe  the  king  wishes  soon 
to  rise.  But  mind,  do  not  awaken  any  one  l"—Miichler. 

53 


out  into  open  rebellion  at  once  ;  the  clergy, 
the  nobility,  the  people,  and  the  cities  al- 
together, perceiving,  by  the  reforms  too  pre 
cipitately  enforced  upon  them  by  the  empe- 
ror, the  attacks  that  were  being  made  upon 
their  ancient  rights  and  privileges.  They 
seized  arms,  and  on  the  22d  of  October, 
1789,  the  provinces  of  Brabant  declared 
themselves  independent  in  a  grand  meeting 
held  at  Breda.  Nearly  all  the  cities  took 
part  with  the  revolters,  who  had  at  their  head 
a  barrister,  named  Van  der  Noot,  and  tho 
Austrian  officials  were  forced  to  take  theii 
flight.  This  was,  in  fact,  a  kind  of  intro- 
ductory scene  to  that  which  was  being  pre- 
pared, about  the  same  time,  in  France 
itself.  During  the  period  of  these  conten- 
tions Joseph  died  in  his  forty-ninth  year,  on 
the  20th  of  February,  1790,  an  event  greatly 
hastened  by  the  fatigues  he  had  undergono 
in  the  Turkish  war,  and  more  especially 
promoted  through  bitter  mortification  at 
rinding  all  his  mad  and  ill-timed  projects 
fall  to  the  ground,  and  the  pain  he  felt  at 
the  state  of  anarchy  and  revolt  existing 
among  his  subjects. 

As  he  left  no  family  behind  him,  his 
brother,  Peter  Leopold,  hitherto  grand- 
duke  of  Tuscany,  succeeded  him  in  his 
hereditary  estates  of  Austria.  The  task 
undertaken  by  the  new  sovereign  was  by 
no  means  the  most  easy  one,  inasmuch  as 
he  found  everywhere  dissatisfaction,  con- 
tention, and  sedition.  He  perceived  that  in 
order  to  steer  the  vessel  safely  through 
the  raging  tempest  he  must  employ  mod-e- 
rate  and  reconciliatory  measures,  and, 
happily,  Peter  Leopold  possessed  the  ne- 
cessary disposition  and  ability  to  effect  this 
object.  The  dangerous  innovations  intro- 
duced by  his  predecessor  were  at  once 
abolished,  Hungary  pacified,  and  the  Neth- 
erlands, partly  by  the  necessary  force  ot 
arms,  and  partly  by  the  confirmation  of 
their  rights  and  constitutions,  were  restored 
to  a  state  of  tranquillity ;  and,,  finally,  in 
the  following  year,  a  treaty  of  peace  was 
concluded  with  the  Turks.  On  the  20th 
of  September,  1790,  the  hereditary  prince 
of  the  house  of  Austria  was  chosen  em- 
peror  of  Germany,  under  the  title  of  Leo- 
pold II.  He,,  however,  died  on  the  1st  of 
March,  1792,  and  thus  his  short  reign  of 
two  years  ended  at  the  moment  when  a 
new  and  eventful  era  commenced  in  the 
history  of  Europe,  teeming  with  scenes,  of 
intrigue,  anarchy,  and  atrocious  outrage. 


LEOPOLD  II.— FRANCIS  II. 


already  but  too  well  known  in  the  annals 
of  that  disastrous  period  to  require  much 
farther  comment  or  description  in  the 
present  work. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Leopold  II.  and  the  State  of  France— France  declares 
War  against  Austria,  the  Imperial  States,  Holland, 
Spain,  &c.,  1792— Francis  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany, 
1792-1806— Prussia— Successes  of  the  Allies— Gene- 
ral Dumouriez  and  the  Republican  Army— The  Aus- 
trians  defeated  at  Jemappes— The  Netherlands  Re- 
publicanized — Defeat  of  Dumouriez  at  Neerwinden, 
1793 — Joins  the  Allies — Continued  Successes  of  the 
Allies  under  the  Dukes  of  York  and  Coburg— Carnot 
—Generals  Pichegru  and  Jourdan— Battles  of  Tour- 
nay  and  Fleurus — Jourdan's  Aerial  Reconnoitring 
Messenger,  or  the  Adjutant  in  the  Balloon — Defeat 
of  the  Allies— Successes  of  the  French— Conquests  in 
Flanders,  Holland,  and  the  Rhine — Kaiserslau tern- 
Peace  of  Basle,  1795— England  and  Austria— France 
— The  Austrian  Generals,  Beaulieu,  Wurmser,  and 
Archduke  Charles— Napoleon  Bonaparte,  1796— 
Appointed  General  in  Italy— His  Army— His  Con- 
quests and  rich  Booty  made  in  Italy— The  French  in 
Germany — Archduke  Charles — Moreau — His  famous 
Retreat — Mantua — Bonaparte  in  Germany — His 
rapid  Marches— Vienna— Peace  of  Campo-Formio, 
1797— Shameful  Conditions— State  of  Europe— Al- 
liance of  England,  Russia,  Austria,  and  Turkey — 
Hostilities  resumed,  1798 — Bonaparte  in  Egypt — 
Cairo— Aboukir— His  Fleet  destroyed  by  Nelson— It- 
aly—General  Suwaroff— His  Successes  in  Italy— Ge- 
noa— Switzerland — Suwaroff's  Passage  across  the 
Alps — His  desperate  Appeal  to  his  Soldiers — His  recall 
—The  Emperor  Paul  and  England— Bonaparte  First 
Consul,  1799— Genoa— Battle  of  Marengo,  1800— Gen- 
eral Desaix — Moreau  in  Germany — Peace  of  Lune- 
ville,  1801— Sad  Results  to,  and  Sacrifices  made  by 
Germany— Resignation  of  William  Pitt— Peace  of 
Amiens,  1802— England  declares  war  against  France, 
1803 — Bonaparte  takes  possession  of  Hanover — The 
German  Legion. 

THE  emperor  Leopold  II.  remained 
faithful  to  his  system  of  pacification,  al- 
though he  could  not  but  feel  serious  ap- 
prehensions when  he  beheld  the  alarming 
state  of  affairs  in  France.  Several  of  the 
princes  of  the  empire  had  already  ex- 
pressed a  strong  desire  to  take  up  arms 
against  that  revolutionary  country,  in 
favor  *of  the  emigrated  princes  and  nobles, 
who,  making  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  their 
place  of  refuge,  collected  together  in  nu- 
merous bodies  at  Coblentz,  and  finally 
prevailed  upon  the  princes  of  the  land  to 
maintain  their  rights,  and  commence  hos- 
tilities. The  revolution  had,  in  fact,  af- 
fected and  seriously  injured  a  number  of 
the  German  princes  in  the  privileges  they 
enjoyed  from  the  earliest  times  in  France, 
and  more  especially  in  Alsace — and  now, 
when  they  demanded  an  indemnification 
for  these  losses,  they  only  met  with  the 
same  arrogant  and  scornful  reception  in 


the  language  which  it  had  been  the  prac. 
tice  of  France  to  express  during  the  last 
five-and-twenty  years.  The  imperialists, 
however,  should  have  borne  in  mind  that 
to  a  country  in  a  state  of  revolution,  a  war 
with  a  foreign  power  is  both  desirable  and 
beneficial,  inasmuch  as  it  acts  as  a  check 
upon  internal  divisions,  and  by  promoting 
a  more  united  feeling,  furnishes  it  with 
still  greater  power  against  the  common 
enemy. 

The  new  emperor,  Francis  II.,  formed 
now  an  alliance  with  Frederick-William 
II.  of  Prussia,  against  France,  but  which 
the  latter  government  anticipated  by  de- 
claring war  against  Austria  in  1792. 
The  attack  of  the  Prussians  took  the 
young  republic — which  still  retained  the 
king,  although  powerless,  at  its  head— - 
completely  by  surprise.  The  country 
was  not  as  yet  prepared  for  war,  and  the 
first  invasion  was  accordingly  attended 
with  successful  results.  The  armies  of 
the  imperialists  continued  to  march  in 
advance,  and  took  possession  of  all  the 
towns  along  their  route.  Valenciennes, 
Longwy,  and  Verdun,  were  conquered, 
all  the  passes  of  the  forest  of  Ardennes 
occupied,  together  with  the  plains  of 
Champagne  ;  and  even  Paris  itself  began 
to  tremble.  But  the  people  now  aroused 
themselves,  and  this  was  promoted,  in  fact, 
by  their  enemy  himself.  For,  misled  no 
doubt  by  the  presumption  and  mad  hopes 
cherished  by  the  emigrants,  the  duke  of 
Brunswick,  who  commanded  the  Prussian 
army,  issued  a  manifesto,  which  was  dis- 
tributed everywhere  throughout  the  entire 
kingdom,  and  which  was  so  insultingly 
and  cruelly  worded,  as  to  make  the  heart 
of  every  Frenchman  recoil  and  tremble 
within  him,  and  of  those  more  especially 
who  refused  to  acknowledge  the  ancient 
rights  of  royalty  ;  for,  among  the  other 
threats  it  contained,  the  document  declared 
that  Paris  should  be  burned  to  the  ground, 
and  the  inhabitants  put  to  the  sword,  and 
not  a  single  stone  of  the  metropolis  should 
be  left  standing.  These  dreadful  words 
acted  upon  the  people  with  all  the  power 
of  an  electric  shock,  and  forthwith,  from 
every  part  of  the  country,  were  to  be  seen 
both  young  and  old  hastening  in  shoals 
with  all  possible  speed  to  join  voluntarily 
the  standard  of  General  Dumouriez,  and 
under  which  they  burned  to  conquer  or 
die  in  the  defence  of  their  country's  free. 


ENGLAND  AND  ALLIES  AGAINST  FRANCE— SUCCESSES. 


419 


dom.  The  army  was  soon  in  a  condition 
to  face  the  invaders,  and  it  marched  forth 
and  took  up  an  advantageous  position  on 
the  high-road  near  Sainte-Menehould ; 
out,  as  the  Prussians  now  began  to  suffer 
greatly  from  the  want  of  supplies  in  that 
impoverished  part  of  the  country,  as  also 
from  the  sickness  and  disease  produced 
through  the  continual  heavy  rains  which, 
badly  clothed  as  the  troops  were,  thinned 
their  ranks  sadly,  they  were  forced,  after 
a  slight  cannonade  at  Valmy,  to  make  a 
retreat ;  this  they  were  happy  enough  to 
succeed  in  effecting  in  good  time,  and  they 
gained  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  which  they 
lost  no  time  in  crossing. 

At  Jemappes,  however,  Dumouriez  came 
up  with  the  Austrians,  and  giving  them 
battle  at  once,  on  the  5th  of  November, 
1792 — the  first  under  the  republican  gov- 
ernment— gained  a  decisive  victory.  His 
force  was  greatly  superior  in  numbers  to 
the  Austrian  army,  while  he  was  likewise 
in  possession  of  an  overwhelming  train  of 
heavy  artillery,  which  at  each  discharge 
mowed  down  whole  ranks  of  the  enemy, 
and  made  the  very  earth  tremble.  The 
Austrians,  nevertheless,  fought  with  a 
courage  truly  heroic  for  two  entire  days 
against  their  formidable  adversaries,  but 
were  eventually  forced  to  yield  the  field 
of  battle.  By  this  single  battle,  the  house 
)f  Austria  lost  the  whole  of  the  Nether- 
ands,  for  the  victorious  army,  like  a  rush- 
ing torrent,  carried  all  before  them,  and 
the  inhabitants,  already  dissatisfied  with 
the  dominion  of  Austria  ever  since  the 
reign  of  Joseph  II.,  and  seduced  by  the 
thoughts  of  liberty,  threw  off  the  imperial 
yoke  and  received  the  French  with  open 
arms.  They  planted  everywhere  the  tree 
of  liberty,  established  a  national  conven- 
tion, and  adopted  all  the  republican  prin- 
ciples and  institutions  of  their  conquerors. 

At  the  same  time  General  Custine  had 
marched  against  the  Rhenish  provinces, 
and  through  treachery  made  himself  mas- 
ter of  the  important  imperial  city  of  Mentz. 
The  mania  for  liberty  now  held  its  sway 
;n  that  place,  and  the  republican  institu- 
tions of  Paris  were  likewise  introduced 
there.  Frankfort,  however,  its  neighbor- 
ing city,  maintained  itself  firmly  against 
all  the  influence  of  these  insinuating  and 
destructive  principles,  and  when  invited  to 
follow  the  example  set  by  those  around, 
the  citizens  replied,  that  they  were  con- 


tented with  the  liberty  they  had  thus  far 
enjoyed  all  along. 

The  sanguinary  proceedings — but  more 
especially  the  dreadful  and  revolting  fate 
of  Louis  XVI.,  on  the  21st  of  January, 
1793,  excited  universal  indignation  and 
horror ;  and  England  and  Spain,  together 
with  Holland,  armed  at  once  against  the 
French  republic,  which  had  declared  war 
against  them.  Germany  was  not  long  in 
joining  these  powers,  and  as  Naples,  Rome, 
Tuscany,  and  Portugal,  came  forward 
likewise,  a  coalition  of  the  governments  of 
the  moiety  of  Europe  was  brought  to  bear 
against  that  of  France. 

The  commencement  of  the  campaign  of 
1793  was  distinguished  by  a  series  of  bril- 
liant victories  gained  by  the  allies  in  the 
Netherlands.  Dumouriez  was  defeated  at 
Aldenhoven,  and  he  was  again  overthrown 
on  the  18th  of  March  in  a  grand  battle 
near  Neerwinden ;  and,  dreading  lest  he 
might  be  summoned  to  Paris  and  thus  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  Jacobins,  of  whom  he 
was  no  friend,  and  who,  he  knew  too  well, 
were  the  last  to  treat  misfortune  with  mercy, 
he  passed  over  to  the  ranks  of  the  allies. 
The  latter  now  pressed  forward  in  rapid 
marches  ;  their  united  army  comprised  the 
Austrians,  the  Prussians,  the  English,  the 
Hanoverians,  and  the  Dutch,  commanded 
by  the  duke  of  Coburg  and  the  duke  of 
York.  Durnouriez's  successor,  General 
Dampierre,  was  again  defeated  on  the  8th 
of  May  on  the  plains  of  Famars,  being 
himself  killed  in  the  action  ;  and  the  allies 
having  now  made  themselves  masters  of 
Valenciennes  and  Conde,  the  road  to  Paris 
lay  open  before  them. 

Meantime  the  Prussians  and  Austrians, 
on  the  Rhine,  reconquered  Mentz,  and 
having  forced  the  lines  of  the  hill  of  Weis- 
senberg,  they  commenced  the  siege  of 
Landau  under  the  command  of  the  crown 
prince  of  Prussia. 

In  the  Pyrenees  a  Spanish  army  crossed 
the  Alps  and  marched  into  France,  where 
the  progress  made  was  attended  with  con- 
siderable success  ;  in  conjunction  with  the 
English  they  took  possession  of  the  import- 
ant seaport  of  Toulon,  which,  having  de- 
clared itself  opposed  to  the  convention  of 
Paris,  they  defended  against  the  republi- 
can forces. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  year,  however, 
the  republican  forces  were  more  successful 
along  the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom.  Oc 


420 


THE  ALLIES  DEFEATED. 


the  Upper  Rhine,  Landau  and  the  whole 
of  Alsace,  after  continued  and  most  san- 
guinary fighting,  fell  again  into  their  hands, 
and  the  republican  flag  was  everywhere 
planted  along  that  portion  of  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine  ;  while,  in  the  Netherlands, 
Dunkirk  was  delivered,  and  many  severe 
actions  gained  by  the  French.  In  this 
quarter  the  forces  were  commanded  by 
Houchard  and  Jourdan ;  while  on  the 
Rhine  the  troops  were  headed  by  Piche- 
gru  and  Hoche — names  elevated  from  their 
original  obscurity  by  the  rushing  tide  of 
the  revolution.  On  the  30th  of  September 
a  grand  fete  was  held  in  Paris,  on  which 
occasion  fourteen  different  armies  were  re- 
presented in  a  triumphal  procession,  in 
honor  of  the  victories  they  had  gained. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1794 
the  allies  united  all  their  forces  in  the 
Netherlands,  under  the  orders  of  the  duke 
of  Coburg,  and  the  emperor  Francis  him- 
self joined  the  camp,  in  order  by  his  pres- 
ence to  encourage  the  troops.  On  the  7th 
of  April  they  gained  a  complete  victory 
near  Cateau-Cambresis,  and  on  the  30th  of 
the  same  month  they  made  themselves 
masters  of  the  town  of  Landrecies.  For- 
tune, however,  now  changed.  Carnot, 
who  properly  understood  how  to  employ 
the  system  of  war  by  which  a  nation  in 
arms  might  obtain  victory,  issued  his  or- 
ders forthwith  to  the  grand  armies,  com- 
manded by  Pichegru  and  Jourdan,  to  at- 
tack the  allied  army  with  the  most  daring 
impetuosity  and  without  ceasing,  so  that 
not  a  single  day  might  pass  without  constant 
hard  fighting.  With  respect  to  the  num- 
ber of  French  troops  that  were  slain,  that, 
was  a  matter  of  no  consideration  •  fresh 
battalions  were  marched  up  to  replace 
those  that  had  fallen,  and  thus  the  allied 
generals,  findingthemselvessohard  pressed, 
looked  in  vain  for  an  opportunity  where 
and  how  to  form  their  principal  point  of 
defence.  All  their  ordinary  tactics  of  war 
were  perfectly  useless  ;  for  when  whole 
battalions,  on  being  repulsed,  fell  back 
upon  each  other,  and  instead  of  taking  to 
flight  rallied  again  and  renewed  the  attack, 
and  fought  on  without  yielding  an  inch  as 
long  as  life  gave  them  the  power,  and  when 
neither  the  fear  of  death  nor  any  thing  else, 
however  formidable  its  nature,  could  make 
them  quit  the  field  of  battle,  then  neces- 
sarily at  the  end  of  the  action  victory  re- 
mained with  the  greatest  number.  Thence 


the  Austrians  and  their  allies,  the  Englisn, 
Dutch,  and  Hanoverians,  harassed  ana 
overcome  with  fatigue,  were  ultimately 
defeated  on  the  22d  of  May  near  Tournay 
by  Pichegru,  and  on  the  26th  of  June  at 
Fleurus,  by  Jourdan,  in  two  sanguinary 
battles.  At  Fleurus  the  French  general 
turned  the  course  of  the  contest,  which  was 
going  against  him,  eventually  in  his  favor 
by  adopting  an  expedient  completely  novel 
and  hitherto  unknown  in  war  •  he  caused, 
namely,  one  of  his  aides-de-camp  to  gel 
into  a  balloon  in  which  he  ascended,  and 
this  enabled  him  to  observe  exactly  the  po 
sition  of  the  allied  army,  and  on  this  offi 
cer's  return  from  his  aerial  expedition  he 
gave  his  report  accordingly  to  the  general, 
who  renewed  the  action,  and,  guided  by  the 
instructions  he  had  received,  gained  th? 
battle. 

After  this  victory  the  success  of  tb<* 
French  arms  continued  without  interrup- 
tion ;  nothing  could  check  their  progress 
either  in  Holland  or  on  the  Rhine.  All 
the  places  taken  from  them  in  France — 
Landrecies,  Le  Quesnoy,  Valenciennes, 
and  Conr'e,  were  reconquered  one  after 
the  othei  besides  which,  the  republicans 
took  possession  of  Brussels  on  the  9th  of  June, 
and  in  the  autumn  they  commanded  the 
rivers  Meuse  and  Vahal.  These  success* - 
however,  appeared  to  have  now  reache: 
the  term  of  their  duration,  and  more  espe- 
cially as  the  sluices  of  all  the  canals 
throughout  Holland  had  been  opened,  in 
order,  by  a  general  inundation,  to  rescue 
that  country  from  the  French  arms.  But 
nature  herself  came  to  the  aid  of  the  in- 
vaders, by  converting  these  very  waters 
into  a  secure  passage  for  their  troops,  in- 
asmuch as  the  winter  of  this  year,  1794, 
becoming  extremely  severe,  they  were  all 
completely  frozen,  and  to  such  a  depth 
was  the  ice,  that,  by  means  of  these  natu- 
ral,  seasonable  bridges,  soldiers,  artillery, 
and  baggage-trains,  were  enabled  to  ad- 
vance, and  penetrate  into  the  very  heart 
of  Holland;  thus,  on  the  17th  of  January, 
1795,  they  were  in  possession  of  Utrecht, 
and  on  the  19th  they  took  Amsterdam. 
The  stadtholder  was  forced  to  seek  refuge 
with  his  family  in  England,  and  Holland 
was  forthwith  converted  into  a  republic. 

Meantime  Jourdan,  in  the  autumn  of 
1794,  had  driven  the  Austrians  out  of 
Brabant  towards  the  Lower  Rhine,  and 
completely  defeated  them  in  several  en 


PEACE  BETWEEN  1'RUSSIA  AND  FRANCE. 


421 


counters  ;  and  eventually  he  forced  them 
:o  cross  the  Rhine  to  Cologne.  Liege, 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  Juliers,  Cologne,  Bonn, 
and  Coblentz,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
French;  Luxemburg  alone  holding  out  by 
a  brave  and  determined  defence  until  the 
month  of  June,  1795. 

In  the  circle  of  the  Upper  Rhine  the 
campaign  of. 1794  took  almost  the  same 
direction  as  in  the  northern  provinces.  At 
the  commencement,  on  the  22d  of  May, 
a  great  victory  was  obtained  by  the  Aus- 
trians  and  Prussians  at  Kaiserslautern ; 
this  was  succeeded  by  continuous  attacks 
made  upon  the  allies  by  the  republican 
army,  now  considerably  reinforced  by 
levies  en  masse  produced  through  the  na- 
tional summons,  and  finally,  on  the  15th 
of  June,  by  another  battle  fought  at  Kai- 
serslautern, in  which  the  French,  although 
repulsed  eight  times  with  great  loss,  re- 
turned to  the  attack  for  the  ninth  time, 
and  gained  the  victory.  After  a  short 
cessation  of  hostilities,  the  allies  retired  at 
this  point,  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine. 

The  success  of  the  French  arms  had 
now  become  so  great,  and  produced  so 
much  alarm,  that  whoever  attentively  con- 
sidered the  condition  of  Europe,  and  espe- 
cially Germany,  could  easily  perceive  that 
it  could  not  do  otherwise  but  unite  all  its 
forces,  in  order  to  carry  on  the  war  for  its 
own  preservation.  The  French  already 
made  no  mystery  of  their  intention  to  re- 
tain possession  of  the  whole  of  Germany 
situated  along  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
to  the  extent  of  the  entire  course  of  that 
river.  Were  we  then,  through  the  unfa- 
vorable results  of  one  campaign,  to  allow 
our  dangerous  neighbor  to  remain  master 
over  those  territories,  which  to  gain  he  had 
been  striving  in  vain  for  centuries  ?  No  ; 
Germany  ought  never  to  have  permitted 
such  a  disgrace;  but  where  in  such  times 
was  to  be  found  that  ancient,  hereditary, 
and  noble  feeling  of  independence,  coupled 
with  that  inborn  magnanimity  to  uphold 
and  defend  the  honor  of  our  common  fa- 
therland ?  Jealousy  and  envy  among  tho 
commanders-in-chief  and  the  first  ministers 
of  the  empire  had  paralyzed  the  powers 
of  the  army,  and  obstructed  the  success 
ot  every  operation ;  and  now  the  entire 
confederation  allowed  itself  to  be  dissolved 
by  its  crafty  enemy.  On  the  5th  of  April, 
Prussia  concluded  at  Basle  a  separate 
treaty  of  peace  with  the  French  republic, 


and  Hanover,  as  well  as  Hesse  Cassel, 
concurred  therein  likewise.  A  line  of  de- 
marcation was  drawn  ior  the  north  of  Ger- 
many, which  exempted  the  Prussian  terri- 
tories in  Westphalia,  including  Hesse  and 
Lower  Saxony. 

Shortly  afterwards  Spain,  through  want 
of  means  wherewith  to  pay  her  troops,  as 
well  as  of  that  firm,  determined  will  so 
necessary  under  the  circumstances,  like- 
wise separated  herself  from  the  coalition 
against  France ;  whence,  of  the  higher 
powers,  Austria  and  England  alone  re- 
mained in  the  grand  arena,  and  thus  it  has 
always  happened  with  Austria  ever  since 
the  time  of  Maximilian  I.,  whenever  that 
power  formed  an  alliance  to  maintain  a  war 
in  conjunction  with  several  other  states. 

During  the  conferences  of  peace  with 
Prussia,  and  even  afterwards,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1795,  as  Austria  and  the  Germanic 
empire  appeared  equally  desirous  for  a 
pacification,  both  parties  agreed  to  a  cessa- 
tion of  arms,  and  the  two  armies  retained 
their  position  in  front  of  each  other  on  the 
opposite  banks  of  the  Rhine,  separated  only 
by  the  waters  of  that  noble  river.  This 
short  repose  was  of  great  benefit  to  France, 
for  the  general  scarcity  of  provisions  which 
prevailed  throughout  this  year — producing 
almost  a  state  of  famine — would  otherwise 
have  completely  prevented  the  army  from 
accomplishing  any  extraordinary  opera- 
tions. But  as  the  harvest  was  now  safely 
gathered  in,  Jourdan,  on  the  night  of  the 
6th  of  September,  crossed  the  Rhine  be- 
tween Duesburg  and  Diisseldorf,  which 
latter  town  he  forthwith  invested,  and  pur- 
suing his  impetuous  course  of  victory, 
drove  the  Austrians  from  the  banks  of  the 
rivers  Wupper — the  commencement  of  the 
Prussian  Ihie  of  demarcation — the  Sieg, 
and  the  Lahn,  over  the  Maine.  Field- 
marshal  Clairfait,  however,  had  reassem- 
bled his  troops  behind  the  latter  river,  and 
he  now  attacked  the  French  at  Hochst, 
near  Frankfort,  completely  routed  them, 
and  sent  them  back  over  the  Rhine  with 
the  same  expedition  that  they  had  used  in 
advancing  across  it ;  thus  Mentz  was  de- 
livered from  its  state  of  siege,  and  Mann- 
heim retaken.  The  summer  armistice  had 
reduced  the  strength  and  spirit  of  the  re- 
publican  armies,  and  their  zeal  had  be- 
come considerably  diminished.  A  war 
conducted  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the 
Rhine  was  no  longer  regarded  as  a  war  in 


122 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE—HIS  CHARACTER— HIS  ARMY. 


.he  cause  of  liberty,  and  many  volunteers 
nf  the  higher  classes  had  now  returned  to 
their  homes. 

When,  in  1796,  the  new  order  of  things 
had  become  gradually  consolidated  in 
France,  the  directory  resolved  to  force  Aus- 
tria and  the  Germanic  empire  to  conclude 
a  treaty  of  peace  by  one  general  overwhelm- 
ing  invasion.  It  was  determined  that  the 
armies  should,  in  the  ensuing  spring,  cross 
to  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine  and  the 
Alps,  and  penetrate  from  every  point  into 
the  heart  of  Germany.  Morea  i  was  to 
march  through  Swabia,  Jourdan  through 
Franconia,  and  a  third  army  was  to  over- 
run Italy.  In  the  latter  country,  the  Aus- 
trian troops  were  commanded  by  the  old 
general,  Beaulieu  ;  in  the  Upper  Rhine, 
the  old  veteran,  Wurmser,  held  the  chief 
command ;  and  in  the  Lower  Rhine,  the 
general-in-chief  was  the  Arch-duke  Charles 
of  Austria  ;  to  the  two  latter  armies  were 
united  the  troops  of  the  imperial  states. 
The  war  commenced  in  Italy.  But  there 
the  old  and  experienced  general  found  him- 
self confronted  with  a  young  daring  leader, 
filled  with  the  most  gigantic  projects,  and 
who  now  on  this  occasion  first  came  forth 
to  develop  his  marvellous  powers  and  indo- 
mitable perseverance  before  the  eyes  of 
astonished  Europe. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  born  at  Ajaccio  in 
Corsica — where  his  father  was  an  advocate, 
and  subsequently  promoted  to  the  French 
procuratorship  of  Corsica — educated  in  the 
military  schools  of  France,  and  inured  to 
the  most  extraordinary  scenes  and  enter- 
prises by  all  the  horrors  of  the  revolution, 
in  which  he  had  been  a  participator,  was 
only  six-and-twenty  years  of  age  when  he 
received  his  appointment  as  general  of  the 
Italian  army.  Barras,  one  of  the  five  di- 
rectors of  the  executive  power,  and  who  had 
taken  him  into  his  especial  favor,  concert- 
ed a  marriage  between  him  and  the  widowed 
Princess  Josephine  de  Beaubarnais,  and  had 
now  caused  his  promotion  to  the  rank  before- 
mentioned.  The  post  he  held  was  one  of 
great  difficulty  and  danger ;  the  army  over 
which  he  was  placed,  was  in  such  a  dis- 
organized state,  being  without  supplies  of 
provisions  and  clothing,  and  even  without 
Ammunition,  that  its  condition  could  only 
be  improved  when  under  the  direction  of  a 
resolute  and  daring  general,  and  who,  by 
judicious  management,  might  perhaps  suc- 
ceed in  making  even  that  very  unfavorable 


condition  itself  serve  as  a  means  to  lead  tc 
victories  all  the  more  glorious,  for,  in  their 
present  desperate  state,  the  soldiers  had  no 
other  choice  but  conquest  or  death. 

And  truly  the  newly-appointed  leader 
soon  succeeded  in  gaining  the  most  extra- 
ordinary influence  and  sway  over  his  troops, 
and  in  infusing  among  them  no  small  share 
of  his  own  daring  and  undaunted  spirit. 
This  indeed  formed  the  spirit  of  his  military 
tactics,  and  the  means  by  which  he  was 
led  on  to  adopt  the  most  ambitious  plans, 
and  sought  to  make  himself  the  conqueror 
of  the  entire  world.  By  his  bulletins, 
couched  in  the  most  concise  and  forcible 
language,  in  the  style  of  the  ancient  Romans, 
thoroughly  adapted  to  the  French  character; 
by  the  distribution  of  marks  of  honor  and 
distinction,  of  colors  and  eagles,  to  those 
regiments  which  he  at  the  same  moment 
was  about  to  place  in  the  most  dangerous 
part  of  the  battle,  together  with  other  simi- 
lar incentives  to  honor  and  glory,  Bona- 
parte well  understood  how  to  generate  the 
highest  enthusiasm  at  the  decisive  moment. 
He  even  had  the  temerity  to  announce  in 
advance  the  result  of  the  battles,  and  for 
tune  verified  his  words ;  people  speedil} 
believed  what  he  had  predicted,  and  thi? 
very  faith  produced  the  accomplishment  ol 
the  event.  He  more  especially  confounded 
his  enemies  by  never  doing  what  might 
have  been  anticipated  and  calculated  upon, 
but  by  performing  exactly  what  was  com- 
pletely opposed  to  these  expectations,  and 
was  the  most  bold  and  perilous  in  its  na- 
ture. All  experience  and  practice,  there- 
fore, in  the  science  of  war,  were  nugatory 
against  him ;  a  defensive  war  with  him 
must  be  unsuccessfully  carried  on,  for  the 
blow  always  came  before  it  could  be  pre- 
ceived,  or  even  anticipated,  and  he  never 
allowed  his  adversary  to  commence  the  at- 
tack,  because  no  one  was  so  prompt  in  his 
measures  and  resolves  as  himself. 

The  opening  of  this  campaign  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  most  brilliant  success.  By 
the  promptitude  of  his  mano3uvres  and  sud- 
denness of  his  attacks,  he  completely  over- 
came and  separated  the  army  of  the  Sar- 
dinians from  that,  of  the  Austrians,  and 
forced  the  king  of  Sardinia  to  sign  a  treaty 
of  peace  ;  and  this  he  followed  up  by  turn- 
ing his  arms  against  the  Austrians,  and 
pursuing  them  to  the  north  of  the  river  Po 
Thus  the  whole  of  central  Italy  lay  no* 
open  before  him,  and  all  the  princes  of  tha 


GENERAL  WURMSER— ARCHDUKE  CHARLES— MOREAU 


425 


country  trembled  at  his  vengeance.  They 
alternately  demanded  peace  and  obtained  it, 
but  at  the  sacrifice  of  millions  in  money, 
numerous  invaluable  paintings,  together 
with  other  treasures  of  art  and  precious 
manuscripts.  It  was  with  these  spoils  that 
he  intended  to  decorate  Paris,  in  order  sub- 
sequently to  make  it  the  metropolis  of  the 
entire  world.  The  duke  of  Parma  was  the 
first  who  bound  himself  by  a  treaty  of  the 
9th  of  May,  to  furnish  in  payment  for  peace, 
a  large  collection  of  the  most  rare  paint- 
ings ;  and  from  this  moment  the  example 
of  ancient  Rome  towards  Greece  was  emu- 
lated in  every  part  where  the  French  armies 
got  a  footing.  Vanity,  combined  with  the 
eager  desire  to  collect  together  and  concen- 
trate in  their  capital,  and  thereby  render 
it  the  counterpart  of  ancient  Rome  and  the 
central  point  of  nations,  urged  the  invaders 
to  pillage  the  sanctuaries  and  monuments 
of  art  and  science  of  every  country  they 
marched  through.  The  pope  was  obliged 
to  purchase  neutrality  by  the  payment  of 
21,000,000,  francs,  and  by  giving  up  to 
them  100  costly  pictures,  and  200  rare 
manuscripts.  Naples  obtained  peace  with- 
out any  sacrifice  ;  because  it  lay  at  too  great 
a  distance,  and  because,  likewise,  its  hour, 
according  to  Bonaparte's  calculation,  had 
not  yet  arrived. 

Meantime  great  events  had  likewise 
transpired  in  Germany.  The  forces  there 
nad  scarcely  commenced  operations,  when 
( already  the  principal  blow  was  struck  in 
.Italy,  and  the  brave  old  warrior,  Wurmser, 
'was  summoned  from  Germany  with  30,000 
men  to  the  relief  of  Mantua,  the  last  strong- 
hold of  the  Austrians  in  Italy.  The  French 
\armies,  according  to  the  plan  of  the  cam- 
paign drawn  up  by  the  French  directory, 
were  now  enabled  to  penetrate  into  the 
heart  of  the  Germanic  empire.  About  the 
middle  of  August,  Jourdan  was  only  within 
a  few  days  ma  *ch  of  Ratisbon,  and  Moreau 
was  close  to  Munich,  with  the  army  of  the 
Rhine  and  Moselle ;  the  latter  general  de- 
clared openly  that  his  object  was  to  give 
his  right  hand  to  the  arrny  under  Bona- 
parte in  Italy,  and  his  left  to  that  of  Jour- 
dan.  This  junction  of  such  overwhelming 
masses  of  troops  brought  with  it  the  most 
alarming  appearances,  and  this  was  one  of 
the  most  critical  and  dangerous  moments 
for  Austria.  Nevertheless,  the  peril  thus 
threatened  was  once  more  diverted  by  the 
youthful  hero  of  that  imperial  house.  The 


nearer  the  war  approached  the  Austrian 
frontiers,  so  much  the  more  did  the  danger 
thus  menacing  their  native  soil  spur  on  the 
imperial  troops  ;  while  at  the  same  time 
their  numbers  were  augmented  more  anJ 
more  by  fresh  reinforcements  from  the  in- 
terior. The  Archduke  Charles  now  came 
forth,  and  suddenly  marching  with  his 
troops  against  Jourdan,  attacking  him  at 
Neumark  on  the  22d  of  August,  and  at 
Amberg  on  the  24th,  beat  him  so  complete- 
ly that  the  whole  army  of  the  Sambre  and 
Meuse  took  to  flight,  and  never  halted  till 
it  gained  the  Lower  Rhine.  Jourdan  ral- 
lied them  at  Miihlheim  on  the  Rhine, 
marched  thence  to  Diisseldorf,  and  shortly 
afterwards  resigned  the  command.  By  this 
disaster  of  the  other  army,  Moreau  was 
forced  likewise  to  make  a  retreat  to  the 
Upper  Rhine  ;  and  this  he  effected  in  such 
masterly  style,  that  after  marching  over  the 
most  perilous  roads  through  Swabia  and  the 
Black  Forest,  and  being  continually  pur- 
sued and  hemmed  in  by  the  enemy,  as  well 
as  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  the  enraged 
mountaineers,  he  gained  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine  well  provided  with  booty,  and  bring- 
ing with  him  even  a  number  of  prisoners 
taken  on  his  march.  By  this  admirable 
retreat,  the  fame  of  Moreau  as  a  general 
was  permanently  established.  The  leaders 
on  both  sides  now  agreed  upon  an  armistice 
being  concluded  on  the  Rhine  during  the 
winter. 

The  Archduke  Charles,  on  whom  the 
eyes  of  all  were  now  turned  with  admira- 
tion, received  a  hasty  summons  to  repair  to 
Italy,  in  order  to  reorganize  the  Austrian 
army.  Wurmser,  although  successful  in 
several  attacks,  was  only  able  to  throw 
himself,  with  a  subsidy  of  10,000  men,  into 
Mantua  ;  but  Bonaparte  had  now  arrived, 
and  renewing  the  siege,  forced  them,  on 
the  6th  of  February,  1797,  to  surrender. 

The  Archduke  Charles,  with  a  broken- 
down  and  dispirited  army,  was  not  in  a 
condition  to  check  the  progress  made  by 
Bonaparte.  The  latter,  after  the  fall  of 
Mantua,  penetrated  more  and  more  north- 
ward, crossed  the  Alps  which  separate 
Italy  from  Carinthia,  and,  marching  into 
Styria,  took  possession  of  Clagenfurth,  and 
advanced  as  far  as  Judenburg,  on  the  river 
Mur,  whence  he  threatened  Vienna  itself. 
But  his  course,  this  time,  had  been  pursued 
with  too  much  impetuosity,  and  the  situa- 
tion in  which  he  now  found  himself  was- 


124 


PEACE  OF  CAMPO-FORMIO 


extremely  critical.  In  his  front  he  had  the 
imperial  army,  which,  at  every  retrogres- 
sive step  became  more  and  more  formida- 
ble, as  Vienna  had  already  armed  itself, 
and  Hungary  was  now  rising  en  masse; 
on  his  left  flank,  the  imperial  general,  Lau- 
don,  was  marching  in  advance  against  him 
from  the  Tyrol  ;  and,  in  his  rear,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Trieste,  another  numerous  body 
of  troops,  together  with  the  whole  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Venetian  territory  were  un- 
der arms  ;  while,  in  order  to  gain  the  first 
and  nearest  garrisoned  town,  Mantua,  he 
would  have  to  march  a  distance  of  more 
than  two  hundred  miles,  over  rugged  hills, 
and  an  impoverished  and  naked  country  : 
in  addition  to  all  which  evils,  his  army  had 
scarcely  sufficient  supplies  for  ten  days 
longer.  In  this  state  of  things,  it  is  almost 
certain,  that  if  Austria  had  been  willing  to 
stake  the  chances,  she  might  have  succeed- 
ed in  annihilating  her  dangerous  adversary 
at  once,  and  with  one  blow.  But  this,  it 
appears,  was  not  at  all  contemplated,  for 
when,  with  his  usual  cunning,  Bonaparte, 
with  the  arrogance  of  a  conqueror,  now  of- 
fered peace,  she  accepted  it,  and  concluded 
the  principal  conditions  on  the  18th  of 
April,  at  Leoben,  and  the  definitive  treaty 
was  signed  on  the  17th  of  October,  1797, 
at  Campo-Forrnio,  a  nobleman's  castle  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Udine.  Thus  Bona- 
parte, in  two  campaigns,  subjugated  Italy ; 
gained  fourteen  battles ;  wrested  the  arms 
fron  the  grasp  of  all  the  states  in  that 
quarter ;  and,  finally,  brought  over  Aus- 
tria to  sign  a  peace. 

The  emperor,  by  this  treaty,  ceded  the 
Austrian  Netherlands  to  France,  and  re- 
nounced his  Italian  possessions,  including 
the  capital  city  of  Milan,  together  with 
several  other  Italian  provinces,  which  were 
to  form  a  Cisalpine  republic,  under  the  pro- 
tectorship of  France.  In  return  for  this, 
Austria  received  Venice,  the  Venetian 
Isles,  Istria,  and  Dalmatia,  and  engaged  to 
deliver  up  Breisgau  to  the  duke  of  Modena, 
and  to  summon,  forthwith,  a  congress  at 
Rastadt,  in  order  to  treat  more  fully  the 
several  conditions  of  the  peace  concluded 
between  the  republic  and  the  Germanic 
empire. 

But  this  peace  of  Rastadt  was  in  every 
respect  humiliating  and  disgraceful  to  Ger- 
many. The  empire  was  wholly  abandoned 
and  sacrificed  by  the  emperor,  as  it  had 
previously  been  by  Prussia.  Austria  hav- 


ing, in  a  secret  article,  consented  to  sur« 
render  the  whole  of  the  left  bank  of  thf 
Rhine,  as  the  limits  of  the  Germanic  em 
pire,  who  had  we  now  left  as  its  shield,, 
when  its  most  powerful  protectors  had  thus 
deserted  it  ?  And  yet  no  one  individual 
state  can  be  condemned,  inasmuch  as  all 
committed  themselves ;  and.  having  with- 
drawn from  the  general  co-operation  as  soon 
•as  they  found  the  danger  approaching  them 
closely,  it  could  not  be  required  of  Austria 
that  she  alone  should  make  herself  the  sac- 
rifice. It  is  only  with  painful  feelings  that 
we  can  dwell  upon  these  sad  results,  and 
we  willingly  hurry  over  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  and  tht>  ^oening  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  when  Germany  lay  in  its 
deepest  humiliation  ;  nevertheless,  these 
times  ought  not  to  be  passed  over  in  si- 
lence, for  it  is  necessary  that  we  should 
know  the  sad  condition  to  which  the  dis- 
cord, schism,  and  egotism  of  individuals,  as 
well  as  the  total  want  of  patriotic  feeling, 
could  bring  the  German  nation. 

The  congress  of  peace  was  accordingly 
convened  at  Rastadt,  and  Bonaparte  ap- 
peared there  himself  as  negotiator.  But  in 
what  style  of  insult  and  contempt  was  not 
the  empire  treated  in  these  negotiations  ? 
With  what  arrogance  were  our  princes  met 
by  the  French  envoys,  who  exercised  the 
authority  of  masters  over  them  ?  Never- 
theless, ill-used  and  imposed  upon  as  they 
were,  the  states  were  forced  to  submit  and 
agree  to  every  thing,  viz. :  to  the  cession 
of  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  to  the  secula- 
rization of  the  right  bank,  as  an  indemnity 
for  what  had  been  lost  on  the  left,  and  to 
the  destruction  of  the  fortress  of  Ehrenbreit- 
stein,  together  with  various  other  equally 
humiliating  demands.  These  negotiations 
had  continued  until  the  end  of  the  year 
1798,  when  they  were  brought  to  a  termi- 
nation ;  but,  in  the  mean  time,  Europe  it- 
self had  undergone  a  material  change. 

The  members  of  the  French  directory,  in 
their  arrogance,  had  undertaken  to  revolu- 
tionize and  overturn  the  governments  of 
other  countries,  and  the  measures  they 
adopted  made  it  very  soon  manifest  that 
the  French  republic  was  even  more  dan- 
gerous in  a  time  of  peace  than  during  a 
war.  In  the  beginning  of  1798,  they,  in 
scornful  defiance  of  the  pope,  remodelled 
the  states  of  the  church  into  a  Roman  re- 
public, and  shortly  afterwards,  they  trans. 
formed  the  government  of  Switzerland,  aftei 


BONAPARTE  IN  EGYPT— HIS  FLEET  DESTROYED. 


425 


several  sanguinary  contests,  into  an  Hel- 
vetic republic ;  and  under  the  pretext  of 
securing  these  new  advantages,  they  left 
their  armies  in  possession  of  the  countries 
which  they  drained  by  unheard-of  exac- 
tions. Austria,  who  still  considered  her- 
self called  upon  to  watch  over  the  safety 
of  Europe,  could  not  sanction  such  proceed- 
ings, and  she  found  in  the  emperor  Paul 
of  Russia,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  impe- 
rial throne  on  the  death  of  his  mother  Cath- 
erine, in  1796,  a  co-operative  spirit.  He 
was  a  decided  .enemy  to  all  the  principles 
professed  and  followed  out  by  the  French  ; 
and  his  mother  had  already  denounced  and 
threatened  those  "  regicides"  and  "  athe- 
ists." Paul  at  this  moment  was  more  es- 
pecially excited  against  France,  because 
the  knights  of  the  order  of  St.  John  had 
elected  him  their  grand-master,  after  the 
French  had  taken  possession  of  the  island 
of  Malta.  This  circumstance  was  well 
adapted  to  act  as  a  spur  to  his  ambition. 
Accordingly,  a  coalition  of  powers  was  now 
formed  against  France,  such  as  had  never 
before  been  brought  into  operation :  being 
a  union  of  Russia,  England,  Austria,  and 
even  Turkey,  which,  until  now,  had  always 
cherished  the  greatest  enmity  towards  two 
of  these  powers;  France  herself,  however, 
had  forced  Turkey,  hitherto  her  old  ally, 
to  a  war,  by  the  formidable  expedition  she 
sent  against  Egypt  in  May,  1798. 

The  republic  of  France  had  never  con- 
ceived a  more  grand  and  stupendous  design, 
of  which  they  contemplated  the  realization 
by  this  enterprise.  At  the  moment  when 
the  negotiations  with  the  Germanic  empire 
had  as  yet  made  but  little  progress,  and 
consequently,  the  peace  of  continental  Eu- 
rope was  not  yet  secured,  and  when  Eng- 
land was  maintaining  a  gloriously  victori- 
ous struggle  on  the  seas,  the  flower  of  the 
French  army,  headed  b/  Bonaparte  and 
their  best  and  most  successful  leaders,  sud- 
denly embarked,  and  set  sail  towards  a  dis- 
tant land,  "  in  order,"  as  stated  in  the 
French  manifesto,  "  to  deliver  Egypt  from 
the  tyranny  of  the  Mamelukes,  and  to 
avenge  the  Porte  upon  those  overbearing 
and  insolent  vassals."  A  plan  more  strange 
and  unexpected  could  not  have  been  thought 
of,  only  that  behind  these  words  was  con- 
cealed a  deep-laid  scheme,  which  events 
very  soon  made  clearly  manifest,  but  which' 
likewise  fell  to  the  ground. 

Bonaparte,   after  a   orosperous  voyage, 


and  after  having  made  himself  master  ot 
the  island  of  Malta,  landed  in  the  bay  of 
Aboukir,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1798,  and  hav- 
ing taken  Alexandria  by  storm,  continued 
his  march,  and  took  up  his  position  near 
Cairo,  the  capital  of  that  country.  Here, 
at  the  foot  of  the  great  pyramids,  he  found 
himself  opposed  by  twenty-three  Mameluke 
Beys  at  the  head  of  their  cavalry,  drawn 
up  in  battle  array.  Having  made  his  pre 
parations  for  the  attack,  Bonaparte  turned 
to  his  troops,  and  exclaimed,  as  he  pointed 
with  his  sword  to  the  pyramids  :  "  Behold, 
and  remember,  that  four  thousand  years  are 
looking  down  upon  you  from  those  monu- 
ments !"  After  this  short  address,  so  well 
adapted  to  the  French  national  character, 
the  troops  attacked  the  enemy,  and  com- 
pletely overthrowing  their  whole  army, 
advanced  against  the  capital,  which  they 
captured,  and  now  looked  upon  Egypt  as  a 
conquered  country.  But  this  success  was 
very  speedily  changed  into  disaster.  France 
had  imagined  that  the  Turks,  who  were 
rather  in  name  than  in  fact  the  masters  of 
Egypt,  would  view  her  successes  with  in- 
difference— not  so,  however  ;  for  on  the  con- 
trary, they  regarded  the  matter  more  seri- 
ously, and  renouncing  their  alliance  of 
three  hundred  years  with  that  country, 
united  with  the  other  states  against  that 
power.  England  now  clearly  perceiving 
the  great  importance  arising  from  this  ex- 
pedition, strained  every  nerve  to  defeat  and 
destroy  it ;  Admiral  Nelson,  the  great  na- 
val hero,  after  a  long  search,  came  up  with 
the  French  fleet  on  the  1st  of  August,  in 
the  bay  of  Aboukir,  and  although  the  sun 
had  already  set,  he  nevertheless,  with  his 
usual  undaunted  valor,  formed  his  plan  of 
battle  and  commenced  the  action,  broke 
through  the  enemy's  line  of  battle,  and 
gained  a  glorious  victory;  having  com- 
pletely annihilated  the  French  fleet,  of 
which  the  admiral's  ship  itself,  L'Orient, 
was  blown  up  with  more  than  one  thousand 
of  her  crew.  By  this  victory,  Bonaparte 
found  himself  completely  separated  from 
Europe,  and  cut  off  from  all  succor  ;  while, 
in  the  mean  time,  the  most  formidable  pre- 
parations were  being  made  by  the  coalesced 
powers  for  the  war  against  France. 

The  emperor  of  Austria  now,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  year  1799,  recalled 
his  ambassador  from  the  congress  at  Ras- 
tadt,  and  the  meeting  of  plenipotentiaries 
was  dissolved.  On  the  6th  of  March,  the 


126 


THE  FRENCH  IN  ITALY— MARSHAL  SUVVAROFF. 


French  republic,  according  to  its  system 
of  always  anticipating  the  measures  of  its 
enemies,  declared  war  once  more  against 
the  emperor  of  Austria,  for  having  allowed 
the  Russian  army  to  enter  the  Austrian 
territory. 

In  Italy  the  war  had  commenced  a  few 
months  sooner ;  for  the  queen  of  Naples, 
a  violent  enemy  of  the  French,  would  not 
wait  for  the  moment  of  general  attack,  but 
caused  the  Neapolitan  troops,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1798,  to  advance  against  the  Roman 
territories  ;  an  impatience,  however,  which 
produced  very  bad  results.  The  French, 
with  their  usual  celerity,  directed  their 
whole  operations  against  that  quarter,  and 
driving  the  king  of  Naples  with  his  family 
out  of  Sicily,  they  took  possession  of  Lower 
Italy,  as  far  as  Calabria.  The  kingdom 
of  Naples  was  now  changed  into  a  Parthe- 
nopian  republic,  and  in  order  to  transform 
the  whole  of  Italy  into  one  entire  republic, 
the  states  of  Genoa  and  Tuscany  were  de- 
clared free  states. 

This  time,  however,  these  new  creations 
had  but  a  short  existence,  for  the  armies 
of  the  allies  now  marched  forth  from  every 
bide  to  open  the  campaign,  led  on  by  able 
and  well-tried  generals.  The  French  di- 
rectory had  lost  much  of  its  former  influ- 
ence and  power  even  in  France  itself:  La 
Vendee  had  again  taken  up  arms,  the 
French  armies  were  for  the  greater  part 
badly  conducted,  and  in  the  government  of 
the  state,  as  well  as  in  the  administration 
of  war,  the  greatest  lethargy  and  disorder 
prevailed.  Added  to  this,  Archduke  Charles 
completely  overthrew  General  Jourdan  at 
Stockach,  as  well  as  in  several  other  en- 
counters, and  drove  him  out  of  Germany  ; 
while  from  General  Massena  he  reconquer- 
ed the  whole  of  the  western  portion  of 
Switzerland  beyond  Zurich  itself,  and  then 
awaited  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  the  re- 
sults of  the  war  in  Italy. 

There  the  French  army  was  under  the 
orders  of  Genoral  Scherer,  a  man  of  a  li- 
centious character  and  addicted  to  drink. 
Defeated  by  the  Austrian  general,  Kray, 
at  Verona  and  at  Magnano,  he  resigned 
the  command  into  the  hands  of  Moreau, 
when  the  latter  found  the  army  reduced  to 
a  state  of  the  greatest  disorganization  and 
confusion.  At  this  moment  Marshal  Su- 
warofT,  an  old  but  active,  daring  warrior, 
with  his  Russians,  formed  a  junction  with 
Jae  Austrian  army  in  Italy.  Against  such 


an  adversary  Moreau  found  it  impossible 
to  make  head  with  the  ill-conditioned  troop* 
under  his  command.  Accordingly  Suwa- 
roff  completely  defeated  him  on  the  27th 
of  April,  near  Cassano,  and  on  the  day  fol- 
lowing entered  Milan  in  triumph.  By  this 
victory  the  whole  of  Lombardy  was  re. 
conquered,  the  Cisalpine  republic  destroy- 
ed, and  the  north  of  Italy  restored  to  the 
house  of  Austria.  After  this  the  Russian 
general  marched  against  Macdonald,  who 
had  returned  with  the  French  army  from 
Naples,  and  beat  him,  in  the  month  of 
June,  in  several  sanguinary  actions  on  the 
banks  of  the  Trebia,  nearly  on  the  same 
spot  where  Hannibal  vanquished  the  Ro- 
mans. The  whole  of  Italy  as  far  as  the 
states  of  Genoa  was  retaken  from  the 
French,  all  the  fortresses  were  besieged 
and  captured,  the  republican  governments 
disappeared  one  after  the  other,  and  the 
ancient  duchies  were  restored. 

Meantime  General  Joubert  had  collected 
another  army  ;  but  he  met  with  the  same 
fate  as  his  predecessors.  On  the  15th  of 
August  the  hard-fought  battle  of  Novi, 
which  continued  for  twenty  hours,  was 
fought,  in  which  Joubert  himself  fell  mor- 
tally wounded.  Genoa  was  now  the  only 
city  that  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
French.  Leaving  the  siege  of  this  place 
to  be  conducted  by  the  Austrians  alone, 
Suwaroff  directed  his  march  towards  the 
Alps,  in  order  to  penetrate  into  Switzerland 
and  to  make  himself  master  of  that  gigan- 
tic fortress  of  nature — the  bulwark  of 
France.  When  he  arrived  at  the  foot  of 
those  vast  mountains,  the  summits  of  which, 
towering  to  the  very  heavens  above,  be- 
came lost  in  the  mist  of  the  clouds,  his 
warriors  were  struck  with  awe  and  dread 
at  a  scene  of  such  majestic  grandeur,  by 
them  wholly  unknown  amidst  their  own 
vast  plains,  and  they  hesitated  for  a  mo 
ment  before  they  ventured  to  ascend  the 
rocky,  precipitous  heights.  Beholding  this, 
the  veteran  general,  who  commanded  the 
entire  devotion  of  his  soldiers,  threw  him- 
self upon  the  ground  before  them,  and  ex- 
claimed :  "  Behold,  comrades  !  rather  than 
return,  my  body  shall  be  buried  here  at 
the  foot  of  these  mountains,  so  that  the 
world  may  know  that  you  have  abandoned 
your  leader,  Suwaroff,  on  this  spot !"  The 
soldiers,  struck  with  shame  and  confusion 
at  these  words,  delayed  no  longer,  but 
marching  forth  with  reanimated  vigor  and 


RUSSIA  AND  ENGLAND— BONAPARTE  FIRST  CONSUL. 


421 


courage,  they  commenced  the  ascent  of 
St.  Gothard,  and  passing  onward  through 
its  intricate  defiles  amidst  constant  fight- 
ing, gained  the  Devil's  bridge,  and  thence 
descended  into  the  valley  of  Luzern. 

During  this  interval,  however,  Massena 
naving  by  a  successful  manoeuvre  taken 
the  Russian  general,  Korsakow,  by  sur- 
prise, completely  overthrew  him  ;  while 
General  Soult  defeated  the  Austrians  un- 
der Hotze  in  the  neighborhood  of  Zurich. 
Suwaroff's  object  was  to  join  the  Aus- 
trians ;  but  after  their  defeat  it  became 
impossible  to  save  Switzerland,  and  the 
war  could  not  be  protracted  in  a  country 
so  poor  that  no  supplies  were  to  be  obtain- 
ed for  the  troops.  Accordingly,  SuwarofF 
retreated  to  Feldkirch  in  Swabia,  directing 
his  march  through  Graubiindten,  across 
such  narrow  passes  that  his  soldiers  were 
only  able  to  march  in  single  file :  a  retreat 
accomplished  in  such  a  masterly  style  that 
he  lost  not  a  single  man.  Shortly  after- 
wards he  was  recalled  with  his  whole  army, 
and  he  returned  to  Russia.  The  Russians 
had  only  shared  in  this  one  campaign  with 
the  Austrians ;  but  it  was  a  campaign  al- 
most unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  war, 
both  in  respect  to  the  deeds  accomplished, 
and  the  profitable  results  produced.  For, 
besides  the  several  battles  gained,  eight 
strong  fortresses,  and  no  less  than  five  thou- 
sand pieces  of  artillery,  had  been  taken. 

The  restless  and  false  character  of  the 
emperor  Paul,  who  pretended  that  he  was 
neglected  and  insulted  by  his  allies,  was 
the  cause  of  the  sudden  termination  of  the 
alliance.  An  attempt  had  been  made  in 
the  autumn  of  this  year  to  invade  Holland 
with  a  combined  force  of  English  and  Rus- 
sian troops ;  but  through  various  blunders 
which  occurred  in  the  expedition,  it  turned 
oji*.  unsuccessful,  and  this  result  produced 
more  especially  the  discontent  of  the  em- 
peror of  Russia.  Thence  France,  through 
this  ill  success  of  her  adversaries  in  Hol- 
land, and  by  her  repossession  of  Switzer- 
land, was  delivered  from  the  great  and 
more  immediate  danger  with  which  she  had 
been  threatened.  Nevertheless,  she  was 
not  yet  altogether  free  from  difficulty  ;  for 
.he  victorious  troops  of  Austria,  after  having 
reconquered  Italy,  maintained  their  position 
on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  which  they  made 
preparations  for  crossing  in  conjunction 
with  the  rest  of  the  imperial  forces,  which 
lad  at  length  resolved  to  join  in  the  war ; 


while,  in  addition  to  this,  the  government  of 
France  itself  was  in  a  state  of  disunion,  ana 
had  lost  public  confidence.  Bonaparte, 
however,  now  arrived  to  extricate  the  na- 
tion from  its  embarrassed  condition. 

When  this  general,  who  had  during  this 
interval  been  actively  engaged  in  Egypt 
and  Syria,  learned  the  dangers  that  threat- 
ened France,  the  unsuccessful  battles  fought 
and  the  loss  of  Italy,  he  quitted  his  then  scene 
of  action  in  the  east,  without  waiting  to  be 
recalled,  and,  with  only  a  few  followers, 
hoisted  sail  homeward.  Having,  with  daring 
courage,  miraculously  escaped  the  vigilance 
of  the  British  fleet,  he  landed  on  the  9th  of 
October  at  Frejus,  and  appeared  suddenly, 
and  to  the  wonderment  of  all,  in  Paris  itself. 
His  presence,  thus  unexpectedly,  produced 
considerable  alarm  among  those  to  whom  his 
arrival  was  any  thing  but  welcome,  and  to 
whom  his  ambition  was  well  known  ;  oth- 
ers again,  who  had  already  witnessed  and 
appreciated  the  victories  he  had  gained,  and 
by  which  he  had  been  the  means  of  pro- 
ducing peace,  hailed  his  reappearance  as 
the  harbinger  of  a  beneficial  change  in  the 
state  of  affairs  ;  while  the  majority  congrat- 
ulated themselves  with  the  sanguine  hope 
that  by  his  means  their  personal  interests 
would  be  promoted.  And  truly  he  did  very- 
soon  succeed  in  reforming  the  government 
of  the  country,  which  at  once  placed  in  his 
hands  the  predominating  power,  and  he  was 
chosen  consul. 

His  first  word  was  peace  ;  and  at  this 
moment  this  was  his  principal  object  in  or- 
der to  fix  himself  more  securely  in  the  new 
power  he  commanded ;  but  all  the  other 
nations,  doubtful  of  his  faith,  refused  to  re- 
ceive his  offers  of  peace.  "  Well  then  !" 
he  exclaimed,  "  we  must  conquer  peace 
ourselves."  And  these  striking  words  were 
soon  re-echoed  throughout  the  country,  op- 
erating with  such  powerful  influence,  that 
a  numerous  and  well-appointed  army  was 
already  assembled  for  action  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  1800,  at  Dijon. 

The  Austrian  army  closely  besieged  Ge- 
noa on  every  side,  and  however  bravely  de- 
fended by  Massena,  still,  owing  to  the  want 
of  provisions,  disease  and  misery  prevailed 
to  such  a  dreadful  extent  throughout  that 
populous  city,  that  great  numbers  of  the 
wretched  inhabitants  perished  daily.  The 
idea  of  any  aid  being  furnished  across  the 
Alps,  did  not  for  a  moment  enter  the  minds 
of  the  members  of  the  war-council  in  Vien- 


BATTLE  OF  MARENGO— MOREAU 


na,  and  so  far  were  they  from  entertaining 
such  a  suspicion,  that  General  Melas  re- 
ceived instructions  to  march  across  Nizza, 
and  from  this  point  enter  the  south  of  France. 
But  at  this  moment  the  first  consul  suddenly 
marched  from  Dijon  with  the  army  of  re- 
serve, and  leading  his  troops,  with  all  his 
cavalry  and  heavy  artillery,  in  spite  of  ev- 
ery obstacle,  over  the  great  mountains  of 
St.  Bernard,  the  Simplon,  and  St.  Gothard, 
he  descended  to  the  other  side,  and  arrived 
in  safety  on  the  plains  of  Lombardy  before 
even  Melas  had  been  informed  of  his  expe- 
dition ;  for  had  he  known  it,  it  would  have 
been  extremely  easy  for  him  to  have  anni- 
hilated the  troops,  corps  after  corps,  as  they 
descended  the  mountains.  On  the  2d  of 
June  Bonaparte  made  his  public  entry  into 
Milan  ;  and  on  the  same  day  Massena  sur- 
rendered to  the  imperialists  the  city  of  Ge- 
noa, in  which  both  garrison  and  inhabitants 
were  suffering  all  the  horrors  of  famine. 
The  Austrians  allowed  him  and  such  of  his 
troops  as  were  fit  for  active  service  to  march 
out  with  flying  colors. 

Shortly  after  this,  on  the  14th  of  June,  a 
grand  battle  was  fought  near  the  village  of 
Marengo,  on  the  vast  plains  between  Alex- 
andria and  Tortona ;  a  battle  the  most  ob- 
stinate and  sanguinary  of  all  those  hitherto 
fought  in  the  war  of  the  revolution,  and  in 
which  all  the  destructive  powers  at  man's 
command  were  employed  to  hurl  forth  their 
murderous  effects  during  a  space  of  thirteen 
hours.  Both  armies  fought  with  great  spirit 
and  determination,  and  victory  was  already 
inclining  towards  the  Austrian  side — their 
valorous  battalions  having  beat  back  the 
French  in  four  different  attacks,  until  their 
retreat  was  becoming  more  and  more  gen- 
eral— when,  most  opportunely  for  Bona- 
parte, Desaix,  one  of  the  bravest  of  all  the 
French  generals,  and  especially  esteemed 
as  a  man  by  all,  arrived  at  this  moment  on 
the  field  of  battle  with  the  corps-de-reserve. 
The  battle  was  forthwith  resumed  by  De- 
saix, and  he  was  followed  by  the  rest  of  the 
army,  who  rallied  around  him.  He  him- 
self was  mortally  wounded  by  a  cannon- 
ball  ;  but  his  soldiers,  rendered  more  furi- 
ous by  this,  fought  with  such  desperation, 
that  they  eventually  gained  the  victory, 
which,  after  such  great  efforts,  had  now  be 
come  decisive. 

Thus  was  lost  in  one  day  the  fruits  of  all 
the  successes  gained  by  the  Austrians  dur- 
•jin;  the  campaign  ;  while  the  French  ac- 


quired possession  of  the  whole  of  Italy, 
Melas,  who  by  this  defeat  lost  all  self-corn, 
mand,  as  all  retreat  into  Austria  was  now 
completely  cut  off,  abandoned  all  the  Ital- 
ian fortresses  he  held,  except  Mantua  and 
Ferrara,  on  condition  of  being  allowed  to 
retire  without  molestation. 

General  Moreau  pursued  hostilities  in 
Germany  during  the  interval  between  the 
months  of  April  and  December,  1800,  with 
a  boldness  and  good  fortune  almost  unexam- 
pled. On  the  '25th  of  April  he  crossed  the 
Rhine,  and  already  a  fortnight  afterwards 
he  gained  the  banks  of  the  Iller,  having 
made  himself  master  of  the  entire  country 
between  that  river,  the  Rhine,  the  Danube, 
and  the  lake  of  Constance,  and  fought  two 
successful  battles  at  Stockach  and  Mos- 
kirch  ;  thence  he  penetrated  farther  into 
Bavaria,  and  conquered  the  whole  line  ol 
territory  as  far  as  Munich.  The  Austrian 
general,  Kray,  having  now  proposed  a  sus- 
pension of  arms,  Moreau  consented,  and 
negotiations  were  commenced ;  as,  how- 
ever, Austria  would  not  treat  without  the 
co-operation  of  England,  and  as  France  re- 
fused to  receive  the  English  envoys  at  the 
conference,  hostilities  were  resumed  on  the 
1st  of  December.  At  the  commencement, 
the  Austrians  appeared  to  have  the  advan- 
tage, but  on  the  3d  of  December  they  met 
with  a  complete  defeat  at  Hohenlinden. 
Moreau,  after  this  great  victory,  advanced 
with  hasty  marches,  and  crossing  the  Inn 
to  Salzburg,  he  proceeded  by  Linz  and  ar- 
rived to  within  twenty  leagues  of  Vienna 
itself.  Another  proposal  for  a  suspension 
of  arms  was  agreed  to,  and  the  negotiations 
for  peace  were  now  resumed  with  greater 
determination  at  Luneville.  This  subse- 
quent treaty  of  peace  concluded  at  Lune- 
ville, owed  its  origin  entirely  to  the  exploits 
of  Moreau  in  this  campaign  ;  for,  in  the 
short  space  of  eight  months,  of  which  four 
had  been  devoted  to  a  suspension  of  arms, 
he  had  crossed  the  Rhine,  the  Danube,  the 
Lech,  the  Iller,  the  Inn,  the  Salza,  and  the 
Ens  ;  he  had  been  conqueror  in  six  grand 
battles,  and  had  enriched  the  treasury  o* 
the  republic  with  40,000,000  francs. 

After  the  losses  of  the  year  1800,  Eng 
land  absolved  the  emperor  of  Germany 
from  all  his  obligations  previously  entered 
into  not  to  make  a  separate  peace  ;  whence 
the  negotiations  between  the  Austrian  en- 
voy, Count  Cobenzl,  and  Joseph  Bonaparte, 
the  eldest  brother  of-  the  first  consul,  were 


SACRIFICES  OF  GERMANY— FRENCH  ARROGANCE. 


.    42C 


carried  on  with  such  dispatch,  that  the 
jreaty  of  peace  was  signed  on  the  9th  of 
February,  1801  ;  which  treaty  confirmed 
that  of  Campo-Formio  in  all  its  points,  and 
Austria  acknowledged  therein  the  Bata- 
vian,  Helvetic,  Ligurian,  and  Cisalpine  re- 
publics. A  fresh  condition  which  had  not 
been  included  in  the  treaty  of  Campo-For- 
mio was  now  added,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
agreed  that  the  duke  of  Parma,  a  near  re- 
lation of  the  king  of  Spain,  should  be  ele- 
vated to  the  rank  of  a  king,  with  the  title 
of  king  of  Etruria,  such  being  the  name 
into  which  that  of  Tuscany  had  now  be- 
come changed  ;  the  grand-duke,  on  the 
other  hand,  in  return  for  his  duchy,  re- 
ceived in  Germany  the  archbishopric  of 
Salzburg  as  a  temporal  principality,  to- 
gether with  other  frontier  territories,  and 
the  title  of  elector.  The  duke  of  Modena 
likewise  received,  as  had  been  already 
agreed  upon  at  Campo-Formio,  the  mar- 
graviate  of  Breisgau  as  an  indemnity  for 
the  losses  he  had  suffered  in  Italy. 

Besides  these  concessions  made  by  Ger- 
many to  the  princes  of  Italy,  who  were 
thus  transplanted  among  us,  great  changes 
were  effected  within  the  empire  itself  ;  for 
Germany  ceded  to  France  the  whole  of 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  consisting  of 
twelve  hundred  square  miles  of  territory, 
and  four  millions  of  inhabitants  ;  while  all 
those  princes,  who  were  losers  on  that  side 
of  the  river,  were  to  be  indemnified  with 
the  ecclesiastical  possessions  and  the  impe- 
rial cities,  situated  on  the  right  bank.  A 
diet,  appointed  for  the  regulation  and  ad- 
justment of  the  rights  of  all  interested,  was 
assembled  under  the  mediation  of  France 
and  Russia.  Its  sittings  were  opened  on 
the  24th  of  August,  1802,  and  terminated 
on  the  10th  of  May,  1803.  In  these  con- 
ferences, France  dictated  the  law  with  even 
still  greater  authority  and  arrogant  arbi- 
trariness than  formerly  at  the  peace  of 
Westphalia.  She  granted  or  refused  her 
favor  according  to  her  caprice,  and  thus 
established  her  influence  over  dependent 
Germany  more  firmly  than  ever. 

The  peace  of  Luneville  deprived  the 
ecclesiastics  of  all  their  domains  in  Ger- 
many, even  to  the  very  last  in  the  list ;  of 
forty-eight  imperial  cities  only  six  now 
remained  :  Lubeck,  Hamburg,  Bremen, 
Frankfort,  Augsburg,  and  Nuremberg  ; 
the  counts  and  knights  were  made  only 
mediately  dependent  on  the  empire,  and  of 


all  the  lay  princes,  four  only  received  the 
electoral  power,  a  power  which,  a  few 
years  later,  lost  all  its  ancient  and  vener 
ating  signification  ;  for  these  newly-created 
princes  were  not  allowed  even  the  time  to 
exercise  their  noble  privileges.  This  was 
regarded  as  the  prognostication  of  the  ap- 
proaching downfall  of  every  thing ;  for, 
comparatively  speaking,  the  changes  intro- 
duced in  consequence  of  the  Westphalian 
treaty,  in  the  administrative  forms  of  the 
empire,  were  nothing.  What  had  then  been 
cautiously  brought  into  operation,  merely 
for  a  trial,  the  peace  of  Luneville  accom- 
plished at  once,  without  any  fear  or  dread 
of  the  ruinous  results  entailed  upon  institu- 
tions existing  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years.  Such  acts  of  spoliation  could  not 
but  fill  the  hearts  of  all  patriots  with  pro- 
found grief;  for  who  could  contemplate, 
without  bitter  feelings,  the  scattered  heaps 
of  ruins  into  which  the  raging  storm  had 
converted  the  once-beloved  home  ?  But, 
although  the  columns  of  the  ancient  edifice 
were  torn  asunder,  and  razed  to  their  very 
foundation,  still,  on  the  walls  were  to  be 
traced  the  symbols  of  its  ancient  majestic 
grandeur,  and  the  remains  of  a  powerful 
and  prosperous  nation,  such  as  are  record- 
ed of  few  other  nations. 

A  short  period  of  tranquillity  now  re- 
appeared  once  more  on  the  continent,  aftei 
the  long  wa-r  ;  but.  the  maritime  war  still 
continued :  for  the  great  statesman  who 
was  at  the  helm  of  the  British  government, 
and  who  penetrated  into  the  very  depths  ol 
Bonaparte's  designs  and  motives,  knew 
full  well  that  peace  could  never  exist  be- 
tween the  latter  and  England.  The  po- 
sition of  France  and  England  towards  each 
other,  at  this  period,  has  been  compared  tc 
Rome  and  Carthage  in  ancient  times :  a 
comparison  equally  just  and  happy.  For 
between  these  two  powers  existed  a  mor 
tal  hatred,  and  thence  Pitt  was  resolved, 
similar  to  Hannibal,  to  fight  a  war  of  life 
and  death.  At  the  same  time,  however, 
many  voices  in  England  were  in  favor  of 
peace,  inasmuch  as  commerce  was  in  a 
very  depressed  state  ;  the  embargo  laid  b} 
France  on  the  exportation  of  corn  had  pro- 
duced a  considerable  augmentation  in  ita 
price  in  England;  and,  finally,  the  national 
debt  had  increased  to  the  enormous  amount 
of  five  hundred  and  fifty-eight  millions 
sterling.  Consequently,  Pitt  gave  in  his 
resignation,  in  order  not  to  throw  any  ob- 


430 


PEACE  OF  AMIENS. 


stacle  in  the  way  of  the  said  peace,  although 
he  could  not,  conscientiously,  sign  the  treaty 
himself. 

The  peace  of  Amiens  was  concluded  on 
the  27th  of  March,  1802,  by  the  terms  of 
which  England  restored  all  she  had  con- 
quered from  France,  Spain,  and  Holland, 
except  Trinidad  and  Ceylon,  resigning  even 
Malta,  and  her  conquests  in  Egypt  under 
General  Abercromby ;  the  former  being 
restored  to  the  knights,  and  the  latter  to 
the  Turks.  Such  a  peace,  however,  the 
terms  of  which,  after  the  great  victories 
gained  at  sea,  were  held  to  be  both  unfavor- 
able and  highly  disadvantageous,  could  not 
last  long,  and  in  less  than  a  year  it  termi- 
nated. England  very  soon  perceived  that 
Bonaparte's  object,  in  desiring  peace,  had 
only  been  to  increase  his  naval  power,  and, 
if  possible,  to  raise  it  to  a  level  with  that 
of  Great  Britain,  and  make  himself  master 
of  the  Mediterranean.  He  formed  alli- 
ances with  the  Porte,  the  bey  of  Egypt, 
and  with  the  piratical  states ;  and,  soon 
afterwards,  he  prohibited  all  introduction 
of  English  produce  into  France  and  Hol- 
land. Thus  England  found  she  had  no 
less  cause  to  dread  a  state  of  peace  than 
she  had  that  of  war;  for,  assuredly,  she 
was  as  little  inclined  to  submit  to  a  rival  on 
the  seas,  as  France  was  to  endure  one  on 
the  continent.  Other  causes,  however, 
soon  operated  to  add  to  this  discontent.  It 
became  more  and  more  evident,  that  the 
new  regulations  and  institutions,  already 
brought  to  bear  in  Europe  by  Bonaparte, 
formed  merely  the  introduction  to  those 
other  grand  plans  of  usurpation  he  had 
still  in  contemplation.  The  Cisalpine  re- 
public was  made  to  acknowledge  the  first 
consul  of  France  as  its  president ;  while 
Holland  remained  in  the  occupation  of  the 
French  army,  and  was  placed  completely 
under  the  control  of  the  French  govern- 
ment. Switzerland;  which  could  not  be 
brought  to  agree  unanimously  to  the  new 
constitution  forced  upon  her,  was  at  once 
disarmed,  and  changed  into  a  federative 
republic,  it  being  declared,  "  that  she  was 
left  to  the  free  administration  of  her  in- 
ternal affairs,  but,  in  all  external  mat- 
ters, she  was  henceforth  dependent  upon 
France." 

England,  aftei  these  events,  preferring 
open  war  to  an  insecure  peace,  determined 
upon  the  course  she  should  take,  and  de- 
manded from  Bonaparte  the  evacuation  of 


Holland  and  Switzerland,  which  being 
refused,  she  declared  war  against  him,  in 
May,  1803.  Bonaparte  had  only  waited 
for  this  opportunity,  in  order  to  take  imme- 
diate possession  of  the  territory  belonging 
to  the  English  crown  on  the  continent,  and 
already,  in  the  following  month  of  June, 
the  French  armies  marched  into  Hanover, 
and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  entire 
country,  wholly  indifferent  to  the  fact,  and 
slighting,  altogether,  the  consideration  thai 
it  formed  a  portion  of  the  Germanic  em- 
pire, and,  as  such,  could  not  be  held  or 
bound  to  take  any  share  with  Englanc 
in  the  war.  The  moment  was  deemed 
too  opportune  not  to  be  made  available, 
and  thus  a  new  source  was  presented  for 
visiting  us  with  fresh  exactions,  for  main- 
taining a  strict  watch  over  the  maritime 
commerce  of  the  neighboring  cities,  and 
restricting  their  trade  with  England.  All 
the  Hanoverian  troops  were  disarmed ;  but 
thousands  of  them  successively  passed  over 
to  the  British  shores,  and,  forming  them- 
selves into  a  select  battalion,  fought,  under 
the  title  of  the  "  King's  German  Legion," 
against  the  enemy  with  the  greatest  cour- 
age, and  sustained  the  ancient  glory  of 
the  Hanoverian  arms  in  many  subsequent 
battles,  sieges,  and  expeditions,  in  Portu- 
gal, Spain,  Italy,  France,  and  Germany 
itself;  while  at  Salamanca,  especially,  the 
brilliant  services  of  this  corps  obtained  for 
the  officers  a  permanent  rank  in  the  Eng- 
lish army,  as  was  afterwards  confirmed  by 
act  of  parliament,  in  1812. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

Napoleon's  Consulship— Gains  the  Nation's  Confidence 
— Restores  internal  Tranquillity  and  improves  the  In- 
stitutions—Napoleon Emperor  of  the  French,  1804— 
His  Usurpations— Alliance  of  Austria,  Russia,  and 
England — War  declared — Napoleon  in  Germany, 
1805— Defeats  the  Austrians— Ulm— General  Mack- 
Battle  of  Austerlitz— The  Allies  defeated— Peace  of 
Presburg— Dismemberment  of  the  States  of  Germany 
— Naples— Joseph  Bonaparte— Holland— Louis  Bona- 
parte— Rhenish  Confederation,  or  League  of  the  Ger- 
man Princes— Their  Degeneration— The  Emperor  of 
Austria  lays  down  his  title  of  Emperor  of  Germany, 
1806— Prussia— Declares  War  against  France— The 
Prussian  Army— Battle  of  Saalfeld— Death  of  Prince 
Lewis  Ferdinand  of  Prussia— Battles  of  Jena  and 
A  uerstadt— Defeat  of  the  Prussians— Napoleon  enters 
Berlin— The  Russian  and  Prussian  Alliance— Battles 
of  Eylau  and  Friedland— Defeat  of  the  Allies— Peace 
of  Tilsit  between  Russia  and  France,  1807— Prussia's 
Dismemberment— Westphalia— Hesse— Jerome  Bo 
naparte  —  Prussia— Lieutenant  Sc hill— Napoleon 
Triumphant  Return  to  Paris. 


NAPOLEON'S  CONSULSHIP— NAPOLEON  EMPEROR. 


431 


THE  first  years  of  the  consulship  were 
for  France  a  period  of  repose,  and  marked 
by  order,  industry,  and  prosperity  through, 
out  .he  country ;  the  most  turbulent,  as 
well  as  the  most  timid,  were  now  tranquil- 
lized  and  breathed  more  freely,  while  the 
name  of  the  first  consul  was  repeated 
everywhere  with  praises  and  blessings. 
And  even  beyond  France  many  looked 
towards  him  with  sanguine  hopes  and  ex- 
pectations, as  the  only  one  who,  after  the 
recent  period  of  savage  and  inhuman  crime, 
could  re-establish  order  upon  a  solid  basis  : 
nor  did  he  want  the  ability  and  energy  ne- 
cessary to  effect  this  desirable  object.  The 
power  with  which  he  made  every  thing 
yield  to  his  will  was  truly  astounding, 
whether  we  regard  the  promptitude  dis- 
played in  his  measures  of  administration, 
or  the  indefatigable  zeal  with  which  he 
undertook  to  condense  into  a  single  code 
the  results  of  multiplied  experience  in 
public  life.  All  that  was  held  most  valu- 
able in  the  civil  institutions  of  his  period — 
the  recognition  of  the  rights  of  man  in  every 
thing ;  equality  of  the  citizen  in  the  eye 
of  the  law;  abrogation  of  all  feudal  rights; 
liberty  of  conscience  in  all  invisible  mat- 
ters ;  and  a  government  which,  in  an 
eminent  degree,  combined  the  force  of 
union  in  the  execution  of  laws,  with  the 
advantages  of  variety  of  counsel  in  their 
formation — all  these,  and  many  other  in- 
stitutions, under  the  fostering  care  of  that 
extraordinary  man,  were  seen  to  grow,  in 
the  now  genial  soil  of  France,  and  to 
ripen  into  maturity,  as  a  striking  and 
praiseworthy  example  for  other  nations. 

What  might  not  this  man  have  been  to 
Europe,  how  different  his  history  in  the 
annals  of  the  world,  had  he  made  real  and 
complete  this  beautiful  and  noble  picture, 
of  which  his  zeal,  thus  far  pure,  in  the 
cause  of  truth  and  justice,  already  pre- 
sented, before  the  eyes  of  all,  a  glorious 
sketch !  How  might  he  not  have  been 
enabled,  for  centuries  to  come,  to  have  led 
on  the  way  to  enlightenment,  and  having 
carried  all  with  him,  have  merited  the 
blessings,  instead  of  the  curses  of  all  man- 
Kind! 

Napoleon  Bonaparte  was  now  elected 
emperor  of  France,  and  thus,  in  the  llth 
year  of  the  republic,  his  imperial  throne 
was  erected  upon  the  ruins  of  the  royal 
and  legitimate  dynasty  ;  nevertheless,  his 
ambition  was  not  yet  satisfied.  Immediately 


afterwards,  he  changed  the  Cisalpine  re. 
public  into  a  kingdom,  and  created  himself 
king  of  Italy,  together  with  all  his  descend- 
ants ;  and  as  a  proof  of  his  moderation,  as 
he  said,  he  appointed  his  son-in-law,  Eu- 
gene de  Beauharnais,  viceroy  of  Italy. 
Parma,  Piacenza,  and  Guastella,  were  now 
altogether  united  with  France,  as  also  the 
Ligurian  republic.  All  these  changes 
were  contrary  to  the  treaty  of  peace  con- 
cluded at  Luneville,  and  gave  great  of- 
fence to  Austria,  who  found  sympathy  in 
the  emperor  Alexander  of  Russia,  now  so 
much  exasperated  by  the  execution  of  the 
cluke  d'Enghien — shortly  before  effected 
by  the  cruelty  of  Bonaparte — and  who  al- 
ready felt  himself  called  upon  to  aid  in  the 
protection  of  Europe.  Accordingly  these 
two  powers  now  came  forward  and  made 
known  to  William  Pitt,  the  prime  minister, 
their  wish — by  him  long  desired — to  renew 
their  alliance  with  England  against  France. 
A  coalition  was  immediately  formed  be- 
tween these  three  governments,  to  which 
Sweden  was  added  ;  and,  according  to  their 
plan  of  war,  the  French  power  was  to  be 
attacked  at  every  point,  in  Italy,  Switzer- 
land, Holland,  and  in  France  itself.  Na- 
poleon, however,  overthrew  this  design,  in 
his  usual  way,  and  by  the  celerity  of  his 
movements  he  was  enabled  to  anticipate 
the  allies  in  all  their  operations,  and  was- 
already  in  advance  of  them  when  and  where 
least  expected.  Since  1803  he  had  station- 
ed nearly  the  whole  of  his  army  along  th« 
northern  coasts  of  France,  in  order  to  ope- 
rate as  a  check  upon  England,  and  wnere, 
indeed,  he  contemplated  making  a  landing  , 
now,  however,  the  troops  received  march- 
ing orders,  and  suddenly  abandoning  their 
present  quarters,  they  proceeded  by  hasty 
marches  to  the  Rhine,  which  they  speedily 
crossed,  and  forced  the  princes  of  South 
Germany  to  form  an  alliance  with  France  ; 
while  the  Austrian  army,  now  under  the 
command  of  general  Mack,  remained  com- 
pletely inactive  in  its  quarters  near  Ulm. 

General  Mack,  otherwise  an  efficient 
leader,  was  on  this  occasion  entirely  desert- 
ed by  his  good  fortune,  and  evinced  a  total 
want  of  resolution  and  judgment ;  for,  ima- 
gining the  enemy  would  advance  upon  him 
direct  from  the  side  of  Swabia,  he  quietly 
awaited  his  coming.  On  his  right  flank  he 
had  at  command  the  Franconian  territories 
belonging  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  who  took 
no  share  in  the  war,  and  he  accordingly 


ULM— BATTLE  OF  AUSTERLITZ. 


considered  himself  completely  covered  in 
that  quarter.  But  such  a  bulwark  furnish- 
ed but  a  poor  means  of  defence  in  front  of 
an  army  led  on  by  Napoleon.  Bernadotte, 
Marmont,  and  the  Bavarians,  disregarding 
the  neutrality  of  Prussia,  very  soon  ad- 
vanced direct  through  Franconia  towards 
the  Danube,  and  attacking  the  Austrian 
general  in  the  rear,  cut  him  off  from  all 
communication  with  Austria.  Surprised 
and  stupified,  he,  after  a  sanguinary  battle, 
threw  himself  into  Ulm,  where,  instead  of 
forcing  for  himself  a  passage  with  his 
sword  through  the  very  centre  of  his  ene- 
mies, as  any  other  brave  and  determined 
spirit  would  have  done — and  which  indeed 
had  been  previously  accomplished  by  Duke 
Ferdinand  in  Bohemia,  at  the  head  of  only 
a  few  squadrons  of  cavalry — he  surren- 
dered himself  prisoner,  together  with  the 
whole  of  his  army,  on  the  17th  of  October, 
1805.  Napoleon,  after  this  first  part  of 
the  campaign,  during  which  he  had  almost 
annihilated  80,000  men,  sent  to  the  senate 
in  Paris  forty  standards  he  had  taken,  say- 
ing, "  They  were  a  present  from  the  chil- 
dren to  their  fathers." 

The  French  army  marched  on  without 
any  obstacle  to  the  capital  of  Austria,  and 
took  possession  of  it  on  the  llth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1805.  The  Russians  and  Austrians 
had  retreated  to  Moravia,  and  on  the  2d 
of  December  the  allied  and  French  armies 
stood  front  to  front  near  Austerlitz,  re- 
solved to  hazard  a  decisive  engagement. 
The  battle — called  by  Napoleon  the  three 
emperors'  battle — commenced  on  a  beauti- 
fully sunbright,  frosty  morning.  The  al- 
lies, however,  were  not  well  supplied  with 
leaders,  and  their  movements,  therefore, 
were  not  made  in  the  best  order ;  in  addi- 
tion to  which,  they  were  unacquainted  with 
the  strength  and  position  of  the  French 
army,  whence  the  Russian  line  of  battle 
was  very  soon  broken  through  ;  and,  in 
spite  of  all  their  bravery,  the  troops  were 
put  to  rout.  The  left  wing  sought  to  save 
themselves  by  crossing  a  frozen  lake,  but 
Napoleon  ordered  the  artillery  to  play  upon 
the  ice,  which  speedily  dissolved  and  im- 
mersed the  whole  of  the  fugitives  within 
its  deep  waters,  where  they  perished.  Never- 
theless this  victory  was  not  so  easily  gain- 
ed, nor  would  its  results  have  been  so  de- 
cisive, had  not  the  emperor  Francis,  in 
his  anxiety  for  his  subjects,  hastened  to 
conclude  a  peace,  and  demanded,  for  this 


purpose,  a  rather  premature  conference 
with  Napoleon  in  the  mill  of  Saroschitz, 
for  on  the  following  day  a  body  of  12,000 
Russians  arrived  to  reinforce  the  army, 
which  had  now  rallied.  In  addition  to  this, 
too,  the  Archduke  Ferdinand  had  collected 
an  army  of  20,000  men  in  Bohemia,  and 
completely  routed  the  Bavarians,  taking 
possession  of  the  whole  country  ;  Hungary 
was  arming  every  where;  Archduke  Charles 
was  now  in  full  march  from  Italy  with  his 
victorious  army  to  the  aid  of  his  country, 
and  would  arrive  in  a  few  days  to  deliver 
Vienna  and  harass  the  enemy's  rear  ;  while 
the  Russians  and  English  had  now  landed 
at  Naples,  and  the  Russian,  Swedish,  and 
English  troops  had  already  entered  Han- 
over ;  finally,  however,  what  was  more 
important  than  all  this,  the  Prussian  troops 
were  now  assembling  in  order  to  revenge 
themselves  for  the  violation  of  their  terri- 
tory of  Anspach.  Nevertheless  the  em- 
peror of  Austria,  very  anxious  for  peace, 
signed  a  treaty  for  a  suspension  of  arms. 
The  misfortunes  of  his  country  were  a 
source  of  great  pain  to  him,  and  he  flat- 
tered himself  with  the  hope  that  a  peace, 
purchased  as  it  must  be  from  such  an  ene- 
my at  such  heavy  sacrifices,  might  still  be 
rendered  permanent;  as  if  sacrifices,  how- 
ever great,  could  ever  satiate  the  latter's 
inordinate  love  of  conquest ! 

The  Prussian  ambassador,  Count  von 
Haugwitz,  who  had  been  deputed  by  his 
government  to  prescribe  either  the  terms  of 
peace  or  to  declare  war,  found  himself 
placed  in  a  very  embarrassing  position  af- 
ter the  resolution  expressed  by  Austria, 
and,  under  the  circumstances,  he  deemed 
it  most  prudent,  instead  of  giving  vent  to 
the  menaces  as  instructed  by  his  sovereign, 
to  adopt  a  more  moderate  and  pacific  style 
of  language.  The  French,  when  they 
found  this,  expressed  themselves  thus : 
"  That  they  could  not  but  praise  the  wis- 
dom shown  by  the  Prussian  government, 
which  had  never  possessed  a  more  faithful 
and  disinterested  friend  than  France  ;  al- 
though, at  the  same  time,  the  French  na- 
tion was  wholly  independent  of  every 
other,  and  that  150,000  enemies  more  in 
the  war  would  only  have  tended  to  prolong 
it  a  little  longer."  The  Prussian  ambas- 
sador ought  to  have  given  the  right  inter- 
pretation to  this  language,  and  feeling  the 
dignity  of  his  country  wounded  thereby, 
he  was  bound  forthwith  and  on  the  spot  to 


PEACE  OF  PRESBURG. 


433 


nave  made  known  the  resolution  he  con- 
veyed from  his  government — especially  as 
Austria  had  not  yet  signed  the  treaty — a 
resolution  which,  nevertheless,  six  months 
afterwards,  his  king  was  forced  to  carry 
into  execution.  And  Austria,  had  she  seen 
that  Prussia  was  really  in  earnest,  would, 
without  doubt,  have  preferred  even  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  war  to  a  disgraceful  peace, 
Instead  cf  this,  however,  Haugwitz,  with- 
out even  possessing  the  necessary  power, 
signed  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  by  which 
Prussia  gave  up  the  province  of  Anspach  to 
Bavaria,  Cleves  and  Neufchatel  to  France, 
receiving  in  exchange  Hanover,  to  which 
England  by  no  means  renounced  her  claim. 
Thus  Napoleon  strewed  the  seeds  of  divi- 
sion between  Prussia  and  England,  well 
knowing  that  if  united  those  two  powers 
must  be  too  formidable  for  him. 

Five  days  after,  the  treaty  being  drawn 
up,  it  was  signed  by  Austria,  at  Presburg, 
on  the  25th  of  December,  1805  ;  and  by 
this  peace,  the  terms  of  which  were  more 
severe  than  any  hitherto  made,  Austria 
lost  one  thousand  square  miles  of  territory, 
and  three  millions  of  subjects — constituting 
its  most  valuable  possessions.  The  Tyrol 
— ever  faithful,  and  which  had  shown  its 
attachment  to  the  house  of  Austria,  more 
especially  in  the  last  war — Burgau,  Eich- 
stiidt,  a  portion  of  Passau,  Voralberg,  to- 
gether with  other  lands  in  eastern  Austria, 
were  ceded  to  Bavaria  ;  what  Austria  pos- 
sessed in  Swabia  was  given  up  to  Wiirtem- 
berg  and  Baden,  and  the  Venetian  states 
were  yielded  to  Italy.  In  compensation 
for  all  this  Austria  received  but  a  trifling 
indemnification,  viz.,  Salzburg  ;  the  elec- 
toral prince  of  Salzburg  being  forced  to 
leave  that  territory,  which  he  had  only  re- 
cently received,  and  accept  of  Wurzburg, 
which  Bavaria  renounced.  All  these  coun- 
tries with  their  inhabitants  were  treated 
like  so  much  merchandise,  passing  from 
the  hands  of  one  into  those  of  another,  ac- 
cording to  the  state  of  the  market.  Such 
were  the  principles  of  the  despotic  con- 
queror, by  which  he  sought  to  eradicate 
all  love  and  attachment  towards  the  ancient 
hereditary  princes  of  the  empire,  and  thus, 
by  destroying  all  national  patriotic  feeling, 
his  object  was  to  reduce  the  subject  to  a 
complete  state  of  submission,  alive  only  to 
the  mortifying  conviction  of  the  service  he 
had  to  render  to  whatever  master  he  was 
placed  under — whether  native  or  foreign, 
55 


of  to-day  or  yesterday — and  whom  he  was 
born  only  to  obey. 

In  order  to  complete  the  ruin  of  the  Ger- 
manic empire,  the  electors  of  Bavaria  and 
Wiirtemberg  were  created  kings,  and  they, 
as  well  as  the  elector  of  Baden,  were  grant- 
ed the  uncontrolled  government,  or  rathe* 
— to  use  the  more  favorite  expression  of 
that  period — the  sovereignty  of  their  lands. 
The  emperor  himself  renounced  all  claim 
to  the  exercise  of  supreme  power  over  their 
states,  and  thus  the  empire  by  this  act 
paved  the  way  for  its  eventual  dissolution, 
and  the  storm  gathered  more  and  more 
fiercely,  until  it  finally  burst  forth  in  all 
its  fury,  producing  those  sad  effects  which 
sealed  the  doom  of  our  country. 

The  first  word  pronounced  by  Bonaparte 
after  the  peace  of  Presburg,  was,  as  usual 
with  him,  the  sentence  of  confiscation. 
The  king  of  Naples  having  received  into 
his  territories  an  allied  body  of  English 
and  Russian  troops,  the  French  emperor 
immediately  ordered  his  brother  Joseph 
and  Massena,  with  60,000  men,  to  march 
into  and  take  possession  of  the  whole  of 
Italy  ;  adding,  in  the  manifesto  he  sent 
with  them,  "  That  the  Bourbon  dynasty 
had  ceased  to  reign  in  Naples."  This 
dreadful  word  produced  so  much  alarm  in 
the  royal  family  of  that  house,  that  the 
king  abandoned  his  capital  and  fled  to 
Sicily,  while  Napoleon  declared  his  brother 
Joseph  king  of  Naples.  This  new  throne, 
nevertheless,  was  not  gained  without  the 
sacrifice  of  much  blood,  for  the  inhabitants 
of  Lower  Italy  rose  up  en  masse  against 
the  invaders,  and  defended  themselves  with 
great  courage  ;  but  they  were  at  length 
forced  to  submit  to  the  French,  who  poured 
large  bodies  of  troops  into  the  country,  and 
both  Calabria  and  Abrazza  were  conquered 
and  completely  devastated. 

Holland  was  next  on  the  list,  being  like- 
wise changed  into  a  kingdom,  and  given  to 
another  brother,  Louis  Bonaparte,  as  his 
portion.  That  country,  however,  did  not 
suffer  by  the  change,  as  the  new  sovereign 
anxiously  promoted  its  prosperity,  feeling 
it  his  duty  rather  to  reign  for  the  good  of 
his  people  than  be  controlled  by  the  will  of 
his  brother.  Immediately  afterwards,  the 
brother-in-law  of  the  emperor,  Joachim 
Murat,  received  the  duchies  of  Cleves  and 
Berg,  on  the  Rhine,  the  former  having 
been  ceded  by  Prussia,  and  the  latter  by 
Bavaria  for  Anspach ;  and,  finally,,  ta 


434 


THE  RHENISH  CONFEDERATION.  % 


Alexander  Berthier,  who  was  the  emperor's 
confidential  adviser,  was  allotted  the  prin- 
cipality of  Westphalia. 

It  was  in  the  middle  of  this  eventful  year 
that  the  last  blow  was  inflicted  upon  the 
constitution  of  the  Germanic  empire  ;  its  dis- 
solution, which  already  existed  in  the  act, 
was  now  clearly  and  definitively  confirmed. 
On  the  12th  of  July  a  Rhenish  league  was 
formed,  by  which  the  kings  of  Bavaria  and 
Wiirtemberg,  the  electoral  arch-chancel- 
lor, the  elector  of  Baden,  the  landgrave  of 
Hesse  Darmstadt,  and  the  duke  of  Berg, 
(the  last  four  as  grand-dukes,)  together  with 
the  princes  of  Nassau  and  Hohenzollern, 
and  other  petty  princes  and  nobles,  separ- 
ated themselves  from  the  imperial  alliance, 
and  acknowledged  the  emperor  of  France 
as  the  protector  of  their  confederation.  He 
commanded  the  right  of  naming  the  prince- 
primate  of  the  league,  who  presided  at  the 
assembly;  of  deciding  upon  the  question  of 
war  and  peace,  and  fixing  the  contingent 
to  be  furnished  ;  so  that  each  war  of  France 
must  become  a  war  of  the  Rhenish  confed- 
eration, and  thus  forcing  its  members  to 
take  up  arms  in  her  cause,  even  against 
their  compatriots  of  Germany.  By  such 
sacrifices  the  princes  obtained  unlimited 
authority,  without  being  dependent  upon 
any  tribunal  to  which  their  subjects  in  case 
of  necessity  might  appeal,  and  without  be- 
ing bound  to  adopt  any  ameliorated  meas- 
ures of  government.  On  all  these  points, 
Ihe  resolutions  of  the  league  were  clear  and 
precise  j  but  in  all  the  rest,  every  thing 
was  obscure  and  equivocal,  in  order  that 
the  protector's  will  might  operate  with  all 
the  effect  of  a  law.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
pronounce  an  opinion  upon  this  confedera- 
tion ;  its  fate  was  very  soon  decided,  and  pos- 
terity will  no  doubt  seek  to  obliterate  all 
traces  of  its  existence  from  our  history. 

The  emperor  of  Germany,  deposing  the 
degraded  crown  of  the  ancient  empire  more 
than  a  thousand  years  after  Charlemagne 
had  placed  it  upon  his  own  head,  declared 
himself,  on  the  6th  of  August,  1806,  hered- 
itary emperor  of  Austria. 

What  protection,  however,  Germany  had 
to  expect  from  her  new  self-made  guardian, 
when  compared  with  that  afforded  her  by 
the  house  of  Austria,  was  immediately 
shown.  For,  at  the  very  moment  itself, 
when  the  French  envoy,  Bacher,  renewed 
the  assurance  that  France  would  never  ex- 
tend her  frontiers  beyond  the  Rhine,  the 


fortress  of  Wesel  was  arbitrarily  takes 
possession  of  by  the  French,  and  chosen  as 
the  head-quarters  of  the  seventy-fifth  divi- 
sion of  their  army. 

The  hostile  designs  contemplated  by  the 
formation  of  the  Rhenish  confederation  were 
directed  against  Prussia  as  well  as  Austria  ; 
for  both  powers  beheld  those  who  had  remain- 
ed their  natural  allies  during  the  existence 
of  the  imperial  government,  now  changed 
into  enemies,  ready  to  declare  their  hostility 
towards  them  at  the  first  outbreak  with 
France.  Napoleon  had  up  to  this  moment 
tantalized  the  king  of  Prussia  with  the  pros- 
pect of  being  able  to  form,  under  his  protec- 
tion, an  alliance  in  the  north,  embracing 
the  whole  of  that  portion  of  Germany,  after 
the  model  of  that  of  the  Rhine ;  now,  how- 
ever, such  alliance  was  completely  repudi- 
ated, and  even  the  restoration  of  Hanover 
to  England  was  not  withheld  by  France. 
Every  thing,  indeed,  was  done  to  mortify 
Prussia,  and  make  it  evident  that  the  French 
emperor  was  resolved  not  to  endure  the  ex- 
istence of  any  independent  nation  beside  his 
own.  At  length  the  indignant  king  felt 
himself  called  upon  to  protect  his  country 
against  farther  insult  and  humiliation  from 
the  hands  of  the  insolent  invader,  and  in 
this  determination  he  was  supported  by  the 
voice  of  his  army  and  the  nation  throughout. 
Accordingly  he  demanded  that  France 
should  withdraw  her  troops  from  Germany, 
that  she  should  no  longer  oppose  the  forma- 
tion of  a  northern  alliance,  and  that  Wesel 
should  be  at  once  evacuated  by  the  French 
troops.  Compliance  with  these  demands 
having  been  refused,  Prussia  forthwith  de- 
clared war. 

When  he  received  this  declaration  Na- 
poleon said  :  "  His  heart  grieved  to  see  that 
the  genius  of  evil  swayed  continually,  and 
ever  frustrated  his  plans  for  the  promotion 
of  the  peace  of  Europe  and  the  happiness 
of  his  contemporaries."  He  now  assem- 
bled his  armies,  which  were  all  ready  for 
action,  in  France  and  Svvabia,  and  he  ad- 
vanced with  rapid  marches  towards  the 
Thuringian  forest.  On  the  north  side  of 
this  forest  was  posted  the  grand  Prussian 
army  under  the  orders  of  the  duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, an  intrepid  but  old  soldier  of  seventy, 
two  years  of  age,  and  whose  principal  offi- 
cers were  in  a  state  of  disunion.  Only  a 
very  small  portion  of  the  Prussian  army 
had  taken  any  share  in  the  war  of  the  Revo. 
lution,  and  thus  been  enabled  to  maVe 


BATTLES  OF  JENA  AND  AUERSTADT. 


435 


themselves  acquainted  with  the  lightning- 
like  celerity  of  movement  now  practised  by 
the  French  armies  in  all  their  operations ; 
the  majority  had  abandoned  themselves  to 
ease  and  indifference  during  the  long  peace 
of  three-and-forty  years,  and  it  was  because 
the  outward  form  of  the  institutions  of  Fred- 
erick the  Great  still  existed,  that  their  con- 
tinued reliance  upon  themselves  became  the 
more  dangerous.  Not  that  either  courage 
or  capacity  was  wanting  in  many  individu- 
als, but  they  were  altogether  without  that 
energetic  genius  so  necessary  to  unite  the 
whole.  Thence  they  were  forced  to  expe- 
rience— what  indeed  the  most  pusillanimous 
among  them  could  nevei  have  thought  pos- 
sible— that,  as  in  the  wars  of  the  ancient 
world,  one  unlucky  day  decided  the  fate  of 
an  entire  kingdom. 

On  the  10th  of  October,  Prince  Lewis  of 
Prussia,  the  king's  cousin,  in  his  impetuous 
warlike  ardor,  imprudently  engaged  the 
enemy  in  an  equal  contest  near  Saalfeld, 
and  was  mortally  wounded  on  the  spot. 
This  unfortunate  affair  laid  open  for  the 
French  the  entire  route  of  the  Saale,  and 
advancing  now  with  a  superior  force,  they 
surrounded  the  left  flank  of  the  Prussian 
army,  and  cut  off  all  communication  with 
Saxony  ;  hence,  on  the  13th  of  October, 
Davoust  was  already  in  possession  of  Naum- 
burg.  The  supplies  of  the  Prussians  were 
lost,  which  reduced  the  whole  army  to  a 
state  of  the  greatest  want,  unavoidably  pro- 
ducing depression  and  disorganization,  and 
in  this  condition  the  troops  were  called  upon 
to  fight,  having  the  Saale  and  the  Elbe  in 
front  of  them  instead  of  in  their  rear  :  thus 
the  army  was  vanquished  already  before 
the  battle. 

A  portion  of  the  Prussian  army  was  at 
Auerstiidt,  under  the  command  of  the  duke 
of  Brunswick  ;  and  the  other,  under  the 
orders  of  the  prince  of  Hohenlohe,  was 
stationed  at  Jena  and  Vierzehnheiligen, 
but  both  without  at  all  acting  in  combina- 
tion with  each  other ;  and  they  were  ac- 
cordingly attacked  and  defeated  on  the 
same  day.  Marshal  Davoust  fought  at 
Auerstiidt,  and  Napoleon  at  Jena.  The 
duke  of  Brunswick  at  the  very  commence- 
ment of  the  battle  was  killed  by  a  cannon- 
ball  ;  his  death  disarranged  the  plan  of 
the  battle  and  threw  the  army  into  confu- 
sion. The  desperate  courage  of  a  few 
scattered  regiments  could  neither  compen- 
sate for  the  want  of  the  co-operation  of  the 


whole  army,  nor  effect  a  general  restora- 
tion of  confidence.  Surrounded  on  every 
side,  the  Prussians  retreated  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Weimar,  where  they  hoped  to  find 
themselves  reinforced  by  the  corps  under 
the  command  of  the  prince  of  Hohenlohe, 
not  being  aware  that  his  army  had  experi- 
enced a  similar  fate  at  the  same  moment. 
They  were,  however,  very  soon  unde- 
ceived ;  for  the  disorder  was  so  general  in 
both  armies,  that  in  the  course  of  the  night, 
while  the  one  army  was  retreating  in  all 
haste  from  Auerstiidt  to  Weimar,  it  met  a 
portion  of  the  other  which  was  in  full 
flight  from  Weimar  to  Auerstiidt. 

Ten  days  after  the  battle  of  Jena,  Na- 
poleon marched  into  Berlin  itself;  and  in 
less  than  six  weeks  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war,  he  had  already  advanced 
as  far  as  the  Vistula  and  made  himself 
master  of 'nearly  the  entire  kingdom,  con- 
taining nearly  nine  millions  of  inhabitants 
and  numerous  fortified  towns — the  fruits 
of  a  single  battle,  in  which  an  army,  which 
had  hitherto  maintained  its  character  as 
the  most  distinguished  body  of  troops  in 
Europe,  was  completely  annihilated. 

This  speedy  conquest  of  the  Prussian 
states — a  conquest  far  beyond  the  expecta- 
tions even  of  the  emperor  himself — had 
completely  banished  from  the  heart  of  the 
conqueror  every  feeling  of  moderation, 
and  only  served  to  excite  within  his  ambi- 
tious soul  a  greater  desire  for  unlimited 
dominion.  Encouraged  by  his  success,  he 
declared  in  Berlin,  that  he  would  never 
give  up  that  city  until  he  had  conquered  a 
general  peace  ;  and  it  was  from  the  same 
city  that  he  issued  the  decree  of  the  21st 
of  November,  1806,  against  the  English, 
by  which  the  British  islands  were  declared 
in  a  state  of  blockade,  British  manufac- 
tures excluded  from  all  the  continental 
ports,  all  British  property  on  the  continent, 
and  vessels  that  had  only  even  touched  on 
the  shores  of  Albion,  were  to  be  seized. 
This  unheard-of  system  might  have  crush- 
ed the  commercial  prosperity  of  England  ; 
but  the  results,  as  it  turned  out,  were  more 
injurious  to  the  continent.  For  England, 
now  taking  possession  of  all  the  colonies 
of  Europe,  cultivated  their  soil  with  great 
care  and  industry,  and  instead  of  import- 
ing the  timber  for  the  construction  of  her 
ships  from  the  north  of  Europe,  supplied 
herself  therewith  from  Canada  and  Ire. 
land  ;  while  Europe  itself  found  its  com 


136 


BATTLES  OF  EYLAU  AND  FRIEDLAN£ 


merce  languish  and  sink,  and  although  its 
industry  furnished  many  articles  which  it 
would  otherwise  have  imported  from  Eng- 
land, it  could  not  compensate  for  the  loss 
of  its  commerce  on  the  seas. 

The  remains  of  the  Prussian  army  under 
Kalkreuth  and  Lestocq,  now  made  more 
wise  by  the  bitter  experience  of  the  few 
last  months,  and  rendered  a  more  select 
and  organized  body  of  troops,  formed  a 
junction  with  the  Russians,  who  now  en- 
tered once  more  the  field  of  battle.  After 
several  skirmishes  in  Poland,  all  without 
any  important  results,  the  two  armies, 
amounting  to  nearly  200,000  men,  again 
met  in  Prussia,  and  on  the  7th  and  8th  of 
February,  1807,  during  the  most  severe 
frost  and  amidst  a  continuous  fall  of  snow, 
they  fought  another  sanguinary  battle  at 
Eylau,  near  Konigsberg.  The  flite  of  the 
French  guard  were  here  completely  anni- 
hilated, and  the  battle  still  remained  unde- 
cided. The  Russians  fought  with  the  most 
determined  and  unshaken  courage,  and  the 
Prussians  under  the  orders  of  Lestocq,  ar- 
riving just  in  time  to  the  aid  of  the  right 
wing,  which  was  hard  pressed,  bravely 
repulsed  the  final  attack  of  the  French 
with  complete  success.  Both  armies  main- 
tained the  field,  each  claiming  the  victory  ; 
the  advantage,  however,  was  on  the  side 
of  the  allies,  and  it  was  generally  believed 
that  a  fresh  attack  on  the  third  day  must 
force  the  French  to  make  a  retreat.  But 
Beningsen,  the  Russian  general,  did  not 
hold  himself  bound  to  exact  from  his  army, 
already  so  much  fatigued,  such  superhu- 
man efforts,  and  he  therefore  retired  to 
Konigsberg.  The  French  likewise  with- 
drew to  their  old  position  on  the  Passarge, 
and  an  uninterrupted  cessation  of  hostili- 
ties was  preserved  for  the  space  of  four 
months,  during  which  the  two  armies 
strengthened  their  forces  as  much  as  pos- 
sible ;  while,  meantime,  this  overwhelming 
burden  of  several  hundred  thousand  for- 
eign troops  dispersed  all  over  her  kingdom, 
inflicted  upon  ill-fated  Prussia  incalculable 
suffering  and  distress. 

Napoleon,  during  this  interval,  hastened, 
with  all  possible  activity,  to  lay  siege  to 
Dantzic  ;  this  strong  fortification  was  com- 
manded by  General  Kalkreuth,  and  was 
bravely  defended  by  him,  until,  finding  all 
communication  with  the  sea  cut  off,  by 
which  he  was  deprived  of  all  hopes  of  re- 
lief, he  was  forced  to  a  surrender  on  the 


24th  of  May,  although  upon  honorabl€ 
terms  of  capitulation.  T  he  Russians  ana 
Prussians,  after  having  neglected  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  former  favorable  and 
decisive  moment,  now  advanced  and  at. 
tacked  the  French  intrenchments  on  the 
Passarge.  They  fought  with  the  greates 
bravery,  but  the  enemy  having  been  rein 
forced  by  the  30,000  men  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  siege  01  Dantzic,  and 
being  likewise  well  protected  by  their 
strong  intrenchments,  they  repulsed  the 
allies,  and  were  now,  in  their  turn,  ena- 
bled to  act  upon  the  offensive.  A  succes- 
sion  of  severe  and  obstinate  fighting  took 
place  from  the  5th  to  the  12th  of  June,  on 
which  day  the  decisive  battle  of  Friedland 
was  fought.  This  hard-contested  action 
lasted  from  the  dawn  of  day  to  the  middle 
of  night.  The  Russians  fought  with  great 
bravery,  and  the  victory  was  decidedly  on 
their  side  ;  but  in  their  elated  feelings, 
they  neglected  to  exercise  that  caution 
which  should  always  be  observed,  even  by 
a  conqueror.  Thus,  towards  the  after- 
noon, the  divisions  under  Ney  and  Victor, 
together  with  Bonaparte's  guard,  marched 
into  the  field,  and  the  fate  of  this  sangui- 
nary day  was  at  once  decided  ;  the  Rus- 
sians were  overthrown  on  all  sides,  and 
retreating  across  the  river  Alle,  they  fell 
back  upon  their  own  frontiers,  and  gained 
the  river  Niemen.  On  the  19th  of  June, 
Napoleon  took  and  entered  Tilsit,  the  last 
of  the  Prussian  towns,  and  on  the  16th  of 
the  same  month,  his  army  took  possession 
of  Konigsberg. 

A  conference  now  took  place  between 
the  emperors  of  France  and  Russia,  on  a 
raft  erected  on  the  river  Niemen,  at  which 
a  peace  was  speedily  agreed  upon,  the  dis- 
memberment of  Prussia  was  decided,  and 
a  compact  for  mutual  support  in  the  rela- 
tions of  Europe  concluded  for  a  fixed  pe- 
riod. Napoleon,  always  so  happy  in  the 
employment  of  cunning  and  specious  lan- 
guage, of  which  he  was  a  perfect  master, 
succeeded  this  time,  likewise,  in  persuading 
the  emperor  Alexander,  that  his  sole  ob- 
ject was  the  pacification  of  the  continent ; 
while  all  his  plans  were  uniquely  direct- 
ed  towards  protecting  the  coasts  against 
the  insolent  arrogance  of  the  English  na- 
tion, and  to  secure  eventually  the  free  do- 
minion of  the  seas.  He  then  pretended 
that  his  chief  desire  was  to  form  a  bond  of 
lasting  friendship  with  Russia,  in  ordei 


JEROME  BONAPARTE— LIEUTENANT  SCHILL. 


437 


.hat,  both  united,  they  might  he  enabled  to 
establish  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of 
Europe,  inasmuch  as  then,  without  their 
concurrence,  no  war  could  arise  to  inter- 
rupt the  union  of  nations. 

Accordingly,  in  this  peace,  Cattaro,  Ra- 
gusa,  and  the  seven  isles  (of  the  Ionian 
seas)  were  given  up  to  France  by  Russia, 
who  received  in  return,  as  compensation, 
large  tracts  of  land,  together  with  400,000 
subjects  belonging  to  Prussian  Poland ; 
while  Frederick  William,  who  was  scarce- 
ly able  to  call  any  part  of  his  kingdom  his 
own,  was  forced  to  submit  to  the  most  de- 
grading and  painful  sacrifices,  and  ceded 
eventually  the  moiety  of  his  possessions 
with  5,000,000  of  subjects,  including,  among 
the  rest,  the  city  of  Dantzic,  which  was 
now  declared  a  free  city,  and  the  Polish 
territory,  which  was  changed  into  a  grand- 
duchy  of  Warsaw,  of  which  the  king  of 
Saxony  was  chosen  grand-duke.  Thus, 
Frederick  Augustus,  who  had  declared 
himself  a  neutral  power  three  days  after 
the  battle  of  Jena,  and  soon  afterwards 
joined  in  alliance  with  France,  was  now 
king  of  Saxony  and  a  member  of  the  Rhe- 
nish Confederation. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  Prussia  lost  the 
whole  of  her  territories  between  the  Elbe 
and  the  Rhine,  the  greater  part  of  which 
Bonaparte  converted  into  a  new  kingdom — 
Westphalia — which  he  gave  to  his  youngest 
brother,  Jerome ;  to  which  he  added  a  por- 
tion of  Hanover,  the  duchy  of  Brunswick — 
because  its  duke  had  been  leader  of  the 
Prussian  army — and  the  principality  of 
Hesse-Cassel.  Thus  the  terrible  ban  was 
now  at  once  pronounced  and  executed 
against  the  house  of  Hesse,  viz. :  "  That  it 
should  cease  to  reign,  for  having,"  as  he 
said,  "  always  shown  itself  inimical  to 
France,  and  for  having  farther,  in  this  war 
with  Prussia,  maintained  so  equivocal  a 
position."  Such  was  termed  the  neutrality 
which  Hesse  had  so  strictly  observed  of 
her  own  accord  throughout  the  war.  The 
entire  country  was  forthwith  invaded  and 
conquered,  and  the  elector  driven  from  his 
capital  and  made  a  fugitive ;  while  the 
new  king,  a  complete  stranger,  entered  its 
gates  in  triumph,  followed  by  a  train  of 
French  officials,  and,  to  the  shame  of  Ger- 
many, mounted  the  throne  of  this  ancient 
princely  family,  the  descendants  of  the 
Saxons  and  Chatti. 


King  Frederick  William  was  now  left 
with  only  a  small  portion  of  his  states  and 
subjects,  yet  in  the  latter  he  found  himself 
surrounded  by  a  firm  and  devoted  body  of 
men ;  while  he  had  the  additional  gratifi- 
cation of  knowing  that  at  least  three  of  his 
fortified  cities  in  Prussia — Colberg,  Grau- 
denz,  and  Pillau,  bravely  refused  to  accept 
terms  of  surrender  from  the  enemy,  and 
that  two  others  in  Silesia — Kosel  and  Glatz 
— likewj.se  maintained  a  successful  de- 
fence. Graudenz  was  commanded  by  a 
veteran,  General  Courbiere,  who,  when 
summoned  by  the  French  to  surrender, 
and  who  represented  to  him  that  the  king 
had  now  lost  his  kingdom  and  had  crossed 
the  Niemen,  replied :  "  Well  then,  I  will 
be  king  in  Graudenz." 

The  king  had  placed  Colberg  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Gneisenau,  well  as- 
sured beforehand  that  in  him  he  sent  a  pil- 
lar of  strength  to  that  city,  and  one  who 
would  never  yield.  In  addition  to  this,  a 
free  corps  of  light  hussars  had  been  formed 
in  the  neighborhood,  under  the  sanction  of 
the  king,  by  a  young  heroic  officer,  Lieu- 
tenant  Schill,  assisted  by  others  of  equally 
daring  character,  which  continually  har- 
assed and  fell  upon  the  enemy's  troops 
everywhere  around. 

Meantime  Napoleon  returned  to  Paris, 
and  brought  with  him,  as  tokens  of  triumph, 
the  car  of  victory  which  he  had  removed 
from  one  of  the  gates  of  Berlin,  together 
with  the  sword  of  Frederick  the  Great; 
while  he  caused  two  bridges  to  be  erected 
in  the  capital,  bearing  the  names  of  tha 
two  great  battles  of  Jena  and  Austerlitz. 
His  domination,  indeed,  was  by  this  new 
peace  raised  to  such  a  pinnacle  of  glory, 
and  appeared  in  the  eyes  of  all  men  to  be 
so  firmly  established,  that  whoever  would 
have  predicted  that  ere  the  elapse  of  a  few 
more  years  those  very  Prussians,  then  trod- 
den under  foot,  would  march  into  Paris  it- 
self, and,  arms  in  hand,  retake  possession 
of  their  car  of  victory,  would  only  have 
been  laughed  at  and  treated  as  a  maniac. 
But  those  who  could  penetrate  into  Napo- 
leon's character,  might  have  easily  fore- 
seen that  his  restless  ambition  must  soon 
hurry  him  en  to  contend  for  fresh  con- 
quests  ;  but  which,  although  acquired,  only 
produced  his  eventual  overthrow. 


tss 


AUSTRIA  DECLARES  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE. 


CHAPTER    XXXV. 

Austria  declares  War  against  France,  1809— Battles  of 
Gross- Aspern  and  Zsslingen— Archduke  Charles— 
The  Austrians  Victorious — Lieutenant  Schill  killed — 
Execution  of  Palm,  the  Bookseller— The  Tyrolese— 
Battle  of  Wagram— Defeat  of  the  Austrians— Peace 
of  Vienna— The  French  in  the  Tyrol— The  Moun- 
taineers overpowered — Execution  of  Ilofer,  the  Ty- 
rolese Patriot— The  Duke  of  Brunswick— His  territory 
seized— His  bold  March— Embarks  for  England— His 
Heroic  Death — Napoleon  at  the  Height  of  his  Power 
— Marriage  with  the  Archduchess  Maria  Louisa  of 
Austria,  1810— His  continued  Usurpations  in  Ger- 
many—His Campaign  in  Russia  in  1812— Conflagra- 
tion of  Moscow — The  French  Army  destroyed — •Na- 
poleon's Flight  and  Return  to  Paris — The  King  of 
Prussia's  Declaration  and  General  Arming  of  his 
Nation  against  the  Invaders,  1813— Napoleon's  Prepa- 
rations—The French  in  Germanv. 

AUSTRIA  was  once  more  roused,  and 
actuated  by  the  same  motives  of  honor  as 
influenced  Prussia  in  the  year  1806,  she 
determined  at  any  sacrifice  to  revenge  her- 
self for  the  insolent  arrogance  and  menaces 
of  her  detested  enemy ;  accordingly  she 
took  up  arms  again,  and  recommenced  war 
in  1809.  Her  own  immediate  territory,  it 
is  true,  had  not  undergone  the  same  treat- 
ment as  that  of  her  neighbor,  but  it  was 
this  very  state  of  suffering  and  degradation 
in  which  she  beheld  those  around  her,  that 
induced  her  to  take  this  step.  In  addition 
to  this,  Napoleon  had  in  the  preceding 
summer  held  a  meeting  with  the  emperor 
Alexander  at  Erfurt,  and  there  had  renew- 
ed more  firmly  his  alliance  with  that  mon- 
arch, by  which  it  appeared  as  if  Russia 
and  France  had  resolved  to  arrogate  to 
themselves  the  right  of  assuming  the  cha- 
racter of  arbitrators  of  Europe,  and  thus 
treat  Austria,  which  for  so  many  centuries 
had  been  the  central  point  of  the  European 
powers,  as  no  longer  worthy  of  considera- 
tion. This  conduct  could  no  longer  be 
tolerated  with  patience,  for  beyond  a  cer- 
tain degree,  patience  itself  degenerates 
into  pusillanimity.  Thence  Austria's  de- 
claration of  war  was  in  all  respects  honor- 
able, noble,  and  generous,  for  she  carne 
forth  and  entered  the  field  of  battle  unsup- 
ported by  any  other  power,  trusting  alone 
to  her  own  resources. 

At  the  same  time,  however,  Austria, 
well  knowing  that  on  the  present  occasion 
she  must  not  depend  upon  her  regular  ar- 
my alone  for  her  safety,  resolved  upon 
carrying  on  the  war  in  all  its  extent  and 
making  it  national,  She  issued  proclama- 
tions for  a  general  rising  of  the  people  to 
rally  under  her  banners  as  volunteers; 
formed  numerous  bodies  of  them  into  regu- 


lar regiments  of  Landwehr  or  patriotic 
defenders,  appealed  to  the  nation  in  the 
most  eloquent  and  heart-stirring  language, 
placed  the  princes  of  her  own  royal  houso 
at  the  head  of  the  troops,  and  finally  avail- 
ed herself  of,  and  brought  at  once  into 
operation,  all  the  powers  and  resources  of 
her  rich  and  beautiful  possessions,  to  an 
extent  never  before  effected  :  productive 
altogether  of  such  determined  co-operatioi: 
throughout  the  entire  nation,  that  if  evei 
its  immediate  deliverance  and  permanent 
liberty  might  be  looked  upon  as  secured 
through  its  own  united  strength,  such  glo. 
rious  results  might  be  justly  anticipated  on 
the  present  occasion. 

But  now  in  1809,  as  previously  in  1806, 
Europe  was  not  yet  ripe  for  her  deliver- 
ance ;  it  was  still  necessary  that  the  fire 
of  purification  should  penetrate  in  all  parts, 
and  that  the  misery,  already  so  general, 
should  be  rendered  infinitely  greater,  in 
order  that  every  feeling  of  egotism  should 
be  renounced,  and  the  history  of  the  entire 
world  present  the  grand  and  unusual  spec- 
tacle of  a  holy  war,  in  which  all  nations  of 
the  east  and  west,  north  and  south,  should 
rise  up  as  one  single  individual,  animated 
by  one  spirit  only,  and,  united  by  one  com- 
mon bond,  fight  for  liberty,  honor,  and 
virtue. 

What  German  patriot,  to  whom  his  na- 
tive country  is  more  dear  and  precious 
than  all  other  possessions,  can  ever  forget 
the  fluctuating  feelings  of  hope  and  fear 
by  which  he  was  agitated  during  this  war 
of  1809,  or  the  indignation  aroused  within 
him  when  he  beheld  the  enemy  he  so  hated 
and  loathed  advancing  with  his  army,  the 
flower  of  which  was  composed  of  his  fel- 
low-countrymen, the  federalists  of  the 
Rhine  ?  Who  can  ever  forget  how  with 
this  brave  body  of  Germans  he  forced  the 
Austrians  by  furious  and  incessant  attacks 
to  retreat  from  Bavaria,  into  which  terri- 
tory they  had  only  just  penetrated,  and 
how  in  his  arrogance  he  declared,  that  ere 
the  lapse  of  another  month  he  would  march 
into  Vienna  itself?  Truly,  this  was  a  dis- 
astrous period  for  Austria,  and  the  actions 
fought  at  Pfaffenhofen,  Tann,  Abensberg, 
Landshut,  Eckmiihl,  and.  Ratisbon,  from 
the  19th  to  the  23d  of  April,  although 
maintained  with  the  greatest  bravery  and 
determination,  ended  in  the  complete  dis- 
comfiture of  the  Austrian  army  ;  these  sad 
results,  however,  were  more  especially 


BATTLES  OF  ASPERN  AND  ESSLINGEN 


430 


oroduced  through  the  fault  committed  by 
the  Austrians  in  extruding  their  line  of 
forces  to  too  great  a  length,  and  thus  Na- 
poleon, with  his  usual  celerity  of  move- 
ment, brought  his  entire  force  against  one 
single  point.  He  was  then  enabled  to  ad- 
vance with  the  c;filc  of  his  army,  and  espe- 
cially his  cavalry,  and  by  throwing  him- 
self now  against  one  division,  then  against 
another,  he  succeeded  by  these  overwhelm- 
ing attacks  in  throwing  the  Austrian  line 
into  complete  disorder.  And  it  must  cer- 
tainly be  admitted  that  on  this  occasion 
especially,  he  gave  remarkable  proofs  of 
his  military  genius  and  talents.  He  ap- 
peared everywhere,  and  in  the  thickest  of 
every  danger  at  the  moment  he  was  re- 
quired, his  presence  and  example  inspiring 
his  soldiers  with  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 
Indeed,  it  appeared  as  if  he  had  determined 
to  devote  all  his  strength  and  power  this 
time  towards  the  total  annihilation  of  the 
Austrian  army,  for  he  followed  up  his  vic- 
tory without  a  moment's  loss  of  time,  rest- 
ing neither  night  nor  day. 

The  Archduke  Charles  retreated  with 
his  troops,  which,  in  spite  of  the  sanguinary 
days  of  April,  still  formed  a  powerful  ar- 
my, to  the  left  bank  of  the  Danube,  to- 
wards Bohemia  ;  while  Napoleon  advanced 
along  the  right  bank  to  Vienna.  The 
Archduke  Maximilian  defended  this  city  for 
a  few  days  successfully  ;  but  owing  to  its 
great  extent,  and  the  want  of  necessary 
means  of  defence,  it  was  impossible  to  hold 
out  a  siege,  and  the  place  accordingly  sur- 
rendered to  Bonaparte,  who  entered  it  on 
the  12th  of  May  ;  immediately  after  which 
conquest  the  French  army  resumed  its 
march,  and  crossing  the  Danube,  pursued 
the  Archduke  Charles,  in  order  to  inflict 
the  last  annihilating  blow  upon  Austria. 
On  the  21st  and  22d  of  May,  a  severe  bat- 
tle was  fought  on  the  immense  plains  of 
Aspern  and  Esslingen,  close  to  the  spot 
where  in  former  times  Rudolphus  of  Haps- 
burg  overthrew  Ottacar,  king  of  Bohemia. 
Napoleon,  however,  found  that  the  Aus- 
trian army  was  more  difficult  to  contend 
with  now  than  previously,  and  he  found  it 
animated  with  a  far  more  active  and  ener- 
getic spirit  than  when  last  he  met  it  at 
Ratisbon.  The  heroic  Charles,  during 
the  short  interval  that  had  elapsed  since 
the  reverses  of  April,  had  applied  him- 
self more  especially  to  perfect  his  in- 
"antry  in  the  improved  system  of  forming 


themselves  into  squares,  and  thus  present 
an  invulnerable  wall  against  all  attacks 
from  the  enemy's  cavalry  ;  and  in  this  ob- 
ject he  succeeded  completely,  as  was 
evinced  on  the  present  occasion.  Every 
attempt  made  by  the  French  cuirassiers  to 
penetrate  these  masses  was  in  vain ;  firm 
as  rocks,  they  maintained  their  ground  in 
the  most  cool  and  undaunted  manner,  and 
the  furious  horsemen  were  repulsed  at 
each  renewed  attack,  until  at  length,  re- 
ceiving  the  reserved  fire  of  the  Austrians, 
they  were  completely  overthrown,  and  tak- 
ing to  flight,  were  pursued  in  all  directions 
by  the  Austrian  cavalry. 

This  firm  and  unshaken  courage  dis- 
played by  the  Austrian  infantry,  the  per- 
sonal bravery  for  which  the  Lichtenstein 
cavalry  were  so  much  distinguished,  to- 
gether with  the  excellent  generalship  and 
heroism  shown  by  Prince  Charles  himself, 
who  was  in  every  part  where  danger 
threatened,  most  combined  on  this  great 
day,  the  21st  day  of  May,  to  paralyze  all 
efforts  made  by  the  French,  who  were 
fairly  beaten.  The  village  of  Aspern,  of 
which  the  enemy  had  taken  possession  as 
the  central  point  of  operations,  was  now 
retaken  by  the  Austrians.  And  now  the 
archduke,  availing  himself  of  every  re- 
source, brought  to  his  aid  another  powerful 
a^y>  by  which  still  more  to  incapacitate 
the  enemy.  Thus  turning  to  advantage 
the  present  swollen  state  of  the  waters  of 
the  mighty  Danube,  he  caused  heavy 
barges  and  other  loaded  craft  to  be  launch- 
ed down  its  course  against  the  bridge  of 
boats,  recently  constructed  by  Bonaparte. 
And  in  this  he  likewise  completely  suc- 
ceeded. The  bridge  was  torn  asunder, 
and  thus  the  French  leader  found  himself 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  cut  off  from 
Vienna  and  the  rest  of  his  army  ;  being 
now  forced  in  that  position  to  renew  the 
battle  on  the  following  day,  the  22d.  All 
his  efforts  and  tactics  were,  however,  on 
this  occasion  futile  ;  neither  his  cavalry, 
infantry,  nor  artillery  could  hold  out  against 
the  Austrian  forces.  The  battle  was  lost, 
and  if  Massena  had  not  succeeded  in  cap- 
turing the  small  town  of  Esslingen,  the 
walls  of  which  served  as  a  rampart  to 
cover  and  secure  their  retreat,  the  entire 
French  army  would  have  been  annihilated. 
Nay — as  it  has  subsequently  been  asserted 
— independently  of  this,  it  must  have  still 
been  destroyed  had  the  archduke  followed 


140 


DEATH  OF  LIEUTENANT  SCHILL— EXECUTION  OF  PALM. 


up  his  victory,  and  immediately  attacked 
the  island  of  Lobau,  where  Napoleon  had 
taken  refuge,  and  awaited  in  the  greatest 
anxiety,  until  the  bridge  was  repaired  on 
the  other  arm  of  the  Danube  ;  but  being 
left  unmolested,  he  recrossed  the  river,  by 
which  means  he  was  enabled  to  return  to 
Vienna.  The  field  of  battle,  however, 
was  covered  with  his  slaughtered  troops, 
of  which  the  Austrians  counted  three  thou- 
sand cuirassiers  alone. 

This  decisive  battle  excited  fresh  hope 
in  all  hearts.  Already,  in  various  dis- 
tricts throughout  the  land,  the  people  now 
emulated  each  other  in  evincing  their 
hatred  and  fury  towards  the  invaders,  and 
shaking  off  their  yoke.  In  the  north,  the 
bold  patriot  Schill  again  came  forth  at 
the  head  of  his  hussars  and  a  numerous 
body  of  brave  volunteers,  and  directed  all 
his  energies  against  the  common  enemy  ; 
while  in  Hesse  another  daring  leader, 
Dornberg,  united  with  several  others  for 
the  purpose  of  driving  from  the  throne  of 
their  legitimate  prince,  the  foreign  usurper 
who  had  fixed  his  seat  of  government  in 
Cassel,  and  thus  the  work  of  deliverance 
commenced  in  that  quarter.  Nevertheless, 
owing  to  the  universal  respect  in  which 
the  law  and  spirit  of  public  order  were 
held  by  the  people,  there  was  a  want  of 
that  co-operation  so  necessary,  and  the  at- 
tempts thus  made  turned  out  unsuccessful. 
Schill,  who  had  unfortunately  found  him- 
self less  supported  than  the  cause  he  fought 
for  merited,  was  forced  eventually  to  throw 
himself  into  Stralsund.  Thence  he  hoped 
to  be  enabled  to  set  sail  lor  England,  in 
order  subsequently  to  return  at  a  more 
favorable  moment  to  Germany,  and  re- 
commence operations  upon  a  more  effective 
plan.  Stralsund,  however,  was  besieged 
and  taken  by  the  united  forces  of  France, 
Holland,  and  Denmark,  and  Schill,  with 
his  little  band  of  heroes,  was  unhappily 
cut  to  pieces.  From  this  moment,  terror 
and  dismay  produced  their  disheartening 
effects  in  every  part  of  Germany,  and  de- 
terred all  from  attempting  to  free  them- 
selves from  the  despotic  sway  of  the  ruling 
powers.  They  were,  indeed,  not  only 
fettered  in  their  liberty  of  action,  but  also 
in  that  of  speech,  inasmuch  as  Napoleon 
condemned  an  innocent  bookseller — Palm 
of  Brian  gen — to  be  shot  for  having  pub- 
lished a  pamphlet  containing  remarks  upon 
'he  humiliating  state  of  Germany,  and  re- 


fusing to  give  up  the  name  of  its  author, 
This  tyrannical  act  produced  such  revolt- 
ing  effects  upon  the  minds  of  all  through- 
out  Germany,  that  the  feeling  of  bitter 
hatred,  already  excited  so  universally 
against  him,  became  more  and  more  con- 
firmed  and  deep-rooted,  and  the  cry  of 
vengeance  for  the  innocent  blood  thus 
shed  did  not  long  remain  unsatisfied. 

An  event  of  a  more  serious  character 
than  those  alluded  to  in  the  north  of  Ger, 
many,  was  the  revolt  of  the  faithful  Tyro- 
lese  under  Hofer,  Straub,  a,  J  Speck- 
bacher.  These  bold  and  hardy  men  of 
the  mountain  had  already  driven  away  the 
French  invaders  twice  from  their  land, 
adopting  the  same  system  of  warfare  for- 
merly pursued  with  such  overwhelming 
effect  by  the  Swiss,  and  by  which  the 
latter  so  completely  succeeded  in  humbling 
the  pride  of  iheir  Austrian  rulers,  and  the 
flower  of  their  nobility  and  cavaliers.  All 
Germany  rejoiced  when  it  beheld  on  the 
summit  of  these  majestic  mountains  that 
liberty  still  maintained  her  sway  in  the 
bosom  of  that  home  where  all  spoke  the 
national  tongue,  and  fervent  was  the  hope 
that  victory  would  crown  those  efforts  de- 
voted  to  so  noble  and  sacred  a  cause 
Other  hopes  were  now  likewise  excited, 
by  encouraging  events  in  another  quarter, 
inasmuch  as  the  English  had,  at  this  time, 
sent  a  numerous  fleet  to  the  island  of 
Walcheren,  on  the  coast  of  Holland,  and 
thence  it  was  expected  a  grand  blow 
would  be  inflicted  upon  the  power  of 
France — all  these  hopes  and  anticipations, 
however,  only  proved  once  more  illusive. 

Bonaparte,  after  the  battle  of  Aspern, 
collected  reinforcements  from  Bavaria, 
Wiirtemberg,  Saxony,  Italy,  and  Illyria, 
so  that  he  was  now  enabled  to  recross  the 
Danube,  and  advance  against  the  Arch- 
duke Charles  with  a  very  superior  force. 
The  passage  across  the  river  was  effected 
during  a  most  tempestuous  night,  and 
amidst  the  continual  roaring  of  cannon , 
and  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  July,  was  fought 
the  grand  and  decisive  battle  of  Wagram. 
From  the  towers  of  Vienna  the  inhabitants 
beheld  the  two  armies  drawn  up  in  battle, 
and  were  enabled  to  observe  clearly  the 
movements  of  the  right  wing  of  the  Aus. 
trians ;  when  they  saw  these  troops  gain, 
ing  upon  the  enemy  and  in  full  pursuit, 
one  universal  shout  of  joy  was  echoec 
forth  from  every  quarter.  But  this  wel 


HIE  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK— NAPOLEON'S  POWER. 


41) 


come,  grateful  feeling  o£  elation  had  but 
a  brief  existence  ;  for,  in  the  mean  time, 
the  left  wing  of  the  Austrian  army  had 
been  completely  surrounded — the  auxiliary 
troops  from  Hungary  not  having  marched 
up  in  time — and  the  Archduke  Charles 
was  forced  to  retreat.  Thence,  only  six 
days  after  the  battle,  an  armistice  was 
concluded,  and  negotiations  for  peace  were 
commenced. 

The  news  of  this  unexpected  reverse 
was  very  disheartening  to  the  Tyrolese. 
Nevertheless,  they  once  more  united  all 
their  efforts,  and  expelled  the  French 
under  Marshal  Lefevre  from  their  country, 
in  the  hope  that,  stimulated  by  such  pa- 
triotic devotion,  the  Austrians  would  re- 
commence war.  But  the  misfortunes  and 
deprivations  endured  by  his  subjects  ope- 
rated too  strongly  upon  the  feelings  of  the 
emperor  Francis ;  while,  in  addition  to 
his  own  depressed  condition,  the  news 
arrived  of  the  disastrous  results  of  the 
English  expedition  to  Holland.  Accord- 
ingly, the  negotiations  were  continued, 
and  a  peace  was  finally  concluded.  Mean- 
time, the  Tyrolese  were  again  assailed  by 
the  French,  now  united  with  the  Bava- 
rians, and  this  time  the  invaders  were 
triumphant.  The  entire  country  was  sur- 
rounded on  every  side,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
desperate  resistance  made  by  the  brave 
mountaineers,  and  the  consequent  losses 
sustained  by  their  foes,  pass  after  pass, 
mountain  after  mountain,  were  conquered, 
and  the  whole  land  devastated  with  fire 
and  sword — the  brave  defenders  being 
either  killed  or  made  prisoners.  Their 
heroic  and  devoted  chief,  Hofer,  was  seized, 
and  dragged  to  the  other  side  of  the  Alps, 
in  Italy,  and  cruelly  shot,  as  a  traitor,  in 
the  citadel  of  Mantua. 

Another  hero,  the  duke  of  Brunswick, 
likewise  made  a  brave  attempt  to  recon- 
quer his  own  possessions ;  but  his  efforts 
were  in  vain.  However,  by  a  bold  and 
successful  march  he  made  with  his  devo- 
ted corps  of  twelve  hundred  men — the 
black  hussars — commencing  at  the  fron- 
tiers of  Bohemia,  and  continuing  his 
cour.se  over  a  space  of  nearly  four  hun- 
dred miles,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy's 
troops — he  crossed  the  territories  of  Leip- 
sic,  Halle,  Halberstadt,  his  own  hereditary 
duchy — whence  the  usurpers  had  driven 
aim — and  Hanover,  and  paved  his  way  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Weser  at  Elsfleth ; 


there,  with  his  brave  legion,  he  embarked 
and  set  sail  for  England,  where  he  safely 
landed,  and  was  received  with  that  hospi- 
tality and  admiration  due  to  him  as  an 
exile  and  a  hero.* 

Austria,  by  the  peace  of  Vienna,  was 
forced  to  yield  Salzburg  and  several  other 
territories  to  Bavaria ;  the  major  part  of 
her  possessions  in  Poland  she  gave  up  to 
the  grand-duke  of  Warsaw  and  to  Russia , 
and  she  was  likewise  deprived  of  her  re- 
maining provinces  in  Italy,  together  with 
the  whole  of  Illyria  ;  and  thus  she  wa« 
forced  to  sacrifice,  on  the  one  side,  all  hei 
possessions  annexed  to  the  sea ;  and,  on 
the  other,  all  her  frontier  line  of  fortified 
places,  together  with  the  mighty  bulwarks 
of  her  mountains.  These  latter  sacrifices 
were  even  more  severely  felt  than  the  loss 
she  now  again  sustained  of  two  thousand 
square  miles  of  territory,  and  more  than 
three  millions  of  her  subjects. 

The  emperor  Napoleon,  by  the  peace  of 
Vienna,  had  now  raised  himself  to  such 
an  eminence,  that  all  hope  of  reducing  his 
power  was  nearly  extinguished.  In  order 
to  fix  himself  more  securely  in  the  posi- 
tion he  commanded,  and  to  exalt  himself 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  by  an  alliance 
with  the  most  ancient  of  all  the  princely 
houses  of  Europe,  he  compelled  his  wife, 
the  empress  Josephine,  to  sign  a  divorce, 
and  offered  his  hand  to  the  Archduchess 
Maria  Louisa,  daughter  of  the  emperor 
Francis.  The  latter  consented  to  make 
this  great  sacrifice :  "  It  was  in  order 
to  promote,"  as  was  stated  in  a  subse- 
quent declaration  of  Austria,  '-the  most 
sacred  interests  of  the  monarchy  and  of 
humanity  itself,  and  as  a  bulwark  against 
evils  the  extent  of  which  could  not  be  seen, 
and  as  a  pledge  for  the  maintenance  of 
order,  that  his  majesty  resigned  one  of  the 
most  precious  objects  of  his  affections : 
and  thus  he  formed  an  alliance,  the  object 
of  which  was  to  console  and  relieve  his 
oppressed  and  unhappy  subjects ;  to  re- 
store and  make  permanent  the  long-desired 
feeling  of  security  afler  the  sufferings  and 
calamities  produced  in  a  struggle  so  une- 
qual ;  to  incline  the  powerful  and  over- 
bearing to  act  with  moderation  and  justice, 

*  The  subsequent  history  of  this  heroic  man  may  be 
summed  up  in  a  tew  words.  He  died  as  lie  had  lived, 
the  bravest  of  the  brave,  in  the  desperate  action  of 
Quatre  Bras,  on  the  evening  before  the  never-to-be- 
forgotten  day  of  Waterloo,  at  the  head  of  his  Blac* 
Hussars. 


142 


MARRIAGE  WITH  MARIA  LOUISA  OF  AUSTRIA. 


and  thus  establish  an  equilibrium,  without 
which  the  community  of  states  could  only 
form  a  community  of  misery."  The  em- 
peror Napoleon  had  now  attained  that  point 
in  his  career,  when  the  oVect  of  his  desire 
should  be  rather  to  confirm,  than  with  in- 
satiable ambition  to  extend  the  conquests 
already  obtained.  By  his  alliance  with 
this,  the  most  ancient  imperial  house  in 
Christendom,  the  edifice  of  his  grandeur 
would  acquire  in  the  eyes  of  the  French 
nation  and  the  whole  world  such  solidity, 
that  farther  attempts  to  augment  it,  espe- 
cially by  wars,  would  only  have  the  effect 
of  impairing  it,  and  ultimately,  perhaps, 
bringing  about  its  total  destruction.  After 
so  many  years  of  futile  efforts  and  incal- 
culable sacrifices  made  by  Germany  for 
the  establishment  of  peace,  it  was  hoped 
that  now  the  confidence  and  good  faith 
thus  shown  and  proved  on  the  part  of  Aus- 
tria towards  France,  must  produce  prosper- 
ous and  happy  results. 

But  how  much  was  the  noble-minded 
Francis  deceived  in  the  confidence  he  thus 
so  generously  and  naturally  expressed ! 
In  the  same  year  that  the  new  alliance 
was  formed — the  marriage  having  taken 
place  on  the  2d  of  April,  1810 — the  vice- 
roy of  Italy  was  elected  successor  to  the 
prince-primate,  now  grand-duke  of  Frank- 
fort;  Holland,  after  Lewis  had  resigned 
the  crown  because  he  would  not  allow  his 
brother  to  make  him  his  agent  in  the  de- 
struction of  the  people,  was  now  annexed 
as  a  province  to  the  kingdom  of  France, 
"  that  country  being,"  as  was  pretended, 
"  nothing  else  but  an  alluvion  of  the  Rhine, 
the  Meuse,  and  the  Scheldt,  the  principal 
arteries  of  France."  And,  finally,  in 
order  to  show  the  power  he  possessed  of 
doing  as  he  pleased,  and  that  no  considera- 
tion should  operate  as  a  check  upon  his 
designs,  Napoleon  suddenly  determined  to 
unite  with  France  the  whole  of  the  north- 
west of  Germany,  situated  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Weser,  the  Ems,  and  the  Elbe,  together 
with  the  ancient  free  cities  of  Hamburg, 
Bremen,  and  Liibeck.  His  pretext  for  this 
was,  "  that  a  system  of  contraband  trading 
with  England  was  pursued  along  these 
coasts,  and  by  those  cities."  Thus  Ger- 
many found  herself  wholly  deprived  of  her 
coasts  and  maritime  commerce ;  the  great 
river  which  had  hitherto  formed  the  natu- 
ral division  of  territory  between  France 


French  dominion.  In  fact,  an  arbitrary 
line  of  demarcation  was  marked  out  across 
countries  and  rivers,  as  it  suited  the  con- 
queror's caprice,  so  that  it  was  easy  to 
perceive  that  this  was  only  the  intro. 
duction  to  that  which  was  to  follow 
upon  a  much  more  extensive  scale,  and 
that  the  whole  of  Germany  must  grad 
ually,  and  part  by  part,  be  drawn  into 
and  ingulfed  in  the  one  universal,  final 
abyss. 

Meantime,  Napoleon  was  far  from  com- 
prehending the  legitimate  means  by  which 
he  would  have  been  enabled  to  secure 
to  his  power,  so  newly  established,  and 
originally  produced  by  the  violation  of 
all  sacred  and  human  rights,  that  fixed 
duration  extending  beyond  the  existence 
even  of  the  founder  himself;  he  was  igno- 
rant of  the  method  by  which  to  inculcate 
in  the  minds  of  his  people  the  necessary 
faith  in  this  lasting  power,  and  all  that  he 
did  only  tended  to  produce  the  opposite  of 
this  impression.  Already,  in  1809,  while  in 
Vienna,  he  caused  the  pope,  the  venerable 
father  of  the  Catholic  community,  to  be 
made  a  prisoner  like  a  criminal  in  his  own 
ancient  capital ;  and  now  he  followed  up 
this  act  of  tyranny  by  annexing  Rome  it- 
self to  his  own  vast  empire,  and  decided 
that  his  son,  newly  born,  as  well  as  all 
eldest  sons  of  future  emperors,  should  re- 
ceive the  title  of  king  of  Rome.  Such  acts 
called  forth  the  most  bitter  hatred  against 
him  in  the  hearts  of  millions  of  men  in  all 
countries,  and  his  name  was  pronounced 
with  curses ;  but  upon  his  iron-hearted 
nature  neither  curses  nor  blessings  left 
any  impression.  His  empire  appeared  to 
him  immoveably  fixed,  and  based,  as  it 
was,  upon  the  strength  of  500,000  soldiers, 
and  an  auxiliary  force  of  innumerable 
spies,  he  felt  secure  in  all  his  power. 
Nevertheless,  scarcely  had  two  years 
passed  over  his  head,  before  the  colossus 
of  this 
the  emperor 
abdication. 

Napoleon  now  turned  upon  the  emperoi 


mighty  power  was  overturned,  and 
iperor  of  France  forced  to  sign  his 


Alexander,  and  accusing  him  of  maintain- 
ing a  secret  understanding  with  England, 
and  encouraging  the  people  of  Germany 
to  revolt  against  him,  he  forthwith  declared 
war  against  Russia  ;  he  accordingly  com- 
menced preparations    for    this   campaign 
( the  results  of  which  produced  his  ruin,  and 
ind    Germany,    was   now    wholly    under  j  enabled  the  Germanic  empire  to  throw  ofl 


HIS  CAMPAIGN  IN  RUSSIA— MOSCOW  BURNED— HIS  FLIGHT. 


i43 


;lie  yoke  imposed  upon  it  by  the  ruthless 
nvader. 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  1812,  Napo- 
leon commenced  his  march  for  the  inva- 
sion of  the  gigantic  empire  of  Russia,  with 
an  army  of  400,000  infantry  and  60,000 
horse,  together  with  a  t»ain  of  twelve  hun- 
dred pieces  of  artillery.  The  preparations 
for  this  great  expedition  had  occupied  him 
full  two  years ;  having  collected  together 
the  most  choice  troops  from  all  parts  of 
Europe,  and  supplied  and  equipped  them 
with  every  necessary  materiel  for  the 
campaign.  The  first-a*uLJmmediate  ob- 
ject in  view  was  the  destruction  of  the 
Russian  empire  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  Napoleon,  if  he  suc- 
ceeded in  forcing  the  Russians  to  conclude 
a  peace, .to  extend  his  progress  even  to 
Asia  itself,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  expel 
his  greatest  enemies,  the  English,  from 
their  vast  possessions  in  the  East  Indies, 
lie  crossed  the  Niemen,  and  directed  his 
march  towards  Moscow,  where  he  arrived, 
and  made  his  triumphal  entry  on  the  14th 
of  September,  taking  up  his  residence  in 
the  Kremlin,  the  ancient  palace  of  the 
czars.  Here,  however,  Providence  fixed 
the  term  of  his  victorious  career,  for, 
scarcely  had  he  established  himself  in  his 
quarters  before  the  entire  city  was  a  mass 
of  flames,  having  been  set  on  fire  in  more 
than  a  hundred  different  parts,  and  very 
soon  this  place,  so  shortly  before  the  mag- 
nificent metropolis  of  the  country,  was 
completely  reduced  to  a  heap  of  ruins  and 
ashes,  and  all  the  supplies  upon  which 
Napoleon  had  calculated,  so  necessary  for 
his  troops  during  the  five  months  of.  win- 
ter, became  likewise  a  prey  to  the  flames. 
He  had  now  only  sufficient  provisions  to 
last  for  a  few  weeks,  and  as  the  emperor 
Alexander  refused  to  come  to  any  terms 
of  peace,  he  was  forced,  at  the  end  of  Oc- 
tober, to  make  a  retreat ;  instead,  however, 
of  taking  the  route  across  Caluga,  as  the 
most  wise  and  prudent  course,  inasmuch 
as  the  war  had  not  touched  that  territory, 
he  returned  by  the  road  of  Smolensko, 
along  the  whole  of  which  all  the  magazines 
had  been  sacked,  and  every  thing  laid 
waste  by  both  the  French  and  the  Rus- 
sians themselves.  Thence  the  fugitives, 
amid  the  rigors  of  this  particularly  bitter 
winter,  very  soon  experienced  all  the  hor- 
rors of  famine  ;  which,  added  to  the  want 
of  clothing  and  shelter,  completed  their 


misery .  Disorder  and  insubordination 
spread  throughout  the  ranks,  and  the  light 
javalry  of  the  Russians  now  harassing 
hem  in  every  direction,  night  and  day. 
their  numbers  diminished  more  and  more 
Nevertheless  the  common  danger  held  to 
jether  great  numbers  of  the  retreating 
army,  and  out  of  such  an  immense  body 
lundreds  of  thousands  might  still  have 
escaped  had  it  not  been  for  their  more 
destructive  and  mighty  enemy — the  dread 
ful  winter — which  sealed  their  inevitable 
doom.  But  the  pen  refuses  longer  to  dwell 
upon  the  horrors  resulting  from  this  cam- 
paign, which,  in  truth,  were  beyond  all 
description.  Suffice  it,  that  out  of  half  a 
million  of  human  beings,  who  were  led  into 
this  war  by  their  arrogant  chief,  scarcely 
30,000  returned  capable  of  bearing  arms. 

Germany  now  saw  the  favorable  moment 
arrive  of  which  she  must  avail  herself  at 
once  in  order  to  throw  off  the  tyrant's  yoke, 
and  reconquer  her  liberty.  Prussia  was 
the  first  to  set  the  example.  Her  army, 
which  had  been  compelled  to  follow  in  the 
ranks  of  the  French  in  the  Russian  expe- 
dition, was,  fortunately,  in  good  condition 
to  fight  for  the  liberty  of  its  country,  inas- 
much as  the  position  it  had  occupied  in 
the  invader's  forces  having  been  the  ex- 
treme left,  it  had  scarcely  suffered  at  all. 
General  York,  the  Prussian  commander, 
who  was  equally  well  acquainted  with  the 
sentiments  of  the  king  as  he  was  with  the 
feelings  of  the  people,  had  no  sooner  gained 
the  frontiers  of  Prussia  than  he  abandoned 
the  French,  and  hastened  to  demand  of  his 
king  whether  he  should  form  a  junction 
with  the  Russians.  Frederick  William, 
who  was  still  in  Berlin,  which  was  garrison- 
ed by  the  French,  decided  in  the  affirma- 
tive, and  repaired  immediately  to  Breslaw, 
whence,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1813,  he 
called  upon  the  youth  of  his  dominions  to 
corne  forth  and  assemble  around  him  in  de- 
fence of  their  fatherland.  His  appeal  pene- 
trated the  hearts  of  all,  and  thousands  of. 
young  men  poured  in  and  ranged  themselves 
under  his  banner ;  Berlin  itself  contributing 
a  force  of  10,000  men. 

In  addition  to  this,  the  king  summoned 
together  the  Landwehr  or  militia  of  the 
country,  and  on  the  17th  of  March,  1813, 
he  declared  war  against  France.  Thig 
bold  and  determined  step,  however,  was  not 
unattended  with  danger,  for  the  French 
still  possessed  in  Prussia  and  Poland  eighf 


&44 


NAPOLEON  MARCHES  INTO  GERMANY. 


strong  fortifications,  and  more  than  65,000 
of  their  troops  were  in  occupation  of  the 
Prussian  dominions  ;  nevertheless,  Prussia 
was  soon  enabled  to  develop  her  entire 
strength.  For  the  king,  in  conjunction 
with  those  around  him,  had  not  allowed  the 
short  interval  to  pass  away  idly,  and  the 
most  prudent  measures  were  adopted  in  se- 
cret in  order  to  be  ready  at  the  desired  mo- 
ment.  The  youth  had  been  kept  in  the 
continual  practice  of  arms,  mustering  alter- 
nately in  small  bodies,  at  the  appointed 
places,  and  thus  the  country  was  supplied 
with  its  brave  defenders,  uniting  the  power 
ivith  the  will  to  exterminate  their  hated  in- 
vaders. 

Napoleon,  in  the  mean  time,  having  de- 
termined to  provide  for  his  own  personal 
security,  had  abandoned  the  remnant  of  his 
army  in  Russia  and  fled  to  Paris,  travelling 
r.ight  and  day,  and  arrived  there  on  the 
18th  of  December. 

He  immediately  ordered  a  fresh  levy  of 
350,000  men  to  be  made,  in  order  to  replace, 
as  he  said,  the  loss,  mentioned  in  his  twenty- 
ninth  bulletin,  of  30,000  men  and  great 
part  of  his  artillery  and  baggage  ;  and 
when  the  king  of  Prussia's  declaration  of 
war  was  published,  he  ordered  an  additional 
levy  of  180,000  men.  The  French  nation, 
accordingly,  accustomed  as  it  was  to  obey 
the  emperor's  commands  without  a  murmur, 
did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  pour  forth  its 
youth,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  the  whole 
of  Europe,  a  numerically  superior  and 
well-appointed  army  was  collected,  which 
forthwith  marched  to  and  crossed  the  Rhine 
and  advanced  into  Germany  to  fight  for 
and  maintain  the  glory  of  the  French  em- 
oeror. 

At  the  same  time,  in  order  to  secure  him- 
self a  guarantee  for  the  tranquillity  of  his 
empire,  he  appointed  a  guard  of  honor, 
consisting  of  young  men  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished families,  who  served  as  volun- 
teers, armed  and  equipped  at  their  own  ex- 
. pense.  And  as  he  had  lost  the  whole  of 
his  cavalry  in  Russia,  he  collected  together 
all  the  gendarmerie  throughout  France,  out 
of  which  he  formed  a  body  of  16,000  cav- 
alry ;  while  to  serve  as  artillerymen  he 
collected  together  30,000  of  his  marines. 
In  addition  to  these  troops,  he  received 
50,000  auxiliaries  from  Italy,  and  the 
Rhenish  confederation,  furnished  him  with  a 
sonsiderable  contingent  of  soldiers.  Thence 
Ho  was  enabled,  in  the  month  of  April,  to 


march  into  Saxony  with  several  hundred 
thousand  men,  and  as  his  army  was  con- 
tinually augmented,  he  eventually  entered 
the  field  with  the  gigantic  force  of  500,000 
men.  Completely  blinded  by  his  success 
in  raising  such  an  army,  in  which  he  placed 
his  entire  reliance,  he  would  not  listen  for 
a  moment  to  any  proposal  for  peace.  Aus- 
tria took  great  pains  in  endeavoring  to  pro- 
mote this  object,  and  if  his  proud  and  ob- 
stinate mind  had  only  partially  yielded  to 
the  dictates  of  reason,  he  might  have  suc- 
ceeded in  retaining  possession  at  least  of 
all  the  territories  along  the  Rhine.  On 
the  31st  of  March,  shortly  after  he  had  re- 
ceived the  king  of  Prussia's  declaration  of 
war,  he  caused  to  be  inserted  in  the  gov- 
ernment journal  of  that  day,  his  determina- 
tion, viz.  :  "  that  if  even  the  enemy  were 
to  march  into  Paris,  and  take  up  his  position 
on  Montmartre  itself,  still  he  would  not 
give  up  a  single  village  out  of  all  the  con- 
quered territories  in  his  possession  !"  and 
on  the  following  day,  the  1st  of  April,  he 
published  a  counter-declaration  of  war 
against  the  king  of  Prussia,  and  resolved  in 
his  heart  this  time  to  completely  annihilate 
the  kingdom  as  well  as  the  very  name  of 
Prussia. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

Successes  of  the  Prussians— The  Duke  of  Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz — His  Daughter,  the  Queen  of  Prussia — Er- 
furt—Russia unites  with  Prussia— Battle  of  Liitzen— 
Napoleon  in  Dresden— The  King  of  Saxony— Battle 
of  Bautzen — Hamburg  taken  by  Marshal  Davonst — 
Heavy  Contributions— The  Armistice— Prussia— The 
Liitzow  Free  Corps— Theodore  Korner— Austria  en- 
deavors to  negotiate  a  Peace  between  France  and  the 
Allies— The  Congress  at  Prague— Napoleon  refuses 
all  Concession— The  Emperor  of  Austria  declares 
War,  and  joins  Russia  and  Prussia — Dresden — 
Renewal  of  Hostilities— Strength  and  Position  of 
the  Allied  Forces  —  Bernadotte— Blucher—  Prince 
Schwartzenberg— Marshal  Oudinot— Battle  of  Gross- 
Beeren— Defeat  of  the  French. 

THE  Viceroy  Eugene  was  encamped 
with  the  remnant  of  the  French  army 
which  had  escaped  from  Russia,  and  a  few 
additional  troops,  under  the  walls  of  Mag- 
deburg, and  found  himself  forced  to  leave 
the  river  Elbe  completely  open.  The 
French  were,  nevertheless,  anxious  tc 
maintain,  at  least,  possession  of  its  mouth, 
together  with  the  important  city  of  Ham- 
burg, and  General  Morand  advanced  ac- 
cordingly with  the  four  thousand  men  whc 


THE  QUEEN  OF  PRUSSIA— MAGDEBURG 


445 


jiad  held  -possession  of  the  coasts  of  Meck- 
lenburg and  Pomerania;  but  he  was  pur- 
sued by  the  light  troops  under  the  command 
of  three  brave  leaders,  Tettenborn,  Czer- 
nitschef,  and  Doernberg,  who  prevented  him 
completely  from  gaining  any  footing  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Elbe,  and  thus  forced  him 
to  recross  the  river  and  retire  to  Bremen. 
The  people  throughout  the  whole  north  of 
Germany  greeted  their  deliverers  with  the 
greatest  joy  and  delight.  The  duke  of 
Mecklenburg-Strelitz  was  the  first  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  and 
shake  off  the  French  yoke,  exclaiming  that 
"with  the  help  of  God,  he  would  at  any 
rate  show  himself  worthy  of  the  honor  of 
being  a  German  prince."*  The  citizens 
of  Liibeck  and  Hamburg  were  not  a  little 

*  This  noble-minded  prince  was  the  father-in-law  of 
the  king  of  Prussia,  who  married  his  amiable  daughter 
Louisa.  The  sad  reverses  and  heavy  afflictions  it  was 
trie  fate  of  this  virtuous  woman  to  undergo,  on  the  inva- 
sion of  the  French,  may  be  too  visibly  traced  in  the  fol- 
lowing pathetic  letter  she  wrote  to  her  affectionate 
father.  Overwhelmed  with  the  misfortunes  inflicted 
upon  her,  her  delicate  constitution  gradually  sank  un- 
der their  effects,  and  she  died  on  the  19th  of  July.  1810, 
aged  34,  to  the  great  grief  of  her  beloved  husband,  and 
the  universal  regret  of  the  whole  country  : 

"  Memel,  June  17,  1807. 

"  3Iy  dearest  Father,— I  have  perused  your  letter  of 
April  last  with  the  deepest  emotion,  and  amid  tears  of 
thf  most  irrateful  sensations.  How  shall  I  thank  you, 
dearest,  kindest  of  fathers,  for  the  many  proofs  you 
have  shown  me  of  your  paternal  love,  your  edacious  fa- 
vor, and  indescribable  benevolence !  What  secret 
consolation  is  not  this  for  me  in  my  sufferings— how 
strengthening  to  my  spirits !  When  one  is  thus  beloved, 
to  be  completely  unhappy  is  impossible. 

"  We  are  again  tlireatened  with  another  dire  calam- 
ity, and  are  about  to  abandon  the  kingdom.  Imagine 
my  state  of  mind  at  this  juncture  ;  but  I  solemnly  be- 
seech you  not  to  mistake  the  feelings  of  your  daughter. 
There  are  two  grand  principles  by  which  I  feel  myself 
strengthened  and  elevated  above  every  thing :  first,  the 
recollection  that  we  are  not  led  blindly  onward  by 
chance,  but  are  guided  by  the  hand  of  God  ;  and  sec- 
ondly, that  if  we  must  sink,  we,  at  all  events,  will  do 
so  with  honor.  The  king  has  shown,  and  to  the  whole 
world  he  has  proved  it,  that  he  prefers  honor  to  disgrace ; 
Prussia  would  never  voluntary  wear  the  chains  of 
slavery.  The  king,  therefore,  could  not  deviate  one 
stop  without  becoming  unfaithful  to  his  character  and 
a  traitor  to  his  people.  But  to  the  point.  By  the  unfor- 
tunate battle  of  Friedland,  Konigsberg  has  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  French.  We  are  surrounded  on  every 
side  by  the  enemy,  and  as  the  danger  advances  I  shall 
be  forced  to  fly  with  my  infants  from  Memel,  and  then 
endeavor  to  reach  Riga,  trusting  to  Heaven  to  assist  me 
,n  the  dreaded  moment  when  I  have  to  pass  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  empire.  And  truly  my  strength  and  cour- 
age will  then  be  required  ;  but  I  will  look  towards  God 
with  hope  and  confidence ;  for,  according  to  my  firm 
penuamon,  we  are  not  suffered  to  endure  more  than 
we  can.  Once  more,  then,  be  assured,  my  dear  father, 
that  we  yield  only  with  honor,  and  respected  as  we 
shall  be,  we  cannot  be  without  friends,  inasmuch  as 
we  have  merited  them.  The  consolation  I  experience 
t>y  this  conviction  I  cannot  express  to  you  ;  anu.  conse- 
quently, I  endure  all  rny  trials  with  that  tranquillity  and 
resignation  of  mind  which  can  only  be  produced  by  a 
good  conscience  and  a  firm  faith.  Therefore,  my  dear 
father,  be  convinced  that  we  can  never  be  completely 
unhappy,  while  many,  perhaps,  whose  brows  are  op- 
pressed with  the  weight  of  crowns  and  wreaths  are  as 
unhappy  as  ourselves ;  for  as  long  as  we  are  blessed  by 


rejoiced  at  the  change,  and  united  togethei 
in  order  to  promote  the  general  cause  o: 
liberty.  Doernberg,  at  the  head  of  four 
thousand  men,  advanced  against  General 
Morand,  who  was  now  quartered  in  Liine- 
burg,  and  scaling  the  walls  of  that  town, 
took  it  by  assault,  and  mortally  wounding 
their  leader,  either  slew  or  made  prisoners 
of  the  whole  garrison.  With  this  brilliant 
feat  of  arms  General  Doernberg  opened  the 
second  campaign. 

About  the  same  time,  the  Viceroy  Eu- 
gene suddenly  attempted  to  advance  from 
Magdeburg  with  his  30,000  men  upon  Ber- 
lin, imagining  that  on  his  march  he  should 
only  have  to  contend  against  an  insignifi- 
cant force ;  but  Generals  Wittgenstein. 
Bulow,  and  York,  having  forthwith  mus- 
tered together  all  the  troops  at  hand,  at- 
tacked him  with  a  far  inferior  force  on  the 
5th  of  April  near  Moeckern  with  so  much 
fury,  that  he  was  compelled  to  renounce 
his  design  of  marching  to  Berlin,  and  re- 
treated to  Magdeburg  with  heavy  loss.  In 
this,  their  first  encounter  with  the  French, 
the  young  Prussian  foot-soldiers,  after 
firing  a  few  volleys,  cast  aside  their  fire- 
locks altogether,  and  rushed  upon  the  ene- 
my, club  in  hand,  deeming  that  the  most 
expeditious  mode  of  warfare. 

As  soon  as  the  new  forces  of  France  had 
assembled  on  our  side  of  the  Rhine,  Na- 
poleon himself  set  out  from  Paris,  and  on 
the  evening  of  the  25th  of  April  he  arrived 
at  Erfurt.  Thence  he  proceeded  towards 
the  Saale,  and  forced  the  allied  cavalry  to 
retreat  behind  this  river.  Both  armies  now 
approached  each  other  and  prepared  for  a 
grand  and  decisive  battle. 

When,  on  the  29th  of  April,  Napoleon 
reached  the  shores  of  the  Saale,  he  beheld 
the  allied  army  immediately  facing  him,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Pegau.  The  Russians  were 
commanded  by  General  Count  Wittgen- 
stein, and  the  Prussians  by  Generals 
Blucher,  York,  and  Kleist ;  while  both  the 
emperor  Alexander  and  King  Frederick 
William  cheered  on  their  warriors  by  sha- 
ring in  the  campaign.  The  French  army, 
after  a  few  skirmishes,  advanced  by  different 
routes  towards  the  plains  of  Leipsic,  whicl. 
Bonaparte  had  fixed  upon  as  the  spot  ti 
give  the  grand  battle.  On  the  1st  of  May 

Heaven  with  peace  in  our  hearts,  we  must  ever  fine 
cause  to  rejoice.  I  remain,  forever,  your  faithfully  duti- 
ful and  loving  daughter,  and,  God  be  praised  that  you 
gracious  favor  permits  me  to  add— friend,  LOUISA." 


146 


BATTLE  OF  LUTZEN— COURAGE  OF  NAPOLEON. 


after  having  proceeded  towards  Weissen- 
fels,  he  was  met,  near  Poserna,  by  the  ar- 
tillery and  cavalry  of  the  Russians,  who 
resolved  to  dispute  his  passage.  This  corps 
was  under  the  command  of  General  Win- 
zingerode,  who  had  been  sent  forward  for 
the  purpose  of  attacking  the  French,  and 
ascertaining  whether  the  entire  army  was 
en  route.  Marshal  Bessiere,  commander 
of  the  emperor's  guards,  having  advanced 
to  meet  the  attack,  was  killed  by  a  cannon- 
'nill.  The  position  was  carried,  and  Na- 
poleon continued  his  march  on  to  Liitzen, 
the  same  field  of  battle  on  which,  two  hun- 
-Jred  years  previously,  Gustavus  Adolphus 
met  his  death  when  fighting  against  Wai- 
lenstein.  Here  the  French  halted  for  the 
night ;  but  when  in  the  morning  Napoleon 
was  about  to  resume  his  march  for  Leipsic, 
fie  suddenly  heard  heavy  discharges  of  ar- 
tillery in  his  rear  and  on  his  left  flank. 

The  Prussians  and  Russians  had  already 
well  perceived  that  it  was  Napoleon's  in- 
tention to  gain  possession  of  Leipsic  in 
order  to  cut  them  off  from  the  Elbe ;  and 
as  they  resolved  not  to  leave  him  the 
liberty  of  forming  as  usual  his  own  dispo- 
sitions, and  choosing  the  field  of  battle 
himself,  they  anticipated  his  movements  this 
time  and  attacked  him,  on  "the  2d  of  May, 
when  he  least  expected  it,  and  imagined 
*hey  could  not  possibly  be  prepared  to  give 
battle  before  the  following  day.  Towards 
mid-day  they  pressed  onward  with  all  their 
strength  through  the  villages  of  Gross- 
Gorschen  and  Klein-Gorschen,  Rhano  and 
Kaja,  of  which  Marshal  Ney  still  held  pos- 
session. The  emperor  Alexander  and  the 
king  of  Prussia  ascended  an  eminence  in 
the  rear  of  Gross- Gorschen  whence  they 
commanded  a  full  view  of  the  scene  of  en- 
gagement, while  their  presence,  now  so 
visible  to  all,  inspired  the  troops  with  the 
greatest  «.uurage.  The  brave  and  dauntless 
Bliicher  with  his  Prussians  commenced  by 
carrying  the  village  of  Gross- Gorschen  by 
assault,  and  immediately  afterwards  a  most 
obstinate  and  sanguinary  contest  took  place 
around  the  other  villages,  terminating  in 
favor  of  the  allies,  who  remained  masters 
of  the  ground,  and  forced  the  French  to  fall 
back  in  the  rear.  It  was  just  at  this  moment 
that  Napoleon  arrived  on  the  field  of  battle 
with  his  guards  and  the  rest  of  the  troops 
he  brought  with  him  ;  and  he  lost  not  a 
moment  in  pushing  them  forward  to  rein- 
force Ney's  corps,  while  he  himself  rode 


through  their  ranks  and  cheered  them  on; 
regardless  of  his  own  danger ;  for  he  knew 
too  well  that  the  loss  of  this  battle  must 
necessarily  produce  discouragement  among 
his  troops,  and  deprive  him  of  his  hold  it 
Germany.  The  action  was  accordingly 
renewed  on  both  sides  with  still  greater 
fury  around  the  villages,  which  were  taker 
and  retaken  several  times.  For  the  fourth 
time  the  allies  united  all  their  strength  and 
made  a  final  attack,  and  were  successful , 
they  retook  the  whole  of  the  villages  and 
completely  defeated  the.  French,  who  re. 
treated  in  great  confusion  as  far  as  Weis- 
senfels  and  Naumburg.  When  informed 
of  this,  Napoleon,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  an  eye-witness,  turned  round,  and  with 
a  look  of  fury  at  his  officers,  exclaimed  : 
"  What,  do  you  believe  then  that  my  star 
is  on  the  descent?"  He  however  soon  re- 
covered his  presence  of  mind,  and  adopting 
one  of  those  sudden  resolutions,  which,  when 
brought  into  operation,  disconcerted  all  the 
plans  of  his  adversaries,  he  gave  imme- 
diate orders  to  his  general  of  artillery, 
Drouet,  to  bring  together  the  whole  of  his 
cannon — eighty  pieces — and  planting  them 
on  one  spot,  thence  scatter  destruction 
amidst  the  ranks  of  his  enemies  :  for  such 
operations  he  always  held  in  reserve  the 
guns  belonging  to  his  guard — at  the  same 
time  he  posted  sixteen  battalions  of  the 
guard  upon  the  heights  in  the  rear  of  the 
village  of  Kaja.  The  artillery,  with  vol- 
cano-like fury,  swept  every  thing  before  it, 
whole  ranks  of  the  allied  forces  were 
mowed  down,  the  villages  were  reduced  to 
cinders,  and  consequently  they  were  aban- 
doned entirely.  At  the  same  moment  the 
Russians  were  hard  pressed  on  their  right 
flank  by  the  Viceroy  Eugene,  who  had  now 
arrived  from  Mark-Ranstiidt  with  30,000 
fresh  troops. 

Napoleon,  urged  on  by  his  impatient  de 
sire  to  see  the  victory  decided,  continued 
to  advance,  protected  by  the  unceasing  fire 
of  his  sixty  to  eighty  pieces  of  artillery, 
planted  in  his  centre.  Nevertheless,  the 
Russians  and  Prussians,  although  almost 
overcome  with  heat  and  fatigue,  only  re- 
tired  slowly,  and  step  by  step,  and  bravely 
maintained  every  inch  of  ground  capable 
of  defence,  until  the  fall  of  night. 

Profound  darkness  now  enveloped  the 
sanguinary  field  of  battle  ;  nothing  else 
was  visible  except  the  alternate  flashes  of 
the  cannon  which  were  still  discharged  et 


NAPOLEON  IN  DRESDEN— THE  KING  OF  SAXONY. 


447 


long  and  irregular  intervals,  and  the  flames 
of  the  villages,  which  were  gradually  be- 
coming more  and  more  faint.  Napoleon, 
Having  issued  his  orders  for  the  operations 
of  the  next  morning,  had  retired  to  his 
quarters,  within  the  strong  bulwark  of 
the  regiments  of  his  guards;  when,  sud- 
denly, the  silence  of  the  night  was  broken 
in  upon  by  the  clashing  of  swords,  and  a 
desperate  attack,  as  if  by  magic,  was  made 
upon  the  French,  even  to  the  very  guards  of 
the  emperor  himself.  This  bold  assault  was 
made  by  a  corps  of  Prussian  hussars,  led 
on  by  the  heroic  Bliicher,  who,  with  his 
usual  intrepidity,  resolved  to  make  a  last 
attempt,  in  order  to  serve  as  a  warning  to 
the  French,  that  the  allies  were  not  yet 
beaten.  He  succeeded  in  his  object ;  for 
the  enemy  did  not  venture  a  pursuit,  but 
passed  the  entire  night  under  arms. 

This  first  battle  may  be  truly  character- 
ized as  a  battle  of  honor,  and,  as  such,  it 
was  a  won  battle.  For,  in  spite  of  the  great 
numerical  superiority  of  the  French,  the 
allies  had  not  lost  a  single  color  or  cannon, 
nor  had  they,  notwithstanding  the  heavy 
fire  kept  up  by  the  French  artillery,  turn- 
ed their  back  upon  the  enemy — while  the 
force  of  the  latter  was  120,000  men,  and 
that  of  the  allied  army  was  only  70,000. 
The  amount  altogether,  on  both  sides,  in 
killed  and  wounded,  was  about  30,000 
men.  The  Prussians,  especially,  fought 
with  such  a  desperate  defiance  of  death, 
that  several  of  their  heroic  leaders  fell  a 
sacrifice  on  the  field,  including  the  prince 
of  Hesse-Homburg  himself — and  Generals 
Bliicher  and  Scharnhorst  were  both  se- 
verely wounded. 

On  the  following  morning,  Napoleon  ex- 
pected to  be  again  attacked;  but  the  allies 
having  taken  into  consideration  the  loss 
already  sustained,  and  their  great  inferior- 
ity compared  with  the  French  army,  de- 
termined to  retreat,  and,  accordingly,  with- 
drew across  Borna  and  Altenburg  on  the 
Elbe,  and  took  up  a  strong  position  at 
Bautzen :  the  Prussians  crossing  the  Elbe 
at  Meissen — the  Russians  at  Dresden,  and 
both  the  emperor  Alexander  and  the  king 
of  Prussia  quitted  that  city  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  8th  of  May. 

On  this  same  day,  the  8th  of  May,  Na- 
poleon marched  into  Dresden,  whence  he 
immediately  dispatched  an  envoy  to  the 
king  of  Saxony,  in  Prague,  in  order  to  de- 
mand his  immediate  return  to  his  capital, 


and  threatened  to  treat  Saxony  as  a  con- 
quered country  if  he  refused  compliance 
with  his  order,  and  did  not  give  up  for  hi* 
service  the  fortress  of  Torgau,  and  supply 
them  with  all  his  Saxon  army  for  the  rein- 
forcement  of  the  French  army — granting 
the  king  only  two  hours  for  his  decision, 
The  dread  he  entertained  lest  the  emperor 
who  now  already  occupied  the  major  por 
tion  of  his  territory,  should  carry  his  threats 
into  execution,  operated  upon  his  feelings 
more  than  any  other  consideration  ;  and 
not  daring  to  form  an  alliance  with  Aus- 
tria, as  he  would  have  wished,  he  returned 
to  Dresden  on  the  12th  of  May.  The  em- 
peror met  him  at  a  short  distance  beyond 
the  gates  of  the  city,  and  they  both  made 
their  triumphal  entry — as  ordered  by  Na- 
poleon— the  latter  addressing  the  municipal 
authorities  who  were  waiting  to  receive 
them,  as  follows :  "  Behold,  here  I  bring 
to  you  your  deliverer  ;  for  if  your  sove- 
reign had  not  thus  shown  himself  a  faithful 
ally,  I  should  assuredly  have  treated  your 
country  as  a  conquered  state.  Hence- 
forth, however,  my  armies  shall  only 
march  through  it,  and  protect  it  against  all 
its  enemies." 

On  the  previous  day,  the  llth  of  May, 
the  French  army  having  hastily  rebuilt 
the  bridge  over  the  Elbe,  crossed  that  river, 
the  passage  having  occupied  seven  hours ; 
during  the  whole  of  which  time,  Napoleon 
remained  seated  on  a  bench,  watching  the 
troops — French,  Italians,  and  Germans — 
as  they  marched  by,  a  sight  which  pro- 
duced in  him  feelings  of  exultation.  He 
now  determined  to  attack  the  allies  a  sec- 
ond time  in  the  strong  position  they  occu- 
pied near  Bautzen  and  Hochkirch,  and 
whose  force  now  consisted  of  100,000  men, 
while  that  of  their  enemy  amounted  to 
150,000.  The  emperor  sent  Marshal  Ney 
and  General  Lauriston  from  Hoyerswerda 
to  turn  the  right  flank  of  the  allies,  which 
being  perceived  by  the  latter,  they  de- 
tached several  battalions  under  York  and 
Barclai  de  Tolly  as  far  as  Konigswartha 
to  meet  them,  They  cam^  up  with  and 
surprised  an  Italian  division  of  9000  men, 
whom  they  immediately  routed,  and  cap- 
tured all  their  cannon  and  ammunition 
wagons.  But  as  the  main  body  of  the 
French  was  now  advancing  they  retired, 
and  fell  back  upon  their  own  lines. 

On  the  following,  day,  the  20th  of  May, 
after  a  sanguinary  combat  on  the  heights 


448 


BATTLE  OF  BAUTZEN— NAPOLEON'S  LOSSES. 


of  Burg  and  near  Bautzen,  Napoleon  forced 
a  passage  to  the  Spree,  which  he  crossed 
with  his  whole  army  ;  while  the  allies  re- 
tired in  the  greatest  order  to  their  head- 
quarters near  Gleina  and  Kreckwitz,  as 
far  as  the  mountains.  The  Russians  form- 
ed the  two  wyigs,  and  the  Prussians  under 
Uliicher  occupied  the  centre.  Although 
the  movement  effected  by  Ney  had  weak- 
ened their  position,  still  they  resolved  not 
to  leave  it  without  a  battle.  Napoleon's 
plan  was  to  cause  the  left  wing  of  the  al- 
lies to  be  attacked  by  Marshals  Oudinot 
and  Macdonald,  in  order  to  draw  their 
whole  attention  to  that  side ;  while  at  the 
same  time,  according  to  his  original  in- 
structions, Marshal  Ney  was  to  gradually 
surround  their  right  flank.  Early  in  the 
morning  of  the  21st  of  May,  and  before 
sunrise,  the  emperor  mounted  his  charger, 
and  with  the  attack  of  the  left  wing  of  the 
Russians,  commanded  by  the  prince  of 
Wiirtemberg  and  General  Milloradowitsch, 
the  battle  commenced.  The  charge  was 
bravely  met  and  sustained  by  the  Rus- 
sians, who  being  masters  of  the  heights, 
had  gr^ur  advantage  over  the  enemy,  so 
that  after  an  obstinate  and  severe  action, 
the  French  were  obliged  to  give  way. 
The  battle  did  not  become  general  until 
about  mid-day,  as  Napoleon  waited  pa- 
tiently until  Ney  had  made  himself  mas- 
ter of  the  position  he  was  to  take.  The 
latter  succeeded  in  his  manoeuvre,  and 
forcing  General  Barclai  de  Tolly  to  re- 
treat, he  captured  the  heights  of  the  Glei- 
ner  windmill,  as  well  as  the  village  of 
Preititz.  This  was  a  most  critical  mo- 
ment for  the  allies,  as  this  village  lay  com- 
pletely behind  them;  Bliicher,  however, 
hastened  to  dispatch  General  Kleist  to  its 
aid,  and  it  was  retaken.  Napoleon  now 
saw  that  it  was  necessary  to  bring  up  his 
fresh  troops,  which  he  had  held  in  reserve. 
He  placed  at  their  head  his  best  general, 
Marshal  Soult,  and  at  the  very  moment 
that  the  Prussians  had  weakened  their 
centre  by  the  corps  they  sent  to  support  the 
right  wing,  Soult  was  ordered  to  make  an 
attack  upon  it.  This  was  done  with  so 
much  fury,  seconded  by  the  heavy  can- 
nonade kept  up  by  the  French  artillery, 
that  the  Prussian  infantry  were  forced  to 
give  way  before  the  overpowering  enemy, 
who  remained  masters  of  the  heights  of 
Kreckwitz.  The  allies  now  saw  that  they 
were  placed  in  such  a  predicament,  that 


they  must  either  sacrifice  every  thing,  and 
collect  all  their  remaining  strength  to  storm 
and  regain  these  heights,  or  end  the  battle 
at  once,  as  their  present  position  could  no 
longer  be  maintained.  The  same  reasons 
by  which  they  were  influenced  to  retreat 
from  Liitzen,  operated  upon  them  in  the 
present  instance.  The  moment  had  not 
yet  arrived  in  which  it  was  advisable  to 
risk  extreme  measures ;  as  yet,  they  were 
not  supplied  with  the  reinforcements  which 
were  en  route  to  join  them,  both  from  Rus- 
sia and  Prussia  ;  and  they  felt  certain  that 
the  emperor  of  Austria  must  very  soon 
abandon  his  son-in-law  and  join  their  cause. 
Accordingly,  they  determined  upon  a  re- 
treat, and  this  they  commenced  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  effecting  it  in  such 
good  order,  that  the  French  found  it  use- 
less to  attempt  a  pursuit,  whence  they  suf- 
fered little  or  no  loss.  Napoleon,  who  was 
at  that  moment  on  a  high  hill,  near  Nieder- 
kuyna,  had  mounted  one  of  the  drums  be- 
longing to  his  guards,  and  thence  observed 
the  allies  as  they  retreated ;  he  then  sent 
some  of  his  troops  to  harass  their  rear,  but 
the  light  cavalry  of  both  the  Russians  and 
Prussians,  which  covered  their  retreat, 
kept  them  at  bay,  and  he  was  forced  to 
content  himself  with  remaining  master  of 
the  field  of  battle — an  advantage  gained 
very  dearly,  for  his  loss  in  this  action 
was  more  than  20,000  men,  while  that  of 
the  allies  altogether  was  not  more  than 
12,000. 

The  allied  forces  retired  into  Silesia, 
and  Napoleon  marched  in  rapid  pursuit  of 
them.  Each  time,  however,  that  the 
French  advanced  too  closely  upon  the 
heels  of  their  rear-guard,  the  latter  turned 
upon  their  pursuers,  and  after  hard  fight- 
ing, drove  them  back.  Napoleon,  vexed 
at  finding  that  his  generals  took  so  few 
prisoners  from  a  retreating  army,  took  up- 
on himself  the  command  of  the  advanced 
guard,  and  attacked  the  rear  of  the  allies 
on  the  22d  of  May,  at  Reichenbach.  But 
his  cavalry  was  completely  beaten  back, 
and  a  cannon-ball  killed  close  by  his  side 
his  generals  Kirgener,  Labruyere,  and 
Marshal  Duroc,  his  especial  friend  and 
favorite,  and  whose  loss  was  acutely  felt 
by  Napoleon,  for  the  marshal,  possessing 
his  entire  confidence,  never  hesitated  to 
express  his  opinions  openly  and  sincerely^ 
and  they  had  both  been  school-fellows  to 
gether. 


THE  ARMISTICE— DAVOUST  TAKES  HAMBURG. 


44!« 


On  the  26th  of  May,  Bliicher  gave  orders 
vo  Ziethen  to  wait  in  ambush  with  his  cav- 
alry until  the  French  arrived  close  to 
HajT.au ;  and  when,  according  to  agree- 
ment, the  windmill  of  Baudmannsdorf  was 
set  on  fire  as  a  signal,  the  3000  troopers 
rushed  from  hehind  the  heights,  and  fall- 
ing on  the  enemy's  squares  with  loud  hur- 
rahs, put  them  to  flight,  after  making  300 
prisoners.  Colonel  Dolfs,  however,  the 
leader  of  this  brave  squadron,  fell  glorious- 
Iv  while  fighting  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy. 

Napoleon  now  plainly  saw  that  the  allies 
were  not  to  be  overcome,  and  accordingly 
ha  proposed  a  suspension  of  arms,  to  which 
Jie  allies  having  consented,  a  truce  for  six 
weeks  was  signed  on  the  8th  of  June.  The 
French  abandoned  Breslaw,  of  which  they 
had  shortly  before  made  themselves  mas- 
ters, and  retained  only  a  portion  of  Silesia; 
while,  however,  Hamburg,  through  unfor- 
tunate circumstances,  now  fell  into  their 
hands.  For  at  the  very  commencement 
of  May,  when  Napoleon  opened  the  cam- 
paign, Marshal  Davoust  marched  with 
14,000  men  to  lay  siege  to  that  place,  which 
contained  but  a  very  feeble  garrison  com- 
manded by  General  Tettenburg,  by  no 
means  sufficient  to  defend  so  large  a  city. 
The  citizens,  however,  calculated  upon  the 
aid  of  their  Danish  neighbors  in  Altona,  as 
well  as  upon  that  of  the  Swedes,  who  had 
collected  in  considerable  force  under  their 
crown-prince  in  Pomerania  and  Mecklen- 
burg. The  latter,  however,  were  anxious 
to  possess  Norway,  and  had  already  stipu- 
lated with  England  and  Russia  to  have  it 
transferred  into  their  hands  as  the  price 
of  their  aid  in  the  war ;  and  as  Denmark 
on  her  part  resolved  not  to  submit  to  this 
loss  of  half  her  territory,  she  formed  an 
alliance  with  France ;  and  accordingly, 
on  the  30th  of  May,  the  very  day  they  en- 
tered the  ill-fated  city,  the  Danes  gave  it 
up  to  the  enemy.  Thus  Hamburg  was 
sacrificed  through  the  jealousy  of  these  two 
powers.  Napoleon,  embittered  against  the 
inhabitants  for  their  independent  principles, 
and  the  opposition  shown  against  him,  im- 
posed upon  them  a  con:ribution  of  no  less 
than  48,000,000  of  francs. 

The  news  of  the  armistice  reached  Ber- 
lin on  Whit-Monday.  The  public  were  by 
no  means  tranquillized  by  this  information, 
but  on  the  contrary,  when  they  beheld  the 
present  unguarded  position  of  their  city, 
which  was  no  longer  in  a  condition  to  de- 
57 


fend  itself  against  the  attack  of  the  enemy 
much  disappointment  and  alarm  was  ex« 
pressed — far  more  so  than  if  the  war  had 
been  continued.  The  king,  however,  soon 
succeeded  in  restoring  confidence,  by  pub- 
lishing a  declaration,  in  which  he  assured 
his  people  "  that  this  armistice  was  only 
concluded  in  order  to  afford  time  for  the 
perfect  development  of  the  whole  strength 
of  the  country.  As  yet  the  enemy  was 
much  too'  powerful  to  be  overcome,  and 
what  iDe  nation  had  thus  far  accomplished, 
had  only  served  to  uphold  once  again  its 
ancient  honor  and  heroic  courage ;  now, 
however,  they  must  become  so  strong  as  to 
be  enabled  to  reconquer  their  independence 
and  permanent  liberty.  He  conjured  his 
subjects  to  maintain  their  firmness,  to  con- 
fide in  him,  their  devoted  king,  and  the 
object  so  much  desired  must  be  attained." 
Meantime,  whenever  he  could,  Napoleon 
did  not  hesitate  to  increase  by  his  treache- 
rous acts,  the  bitter  feeling  already  exist- 
ing against  him,  and  the  following  instance 
presents  another  proof  of  his  revengeful 
disposition.  Major  Lutzow,  with  his  squad- 
ron of  hussars,  had  boldly  advanced  to 
the  rear  of  the  French  troops  far  into  Sax- 
ony,  and  even  beyond,  into  Franconia, 
harassing  them  continually,  and  cutting  to 
pieces  or  making  prisoners  of  whole  de- 
tachments, so  that  Napoleon  was  much  ex- 
asperated against  this  brave,  intrepid  band. 
According  to  an  article  of  the  armistice, 
the  Lutzow  corps  was  to  have  crossed  the 
Elbe  by  the  12th  of  June,  but  it  was  not 
till  the  14th  that  their  commander  received 
official  intelligence  of  this  condition,  which 
it  was  thus  impossible  for  him  strictly  to 
fulfil.  On  this,  Napoleon  gave  orders  "to 
destroy  these  robbers  wherever  they  might 
be  met  with,"  and  on  the  evening  of  the 
17th  of  June,  as  they  were  proceeding  to 
pass  the  Elbe,  they  were  suddenly  attacked 
in  the  village  of  Kitzen,  near  Leipsic,  in  a 
most  treacherous  manner  by  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  who  were  to  escort  them.  The 
little  band  was  easily  dispersed,  many  were 
cut  down,  wounded,  and  taken,  and  a  part 
only,  with  their  brave  leader,  succeeded  in 
fighting  their  way  through.* 

*  This  free  corps,  it  may  be  observed,  was  an  assoeia 
lion  formed  of  youths  chiefly  of  the  middle  and  snperioi 
classes,  who  united  themselves  under  the  command  of 
a  military  officer  of  great  gallantry  and  experience,  the 
above-mentioned  Major  von  Lutzow,  for  the  freedom 
of  their  fatherland.  Their  exploits  were  of  the  most 
daring  and  heroic  character,  partaking  rather  of  the 
bold  and  chivalrous  spirit  of  the  middle  ages  than  the 


160 


THE  CONGRESS  OF  PRAGUE— AUSTRIA  JOINS  THE  ALLIES. 


Meantime,  the  emperor  of  Austria  came 
forward  as  a  mediatory  power,  and  endeav- 
ored to  effect  a  peace  ;  a  congress  assem- 
bled in  Prague,  and  the  emperor  Francis 
proceeded  to  Gitschen,  near  Prague,  in  or- 
der to  assist  in  person  towards  the  promo- 
tion of  the  object  he  so  much  desired.  Na- 
poleon, however,  felt  his  pride  hurt  when  he 
beheld  another  power  attempt  to  dictate 
terms  to  him,  and  refused  to  abandon  any 
of  the  conquests  he  had  made.  Thence, 
although  the  armistice  had  been  prolonged 
to  the  17th  of  August,  the  negotiations  were 
attended  with  no  results  affording  any 
hopes  for  peace  ;  while,  in  the  interval, 
both  sides  were  occupied  in  making  their 
preparations  for  renewed  hostilities.  Napo- 
leon's army  received  continual  reinforce- 
ments from  France,  so  that  he  was  soon 
enabled  once  more  to  bring  into  the  field  a 
force  of  no  less  than  350,000  men,  besides 
which,  his  faithful  adherent,  the  Viceroy 
Eugene,  collected  in  Italy  another  army  of 
60,000  men  to  defend  that  country  against 
Austria — in  case  a  rupture  should  occur 
between  that  power  and  France ;  and,  on 
the  frontiers  of  Austria,  Bavaria  was  forced 
to  support  him  with  another  army  of  30,000 
men,  under  General  Wrede. 

The  emperor  of  Austria,  finding  that  all 
hvs  efforts  to  bring  his  son-in-law  to  agree 
to  any  terms  of  peace  were  made  in  vain, 
now  resolved,  without  further  delay,  to  join 
the  emperor  of  Russia  and  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia, and  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  con- 
federation for  the  overthrow  of  the  usurper.- 
Meantime,  the  latter  had  been  anxiously 
waiting  in  Dresden  for  the  declaration  of 
Austria,  although  he  continued  confident  in 
his  expectations,  that  by  means  of  his  cun- 
ning management,  he  would  continue  to 
hold  that  power  in  a  state  of  inactivity.  At 
length,  on  the  15th  of  August,  his  envoy, 
Count  de  Narbonne,  arrived  from  Prague, 
and  Napoleon,  summoning  his  minister  Ma- 
rat, had  a  long  conference  with  both  soon 
after.  They  were  seen,  all  three,  engaged 
in  earnest  conversation,  walking,  with  has- 
ty strides,  to  and  fro  in  the  garden  of  the 
Marcolini  Palace,  the  residence  of  the  em- 
cold  and  calculating  nature  of  modern  warfare.  Among 
those  who  joined  its  standard  were  many  who  are  high- 
ly distinguished  in  letters  and  the  arts,  as  for  instance, 
the  Baron  de  la  Motte  Fouque,  (the  author  of  Undine. 
&c.,)  Frederick  Forster,  (the  historian  of  WaUemtein,) 
and  more  especially  the  gifted  poet  and  gallant  soldier, 
Korner,  who  fell  mortally  wounded.  Even  women, 
inspired  with  the  prevailing  spirit  of  patriotism,  served 
f\  their  ranks  undiscovered. 


peror ;  his  suite,  which  was  at  a  considers, 
ble  distance  off,  watching  their  master  with 
anxious  looks,  and  waiting  the  result  ofthia 
meeting,  upon  which  the  fate  of  so  many 
thousands  of  human  beings  depended.  Sud- 
denly, Napoleon  was  seen  to  stop,  and  by  a 
hasty  and  indignant  movement  of  his  hand, 
seemed  to  reject  at  once  the  offered  terms 
of  peace.  War  again  !  now  sounded  from 
every  side,  and  spread  from  mouth  to  mouth. 
The  emperor,  however,  his  eyes  still  spark- 
ling with  fury,  returned  to  the  palace,  and 
proceeding  with  hasty  steps  across  the  hall 
of  marshals,  entered  his  carriage,  and  gal- 
loped off  for  Bautzen  and  Gorlitz,  towards 
Silesia. 

The  allies  had,  during  the  interval  of  the 
armistice,  strengthened  their  forces  to  such 
an  extent,  that  they  were  far  superior,  even 
in  numbers,  to  the  French  ;  for  Austria 
alone,  when  joining  them,  brought  an  addi- 
tion of  200,000  men,  and  which  was  ren- 
dered the  more  necessary,  as  their  immense 
army  being  distributed  at  various  points, 
they  were  forced  to  advance  against  the 
French  in  extended  circles ;  while  Napo- 
leon, who  concentrated  his  forces  into  one 
circle,  was  enabled  to  attack  first  one  point, 
then  another,  and  thus  decide  the  contest  at 
once  with  the  same  body  of  men.  The  po- 
sition of  the  allied  army  was  as  follows : 

1.  The  crown-prince  of  Sweden,  Berna- 
dotte,  who  had   likewise  entered  the   field 
with  24,000  Swedes,  was  appointed    com- 
mander  of  the  whole  of  the  northern  army, 
and  was  instructed  to  defend,  with  a  forct 
of  125,000  men,  Berlin  and  the  whole  of 
Brandenburg.     Besides  his  own  troops,  he 
had  under  his  orders  the  Prussian  divisions 
under  Biilow  and  Tauenzien,  the  Russian 
divisions  under  Winzingerode  and  Wallmo- 
den.    The  latter  general,  with  25,000  men, 
consisting  of  Russians,   English,  Hanove, 
rians,  Mecklenburgers,  the    Russian-Ger- 
man  legion,  and  the  corps  of  Liitzow,  was 
appointed  to  oppose  Marshal  Davoust  and 
the  Danes  on  the  frontiers  of  Mecklenburg. 

2.  Marshal  Bliicher  commanded  the  Si- 
lesian  army  of  95.000   men,  and  he  had 
with  him  General  York,  at  the  head  of  the 
first  Prussian  division,  and  the  Russian  di- 
visions under  Generals  Sacken,  Langeron, 
and  St.  Priest.     The  first  general   of  his 
staff,  however,  was  Gneisenau,  who,  from 
this  time,  became  more   and  more  distin- 
guished  in  the  field. 

3.  The  main  division  of  the  allied  army 


FORCES  OF  THE  ALLIES. 


451 


in  Bohemia,  consisting  principally  of  Aus- 
trians,  but  reinforced  by  a  Prussian  divi- 
sion under  Kleist,  a  Russian  division  com- 
manded  by  Wittgenstein,  and  the  Russian 
guard  under  the  orders  of  the  Grand-duke 
Constantino,  was  commanded  by  the  Aus- 
trian field-marshal,  Prince  Schwartzenberg, 
who,  together  with  great  courage  and  ex- 
ucrience,  possessed  all  that  calmness  and 
decision  of  character  so  necessary  in  the 
commander  of  such  numerous  armies  of 
mixed  nations.  This  division  of  the  allied 
forces  amounted  to  230,000  men. 

This  position  and  the  division  of  the  al- 
lied forces  into  three  armies  were  well 
planned,  for  whichever  of  these  forces  Na- 
poleon might  attack,  he  was  sure  to  have 
the  other  two  in  his  rear  or  in  the  flank. 
When,  with  his  grand  army,  he  pressed 
forward  from  Dresden  and  Lusatia  towards 
Silesia,  Bliicher  retired  in  order  to  draw 
him  towards  the  Oder;  but  during  this  in- 
terval the  main  army  of  the  allies  advanced 
from  Bohemia,  and,  taking  possession  of 
Dresden  in  his  rear,  caught  him  complete- 
ly in  their  net ;  so  that  if  he  turned  to  the 
right  along  the  Elbe,  in  order  to  penetrate 
into  Bohemia,  Bliicher  must  meet  him  in 
the  front,  and  pursuing  him  into  the  passes 
of  the  Bohemian  mountains,  thus  place  him 
between  two  fires.  "Finally,  Napoleon  ad- 
vanced with  a  superior  force  direct  against 
Bernadotte  towards  Berlin  ;  the  latter,  how- 
ever, followed  the  example  of  Blucher  and 
retreated,  leaving  the  Prussian  capital  ex- 
posed, it  is  true,  although  only  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  for,  in  the  mean  time,  the  army  of 
Bohemia  conquered  Dresden  and  Leipsic, 
together  with  all  the  supplies  of  the  French 
in  Saxony. 

The  French  emperor  had  little  imagined 
the  allies  would  have  been  capable  of  form- 
ing such  a  grand  plan  ;  and  especially  of 
bringing  it  into  operation  so  unobservedly 
and  successfully.  On  the  contrary,  he  had 
calculated,  as  usual,  upon  availing  himself 
of  the  happy  chances  thrown  in  his  way  by 
the  errors  of  his  adversaries,  and  in  this  he 
was  supported  by  his  generals  around  him. 
Fully  confiding  in  the  lightning-like  celeri- 
ty of  their  emperor's  plans  and  movements, 
they  comforted  themselves  with  the  assur- 
ance to  which  they  repeatedly  gave  utter- 
ance, that  their  enemies  must  commit  blun- 
ders which  they  would  take  advantage  of, 
and  falling  upon  their  whole  army,  com- 
pletely annihilate  it. 


The  more  wise  and  prudent,  however, 
not  coinciding  with  the  majority,  counselled 
their  leader  to  abandon  his  posizion  on  the 
Elbe,  which  was  too  seriously  menaced  on 
its  right  from  the  Bohemian  side.  Marshal 
Oudinot,  amoiig  other  things,  wrote  to  hifii, 
"That  if  he  withdrew  his  garrisons  from 
the  fortifications  he  held,  reinforced  his  ar- 
my  with  them,  and  then  retreated  to  the 
Rhine,  distributing  his  invalided  troops  in 
good  cantonments,  and  establishing  the  rest 
of  his  army  in  suitable  positions,  it  might 
still  be  in  his  power  to  dictate  to  the  allies 
his  terms  of  peace."  But  such  advice, 
however  wise  and  discreet,  appeared  mad- 
ness itself  to  that  mighty  and  all-violent 
man,  who  held  himself  so  much  beyond  all 
others  in  thought  and  action  ;  and  thus  it 
was  ordained  that  his  obstinate  pride  and 
egotism  should  eventually  produce  the  de- 
liverance of  Germany. 

In  order  not  to  lose  the  advantage  of 
making  the  first  attack,  he  determined  to 
turn  all  his  strength  against  the  Silesian 
army,  and  fall  upon  that  division  separate- 
ly ;  while,  meantime,  to  prevent  the  Aus- 
trians  from  advancing  from  Bohemia  and 
harassing  his  rear,  he  posted  Marshal  Gou- 
vion  St.  Cyr  with  40,000  men  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  mountains  near  Giesshiibel. 
At  the  same  time  Marshal  Oudinot  received 
orders  to  march,  with  his  80,000  men,  di- 
rect against  and  capture  the  city  of  Berlin. 
If  his  plan  had  succeeded,  his  complete  tri- 
umph must  have  been  infallibly  secured ; 
but  the  old  and  expert  general  in  Silesia 
was  too  much  on  his  guard.  For  when  he 
perceived,  after  several  encounters  between 
the  18th  and  23d  of  August,  that  the  main 
army  of  the  French  was  now  in  full  march, 
and  was  gaining  upon  him  near  Lowen- 
burg  on  the  Bober  river,  he  refused  to  give 
battle,  and  according  to  the  previously  ar- 
ranged plan,  retreated  to  Jauer.  Napo- 
leon, who  in  the  mean  time  had  received 
hasty  news  of  the  advance  of  the  Schwartz- 
enberg forces  upon  Dresden,  could  not  ven- 
ture to  pursue  him  ;  but  on  the  23d  of  An- 
gust  he,  with  his  guards  and  the  sixth  corps 
of  his  army,  commenced  his  retreat  back  to 
Dresden. 

On  the  same  day  the  brave  Billow  came 
up  with  the  French  army  en  route  for  Ber- 
lin, and  attacked  it  near  Gross-Beeren. 
They  had  already  advanced  to  within  eight 
or  nine  miles  of  the  capital,  and  Napoleon 
had  already  publicly  announced  that  Oudi 


i52 


BLUCHER'S  VICTORY  AT  KATZBACH. 


not  would  be  there  on  the  23d  of  August. 
General  Regnier  had,  by  Marshal  Oudi- 
not's  orders,  already  taken  possession  of 
Gross-Beeren  on  the  23d  of  August,  and 
thus  the  road  to  Berlin  being  secured,  he 
made  sure  of  making  his  triumphal  entry 
there  on  the  following  morning.  But  his 
hopes  of  the  attainment  of  this  grand  object 
were  completely  destroyed,  even  on  the 
very  night  before ;  for  scarcely  ;  yd  the 
clay  declined  and  evening  set  in,  before 
Biilow  with  his  brave  Prussians  attacked 
the  French  with  such  fury  in  Gross-Beeren 
itself,  that  they  were  completely  routed, 
and  obliged  to  abandon  the  village  in  the 
greatest  disorder,  the  darkness  of  the  night 
alone  protecting  them  from  total  destruc- 
tion. In  another  quarter,  on  the  extreme 
left  wing  and  with  a  very  small  force, 
General  Tauenzien  had  bravely  resisted, 
and  finally  repulsed,  the  attack  made  by 
General  Bertrand. 

The  French  marshal  now  clearly  seeing 
that  he  had  to  contend  with  a  superior  ene- 
my, would  not  venture  upon  a  general  bat- 
tle, but  retreated  in  all  haste  as  far  as  the 
Elbe,  having  suffered  a  loss  of  twenty-six 
cannon,  and  several  thousands  of  his  men 
made  prisoners.  Berlin,  which  had  been 
in  a  state  of  fearful  suspense,  was  now  full 
of  joy  and  rapture  when  the  news  arrived 
of  the  glorious  victory  by  which  it  was  de- 
livered from  the  invaders,  and  thousands  of 
the  citizens  poured  out  of  its  walls,  and 
eagerly  sought  the  battle-field,  in  order  to 
cheer  and  rescue  their  wounded  preservers, 
conveying  all  back  with  them  to  the  city, 
where  they  were  carefully  attended  to. 
Just  about  the  same  time,  on  the  27th  of 
August,  the  French  general,  Gerard,  who 
had  made  a  sally  with  the  flower  of  his 
troops  forming  the  garrison  of  Magdeburg, 
in  order  to  assist  in  the  taking  of  Berlin, 
was  attacked  by  the  brave  veteran,  Gene- 
ral Hirschfeld,  near  Lubnitz  and  Hagels- 
berg,  and  completely  routed,  being  forced 
to  shut  himself  up  within  the  walls  of  Mag- 
deburg. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

ijllorious  Victory  of  the  Prussians  under  Bliicher  at 
Katzbach— Blucher  created  Prince  of  Wahlstadt— 
Battle  of  Dresden— Defeat  of  the  Austrians—  Death 
of  General  Moreau— Battle  of  Kulm— General  Kle  ist 
—Generals  Vandamme  and  Haxo  made  prisoners— 
Battle  of  Donnewitz— Battle  of  Wartenburg— General 


York— Preparations  for  the  Battle  of  Leipsic— Th* 
French  Army— Honors  and  Promotions  conferred  by 
Napoleon— rj  he  Allied  Forces— Prince  Schwartzun- 
berg. 

NAPOLEON,  on  quitting  Silesia  for  Dres- 
den, had  left  behind  him  Marshal  Macdon- 
ald  with  a  body  of  80,000  men,  in  order  ta 
hold  at  bay  the  Prussians  and  Russians. 
But  no  sooner  did  Blucher  perceive  who 
was  now  his  opponent,  than  he  forthwith 
advanced  against  him — for  it  was  not  his 
system  to  keep  the  enemy  waiting  long. 
He  soon  learned  that  Marshal  Macdonald, 
with  his  whole  army,  was  in  full  march 
across  the  mountains  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  river  Katzbach,  in  order  himself  to 
make  an  attack  upon  the  allies.  The  wary 
veteran  allowed  his  enemy  to  proceed  with- 
out interruption  until  he  knew  him  to  be 
secured  amidst  the  ravines  and  narrow 
passes,  when,  the  favorable  moment  having 
now  arrived,  he  exclaimed  to  his  soldiers : 
"  Now,  lads,  there  are  enough  Frenchmen 
passed  over — come  on — forwards !"  And 
on  the  Prussians  rushed  after  their  leader, 
with  re-echoed  shouts,  and  soon  the  battle 
became  general.  This  attack  took  place 
on  the  26th  of  August  between  Brechtels- 
hof  and  Groitsch,  amidst  torrents  of  rain. 
The  right  wing  was  commanded  by  Sacken, 
the  centre  by  York,  and  the  left  by  Lan- 
geron  ;  while  the  heroic  Blucher,  as  com- 
mander-in-chief,  with  all  the  fire  of  hig 
youthful  days,  led  on  the  cavalry  himself, 
and,  at  their  head,  dashed  among  the  para- 
lyzed foe.  Such  an  unexpected,  overwhelm- 
ing attack  the  French  could  not  withstand, 
and,  consequently,  they  were  everywhere 
put  to  flight.  One  entire  division,  under 
General  Puthod,  which  attempted  to  attack 
the  Prussians  in  the  rear,  was,  at  Lowen- 
berg,  either  cut  to  pieces  or  taken  prison- 
ers. Terror  and  dismay  seized  upon  the 
whole  of  the  French  army,  and  they  were 
pursued  in  every  direction  by  the  embit- 
tered Prussians.  At  length  Blucher  sound- 
ed the  recall,  and,  in  an  address,  congrat- 
ulated his  troops  upon  the  laurels  they  had 
gained,  and  so  truly  merited,  by  their  cour- 
age displayed  in  this  grand  battle.  The 
results  of  this  victory  are  thus  described 
by  him  in  the  conclusion  of  his  address: 

"  By  this  great  victory  we  have  forced 
the  French  to  abandon  the  whole  of  Silesia ; 
we  have  captured  one  hundred  and  three 
pieces  of  cannon,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
ammunition-wagons,  two  French  eagles, 
together  with  numerous  other  trophies,  and 


HIE  ALLIES  BEFORE  DRESDEN— NAPOLEON  g  ARRIVAL. 


453 


we  have  made  18,000  prisoners,  including 
many  of  their  superior  officers."4 

Henceforth  from  the  day  of  this  trium- 
phant battle  of  Katzbach,  the  great  Prus- 
sian general  was  called,  by  his  army,  Mar- 
shal Forwards,  and  in  honor  thereof,  and 
as  a  mark  of  his  own  and  the  nation's  grat- 
itude and  esteem,  the  king  of  Prussia  short- 
ly afterwards  made  him  a  field-marshal, 
and  created  him  a  prince  by  the  title  of 
Prince  of  Wahlstadt.f 

On  the  same  day  that  the  battle  of  Katz- 
bach was  gained,  and  also  on  the  following 
day,  the  two  grand  armies. met  and  fought 
with  great  obstinacy  near  Dresden  ;  but  the 
results  were  not  yet  ordained  to  be  deci- 
sive. Prince  Schwartzeriberg  and  the  three 
allied  sovereigns,  after  having  marched 
with  their  grand  army  across  the  mountains 
which  separate  Saxony  from  Bohemia,  and 
driven  the  French  from  their  position  at 
Giesshiibel,  arrived  before  Dresden  on  the 
25th  of  August.  The  city,  during  the  ar- 
mistice, had  been  strongly  fortified  and  sup- 
plied with  a  numerous  garrison  ;  neverthe- 
less, it  might  have  been  taken  if  the  attack 
had  been  made  a  day  sooner.  But  the  roads 
across  the  mountains  were,  in  some  parts,  so 
impassable  that  twenty  and  even  a  greater 
number  of  horses  were  scarcely  able  to  drag 
along  a  single  cannon,  while  the  convoys  of 
provisions  for  this  army  of  100,000  men  were 
obliged  to  remain  behind,  and  the  troops 
were  reduced  to  the  greatest  possible  want, 
Thence  the  allies  were  only  able  to  assem- 
ble before  Dresden  in  the  night  of  the  25th 
of  August ;  while  Napoleon  arrived  in  that 
city  on  the  following  morning,  followed  by 
a  great  portion  of  his  army.  His  presence 
was  quite  unexpected,  as  it  was  generally 
believed  that  he  was  in  the  depths  of  Sile- 
sia. He  had  a  short  conference  with  the 
king  of  Saxony,  and  then  gave  directions 
for  the  defence  of  the  city.  The  grand  gar- 
den of  his  palace  was  already  in  possession 
of  the  Prussian  sharp-shooters,  one  of  whom 
shot  a  page  dead  close  to  the  side  of  his  im- 
perial master.  The  principal  attack  was 
made  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

*  Once  when  Blucher's  heroic  deeds  were  lauded 
in  his  own  presence,  he  exclaimed  :  "  What  is  it  my 
friends  you  art-  praising  ?  What  I  did  was  accomplished 
through  my  own  natural  temerity,  seconded  by  (Ju«-i- 
Benau's  presence  of  mind,  but  above  all,  through  the 
Almighty's  merry  !"' 

t  Wahlstadt  is  a  princely  but  spiritual  domain  in  Si- 
lesia, founded  by  St.  lied  wig  in  remembrance  of  Duke 
Henry  of  Lower  Saxony,  who  lost  his  life  on  this  spot 
in  the  3  ?ar  124J,  in  a  great  battle  against  the  Mongo- 
Lans. 


the  allies  occupying  the  whole  range  of 
heights  along  the  left  l*ink  of  the  Elbe  to 
the  extent  of  three  miles  around  the  city. 
The  signal  being  announced  by  three  can- 
non-shots, the  allied  troops  descended  from 
their  position  on  the  heights  in  six  separate 
divisions  of  attack,  each  preceded  by  fifty 
pieces  of  cannon.  Having  arrived  in  the 
plain,  they  drew  up  in  line  of  battle,  and  the 
infantry  advanced  and  stormed  the  French 
intrenchments,  upon  which  their  artillery, 
at  the  same  time,  poured  forth  the  most  de- 
structive fire.  One  brave  corps  of  Austri- 
ans  succeeded  in  making  themselves  mas- 
ters of  an  intrenchment  defended  by  eight 
pieces  of  artillery,  and  pressed  forward  to 
the  very  walls  of  the  city  ;  but  they  were  not 
sufficiently  strong  to  maintain  their  ground, 
while  Napoleon  now  kept  sending  forth  from 
the  city  gates,  and  under  shelter  of  his  bat- 
teries, large  bodies  of  infantry  and  cavalry. 
Both  sides  fought  with  great  courage,  and 
the  city  itself  was  much  injured  and  many 
of  the  inhabitants  killed  by  the  artillery  of 
the  allies.  The  latter,  however,  who  were 
forced  to  contend  against  intrenchments, 
ramparts,  and  masses  of  the  enemy's  troops, 
continually  increasing  in  number,  could  not 
succeed  in  gaining  their  object,  and  accord- 
ingly, night  having  set  in,  they  retreated 
and  fell  back  upon  their  former  position  on 
the  hills. 

•During  the  whole  of  this  night  reinforce- 
ments of  French  troops  kept  incessantly 
arriving  at  Dresden  from  the  opposite  shore 
of  the  Elbe,  and  on  the  next  morning,  at 
about  seven  o'clock,  they  were  marched 
forth  from  their  intrenchments.  Napoleon's 
object  as  to  force  the  allies  to  abandon  al- 
together the  neighborhood  of  Dresden,  where 
he  had  established  his  head-quarters,  and  to 
drive  them  back  across  the  Bohemian  moun- 
tains. He  had  now  assembled  together  the 
flowerof  his  army,  and  even  hisguards,which 
were  only  employed  in  extreme  and  decisive 
moments,  were  now  selected  to  share  in  the 
battle.  His  plan  of  battle  was  to  occupy 
the  attention  of  the  enemy's  right  wing  and 
centre  by  a  well-sustained  fire  from  his 
heavy  guns,  as  if  intending  to  direct  his 
entire  force  against  that  quarter;  while, 
meantime,  the  king  of  Naples,  with  a  nu- 
merous body  of  infantry,  and  the  tlite  of 
the  cavalry,  was  to  march  on  to  Freiberg 
and  fall  upon  the  left  wing  of  the  Austrians ; 
and,  as  the  latter  portion  of  the  Dallied  army 
was  divided  from  the  main  body  by  the 


i54 


GENERAL  MOREAU  KILLED— GENERAL  VANQAMME. 


valley  of  Plauen,  and  the  rain  poured  down 
in  such  torrents  that  every  thing  around 
was  obscured,  the  French  were  completely 
successful,  and  came  up  close  to  the  Aus- 
trians before  they  could  be  discovered. 
The  attack  commenced,  and  the  heavy 
cuvalry  of  the  assailants  dashed  among  the 
A  ustrian  newly-levied  foot-soldiers,  and  as 
the  latter,  owing  to  the  deluging  rain,  found 
their  firelocks  perfectly  useless,  they  were 
all  either  killed  or  made  prisoners,  of  which 
the  latter,  amounting  to  12,000,  including 
their  general,  Mezko,  were  all  marched  into 
Dresden. 

Among  those  who  lost  their  lives  on  this 
sad  day  was  General  Moreau,  who  had  just 
returned  from  America,  whither  he  had 
been  banished  by  Napoleon,  and  who  had 
engaged  to  aid  the  emperor  Alexander 
with  all  his  knowledge  and  experience  for 
the  deliverance  of  Germany  and  Europe, 
in  the  cause  of  which  he  entered  most 
heartily.  Both  his  legs  were  shot  off  by 
a  cannon-ball  on  the  morning  after  his 
arrival  at  head-quarters,  and  while  he  was 
in  conversation  with  the  emperor  Alexan- 
der. He  underwent  the  painful  operation  of 
amputation  of  both  thighs  with  the  firmness 
and  resignation  of  a  hero  accustomed  to 
meet  death  in  any  form ;  but  he,  neverthe- 
less, sunk  under  it,  and  died  at  Laun  in 
Bohemia,  on  the  2d  of  September.  He  was 
an  excellent  general,  an  upright  and  noble- 
minded  man,  and  one  whose  whole  soul  was 
so  devoted  to  liberty  that  it  was  universally 
regretted  he  was  not  spared  to  witness  as 
well  as  to  assist  in  its  restoration. 

The  want  of  supplies  and  of  the  means 
of  their  conveyance,  together  with  the  over- 
throw of  the  left  wing,  by  which  the  high 
road  to  Freiberg  was  completely  cut  off, 
induced  the  allies  to  withdraw  their  forces 
and  retire  into  Bohemia,  more  especially 
as  news  now  reached  them  that  General 
Vandamme,  with  a  chosen  body  of  troops, 
was  advancing  by  hasty  marches  from  the 
opposite  side  across  Pirna,  in  order  to  cut 
off  likewise  the  second  grand  route.  Na- 
poleon's chief  aim  was  to  annihilate  the  al- 
lied army,  by  forcing  it  to  retreat  across 
bad  roads,  and  thus,  by  entangling  it  in  the 
difficult  passes  of  the  mountains,  destroy  it  by 
famine  and  disease,  or,  having  thus  reduced 
the  whole  of  the  forces  to  the  last  extreme, 
oblige  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  and 
give  themselves  up  prisoners.  And  truly  the 
dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed  might 


have  produced  what  he  so  mucii  wished — 
but  all  his  plans  very  soon  rebounded  against 
himself. 

Presumption,  ambition,  und  especially 
the  sanguine  hopes  he  entertained  of  ob- 
taining the  marshal's  baton  by  a  brilliant 
action,  stimulated  General  Vandamme  to 
march  boldly  forward,  and  he  welJ  nigh 
succeeded  in  giving  the  allies  a  decisive 
blow.  But  on  the  20th  of  August,  when 
he  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  valley  of 
Toplitz,  he  found  his  passage  opposed  by 
the  Russian  guard,  amounting  to  8000  men, 
commanded  by  General  Ostermann — a  pha- 
lanx of  heroes,  who  firmly  planted  them- 
selves across  his  path  like  an  impenetrable 
wall  of  adamant.  His  own  force  consisted 
of  30,000  picked  men,  but  who  were,  never- 
theless, held  at  bay  by  these  8000  guards 
the  entire  day,  who  at  length  slowly  retired, 
and  disputed  every  inch  of  ground  before 
the  superior  numbers  of  their  foe  ;  nor  did 
they  retreat  indeed,  until  half  their  force 
was  either  killed  or  wounded,  and  their 
brave  leader,  Ostermann,  had  lost  an  arm. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  determined  that  Van- 
damme should  not  maintain  the  position  he 
commanded,  which  was  so  dangerous  to  the 
allies,  and  he  was  again  attacked  upon  the 
heights  of  Kulm  and  Arbesau,  on  the  30thr 
by  the  Russians  and  two  divisions  of  the 
Austrians,  who  had  come  up  during  the 
night.  His  right  flank  was  protected  by 
the  Geiers  mountain,  and  by  the  road  across 
the  hill  of  Nollendorf  he  expected  aid  from 
the  forces  under  Marmont,  St.  Cyr,  orMor- 
tier,  who  were  likewise  in  pursuit  of  the 
allies,  and  were  only  dhiant  a  few  hours' 
march.  Both  armies  fought  with  great 
obstinacy,  and  the  rocks  and  precipices 
around  vibrated  a  thousand-fold  with  the 
cries  of  the  combatants,  the  clashing  of 
their  swords,  and  the  fire  of  their  guns. 
Suddenly,  however,  appeared  upon  the 
heights,  in  his  rear,  what  Vandamme  at 
first  thought  was  the  very  aid  he  expected, 
but  he  soon  found  out  his  mistake,  it  being, 
on  the  contrary,  several  battalions  of  Prus- 
sians led  on  by  Kleist,  and  who  were  now 
descending  upon  the  French  in  all  haste. 
The  latter  were  struck  as  with  a  clap  of 
thunder,  and  no  longer  thought  of  victory, 
but  only  of  their  own  safety,  and  a  portion 
of  the  cavalry  unexpectedly  rushing  upon 
the  Prussians  with  the  greatest  fury,  suc- 
ceeded in  cutting  their  way  through  and 
escaping.  But  the  Austrians  and  Russians 


TE  DEUM— BATTLE  OF  DENNEWITZ. 


455 


coming  up  now  joined  the  Prussians,  and 
they  completely  surrounded  Vandamme 
and  the  rest  of  his  army.  From  ten  to 
twelve  thousand  men  were  made  prisoners, 
together  with  Vandamme  himself  and  Ge- 
neral Haxo ;  in  addition  to  which,  eighty 
pieces  of  artillery,  all  their  ammunition- 
wagons,  two  eagles,  and  three  standards, 
tell  into  the  hands  of  the  victors. 

This  was  an  unexpected  blow  to  Bona- 
parte ;  and  while  he  praised  the  courage 
displayed  by  his  general,  he  condemned 
him  for  his  want  of  prudence.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  brave  Prussian  general, 
Kleist,  was  honored  by  his  sovereign  with 
the  title  of  "  Kleist  von  Nollendorf." 

Nearly  about  the  same  time  that  these 
glorious  achievements  were  effected  in  the 
presence,  as  it  were,  of  the  three  sovereigns 
themselves,  the  news  arrived  of  the  vic- 
tories gained  at  Katzbach  and  Gross-Beer- 
en ;  which  was  immediately  followed  by 
the  announcement  of  the  triumphant  battle 
fought  at  Vittoria  by  the  British  troops  un- 
der their  heroic  leader,  Wellington.  In 
gratitude  to  Heaven  for  these  glorious  re- 
sults, the  three  monarchs  ordered  a  solemn 
Te  Deiim  to  be  celebrated  at  Toplitz  on  the 
3d  of  September,  in  the  presence  of  them- 
selves and  the  whole  of  the  allied  army. 

Napoleon  now  resolved  to  make  up  for 
the  losses  he  had  sustained  by  gaining  ad- 
vantages in  another  quarter,  and  appointed 
Marshal  Ney,  whom  he  had  created  Prince 
de  la  Moskwa,  to  succeed  General  Oudinot 
in  command  of  the  army  which  was  to  take 
possession  of  Berlin.  The  crown-prince 
of  Sweden,  Bernadotte,  managed  very  suc- 
cessfully to  deceive  and  draw  him  into  the 
net,  by  pretending  to  detach  25,000  men 
from  his  army  in  aid  of  General  Wall- 
moden  against  Davoust,  taking  care,  how- 
ever, to  allow  his  preparations  to  be  made 
known  to  the  watchful  spies  of  Napoleon, 
to  whom  the  information  thereof  was  very 
speedily  conveyed.  Ney  received  imme- 
diate orders  to  march  from  the  Elbe  with 
his  80,000  men,  and  attack  all  before  him 
— under  the  idea  that  the  aforesaid  25,000 
men  were  en  route  for  Mecklenburg. 

Ney  succeeded,  nevertheless,  in  deceiv- 
ing the  crown-prince  as  to  his  intentions, 
by  counter-marches,  and  on  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember he  fell  all  at  once,  with  the  whole 
of  his  army,  upon  the  Prussians  command- 
ed by  Biilow  and  Tauenzien,  at  Dennewitz 
near  Jiiterbogk.  The  Prussian  army,  which 


consisted  of  only  40,000  mm,  suffered  a  se« 
vere  shock  from  this  overwhelming  force 
against  which  they  had  to  contend  the 
whole  day,  until  the  arrival  of  the  Russian 
and  Swedish  troops.  The  French  generals 
used  all  their  efforts  in  order  to  gain  the 
battle  ;  Ney  exposed  himself  so  much  that 
half  of  his  staff  officers  were  killed  around 
him,  and  his  example  was  followed  by 
Oudinot,  who  attacked  the  corps  undei 
Tauenzien  at  the  head  of  his  men  ;  while 
Regnier  continued  for  a  long  time  fighting 
amidst  the  enemy's  sharpshooters,  as  if 
seeking  his  death  at  their  hands.  But  the 
courage  of  the  Prussians  was  not  to  be 
overcome,  altho;j£,h  more  than  a  third  of 
their  number  became  a  sacrifice ;  and  at 
length,  towards  the  evening,  when  fifty  bat- 
talions of  the  Swedish  and  Russian  infan- 
try, together  with  6000  cavalry  and  120 
pieces  of  artillery,  marched  into  the  field 
and  joined  in  the  battle,  the  French  were 
forced  to  yield,  and  were  put  to  rout  at 
once,  pursued  by  the  allied  cavalry  to  the 
very  banks  of  the  Elbe,  losing  from  18,000 
to  20,000  men  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
prisoners,  together  with  eighty  pieces  of 
cannon  and  other  trophies. 

After  such  repeated  reverses  experienced 
by  his  generals,  Napoleon  gave  up  planning 
any  fresh  attacks,  and  had  he  only  given 
ear  to  the  voice  of  reason  and  moderation, 
he  would,  at  the  same  time,  have  perceived 
at  once  that  he  could  only  defend  himself 
for  a  short  time  longer  in  Saxony.  But 
the  presumption,  wrath,  and  the  thirst  after 
vengeance  with  which  his  heart  was  filled, 
completely  blinded  him,  and  like  the  gam- 
bler, who  in  his  despair  stakes  his  all  upon 
the  last  throw,  Napoleon  madly  resolved  to 
lose  or  gain  all,  and  obstinately  determined 
not  to  move  from  the  spot. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  September  he 
was  continually  marching  either  between 
Dresden  and  Lusatia  on  the  one  side,  or 
towards  the  mountains  of  Bohemia  on  the 
other,  in  order  to  inflict  a  decisive  blow  upon 
the  Silesian  army,  or  to  keep  at  bay  the 
main  body  of  the  allied  forces  in  the  latter 
country.  The  allies,  however,  took  good 
care  not  to  venture  an  action  in  an  unfavor- 
able position,  and  as  he  advanced  they  se- 
cured themselves  in  such  a  locality  as  com- 
pletely prevented  him  from  attacking  or 
drawing  them  into  a  general  battle.  This 
continual  marching  and  counter-marohing 
harassed  and  depressed  his  soldiers  so  n/ 


BLUCHER'S  BOLD  MANOEUVRE. 


lhat  they  began  now  to  murmur  and  express 
disgust  at  the  war  which  but  a  short  time 
previously  they  entered  upon  with  such  en- 
husiasm. 

He  now  advanced  once  more  from  Dres- 
den with  his  guards,  apparently  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  upon  Blucher,  who 
neared  the  Elbe  more  and  more;  but  he 
changed  his  plan,  and  irritated  and  furious 
at  being  so  often  foiled,  he  turned  his  march 
against  the  allied  army  in  Bohemia,  and  on 
the  17th  attacked  them  in  a  narrow  valley 
of  the  mountains  near  Nollendorf,  in  order 
to  force  a  passage  on  to  Tijplitz.  Once 
again,  and  for  the  last  time,  the  thunder  of 
artillery  vibrated  here  from  rock  to  rock, 
and  the  sanguinary  struggle  was  resumed; 
but  Napoleon  was  again  unsuccessful,  and 
was  forced  to  fall  back  with  the  loss  of  ten 
cannon  and  2000  prisoners  taken  by  the 
Austrians  under  General  Kolloredo.  On 
the  22d  he  advanced  once  more  against 
Blucher,  who  took  up  a  strong  position  on 
the  river  Spree,  and  on  the  24th  Napoleon 
was  forced  to  return  to  Dresden. 

This  was  a  losing  game  at  war,  which 
the  longer  it  lasted  must  turn  the  tide  of 
fortune  more  and  more  against  him  ;  while, 
in  addition  to  this,  the  want  of  supplies  was 
felt  increasingly  by  his  whole  army.  He 
was  now  almost  surrounded  on  every  side, 
and  only  a  narrow  road  across  Leipsic 
was  still  left  open  for  him,  by  which  to 
keep  up  his  communication  with  France. 
And  even  of  this  he  was  very  soon  deprived, 
for  several  daring  leaders  at  the  head  of 
their  light  squadrons  were  now  constantly 
harassing  his  troops  in  that  quarter  ;  among 
these  was  more  especially  Colonel  Mens- 
dorf,  who  more  than  once  advanced  to  the 
very  gates  of  Leipsic  itself;  General  Thiel- 
mann,  who,  having  abandoned  the  Saxon 
service,  now  devoted  his  arm  to  the  allied 
cause,  and  made  frequent  incursions  in 
Weissenfels,  Liitzen,  Naumburg,  and  Mer- 
seburg  ;  and,  finally,  the  Russian  general 
Czernitschef,  who,  with  his  daring  flying 
cossacks,  penetrated  even  as  far  as  Cassel, 
and,  driving  before  them  the  effeminate  and 
voluptuous  Jerome  from  his  usurped  king- 
dom of  Westphalia,  returned  to  the  Elbe 
loaded  with  rich  booty. 

These  bold  operations  were  extremely 
annoying  and  injurious  to  Napoleon.  All 
his  convoys  were  seized,  and  the  guards 
killed  or  made  prisoners ;  every  passage 
ieinff  so  unsafe  that  he  couid  neither  re- 


ceive or  dispatch  messenger?,  for  they  were 
sure  to  be  attacked  and  robbed  of  their 
letters.  He  determined  to  put  these  daring 
intruders  to  rout,  and  accordingly  gave 
orders  to  General  Lefebvre-Desnouettes  to 
march  with  eight  thousand  infantry  and 
cavalry  of  the  guard  against  them,  and  ex- 
terminate  them.  But  he  was  met  at  Zeitz, 
on  the  28th  of  September,  by  the  Hettmann 
Platoff  and  General  Thielmann,  who  so 
completely  defeated  him  that  he  never  ven- 
tured to  show  himself  before  them  a  second 
time. 

Those  events,  however  favorable  to  the 
allied  powers,  or  disastrous  to  the  French, 
effected,  nevertheless,  nothing  decisive ; 
while  unhappy  Saxony  was  suffering  dread- 
fully from  the  presence  of  such  large  ar- 
mies. Blucher,  who  in  spite  of  his  age 
still  evinced  all  the  fire  and  activity  of 
youth,  could  no  longer  endure  this  state  ol 
uncertainty,  and  he  resolved  to  form  a 
junction  with  the  army  of  the  north,  which 
had  already  shown  the  example  by  throw- 
ing a  bridge  across  the  Elbe,  near  Dessau, 
and  making  other  preparations  for  more 
active  measures.  Suddenly,  by  a  rapid 
counter-march,  equally  bold  and  unexpect- 
ed, he  arrived  at  Jessen  on  the  Elbe,  at  the 
moment  he  was  thought  to  be  at  Bautzen  ; 
and  while,  in  order  to  deceive  the  enemy, 
he  ordered  music  and  dancing  to  be  con- 
tinually performed  in  his  camp,  he  caused 
two  bridges  to  be  constructed  during  the 
night  on  the  river,  and  on  the  following 
morning  the  Silesian  army  was  already 
marching  along  its  left  bank.  This  was  a 
bold  and  dangerous  undertaking,  for  thr 
army  was  exposed  to  the  fire  of  two  fortifi- 
cations in  front  and  rear,  Torgau  and  Wit- 
tenberg ;  General  Bertrand  had  likewise 
just  marched  into  that  country  with  20,000 
men,  and  had  taken  up  a  very  strong  posi- 
tion near  Wartenburg.  Scarcely  had  he 
established  himself  there  before  he  beheld 
advancing  upon  him  the  veteran  marshal 
and  his  Prussians,  whom  he  little  expected, 
and  who  themselves  were  equally  surprised 
by  the  presence  of  so  strong  a  French  force. 
General  York,  however,  at  the  head  of  the 
vanguard,  immediately  attacked  the  ad- 
vanced posts,  and  an  obstinate  and  sangui- 
nary battle  took  place.  The  French,  how- 
ever, were  forced  to  retreat  after  a  loss  of 
1000  prisoners,  and  thirteen  pieces  of  can- 
non ;  and  the  Prussians  suffered  likewise 
considerably,  especially  the  Landwehr  or 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  THE  BATTLE  OF  LEIPSIC. 


457 


militia  of  Silesia,  commanded  by  General 
Horn,  which  eminently  distinguished  itself. 
Shortly  afterwards,  in  honor  of  this  victory, 
the  king  of  Prussia  conferred  upon  General 
York  the  title  of  "  York  von  Wartenburg." 

Bliicher  marched  thence  to  Diiben,  and 
joined  the  army  of  the  north,  which  had 
crossed  the  Elbe,  and  arrived  at  Dessau. 
At  the  same  time  the  grand  allied  army 
broke  up  from  Bohemia,  and  leaving  Napo- 
leon in  Dresden,  to  the  right,  advanced 
across  the  passes  of  the  Hartz  mountains, 
and  reached  the  large  plains  of  Saxony. 
On  the  5th  of  October,  the  army  established 
its  head-quarters  at  Marienberg. 

Napoleon  could  now  no  longer  remain  in 
Dresden  ;  the  allied  forces  threatened  to 
close  upon  his  rear,  and  to  cut  off  his  road 
back  to  France.  Accordingly,  he  marched 
away  on  the  7th  of  October,  accompanied 
by  the  king  of  Saxony.  He  left  in  Dresden 
itself  a  corps  of  the  army  amounting  to 
28,000  men,  under  the  command  of  Mar- 
shal Gouvion  Saint-Cyr,  and  this  circum- 
stance shows  clearly,  that  he  had  not  as  yet 
decided  upon  abandoning  the  Elbe. 

He  now  directed  his  march  against  Blii- 
cher ;  but  what  was  his  astonishment  when, 
on  arriving  on  the  10th  of  October  at  Du- 
ben,  he  found  the  Prussian  general  was  no 
longer  there,  and  learned  that  instead  of 
withdrawing  to  the  Elbe,  he  had  marched 
behind  the  Saale,  there  to  be  ready  to  form 
a  junction  with  the  Bohemian  army,  as 
soon  as  it  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Leipsic.  Under  these  circumstances  there 
remained  nothing  else  for  him  to  do  but  to 
march  to  Leipsic  himself,  and  to  assemble 
there  all  the  forces  he  could  command. 
But  before  this  could  be  effected,  and  every 
thing  be  prepared  for  action,  he  was  forced 
to  pass  four  tedious  days  of  supense  at  Du- 
ben  itself. 

The  whole  of  the  French  army  had  now 
collected  at  Leipsic,  and  Marshal  Auge- 
reau  having  arrived  from  Naumburg  with 
15,000  of  the  old  troops,  including  a  corps 
of  cavalry  from  Spain,  Napoleon  immedi- 
ately followed,  and  entered  Leipsic  on  the 
14th  of  October.  The  greater  part  of  his 
army  was  encamped  near  Wachau,  about 
four  miles  southeastward  of  Leipsic,  where 
they  awaited  the  appearance  of  Prince 
Schwartzenberg  with  the  main  body  of  the 
allied  army,  for  whom,  however,  they  had 
not  long  to  wait.  His  cavalry  had  already 
come  up,  and  caused  the  French  to  feel 


their  presence  on  that  day  at  Liebertwolk- 
witz.  Murat  had  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  six  squadrons  of  the  old  cavalry 
from  Spain,  and  was  determined  to  give 
the  allies  some  farther  proofs  that  the 
former  bravery  of  the  French  horsemen 
could  still  be  maintained  ;  but  he  had  to 
deal  with  those  who  sat  yet  more  firmly  in 
their  saddles.  The  Russian,  Prussian,  and 
Austrian  cavalry  fell  upon  them  with  such 
fury,  that  they  were  completely  overthrown 
and  put  to  flight,  and  Murat  himself  nearly 
taken  prisoner. 

According  to  official  statements  made 
at  the  time,  the  French  army,  originally 
300,000  strong,  now  amounted  to  208,000  ; 
the  rest  having  been  already  swept  off  by 
the  war.  If  from  this  number  are  deducted 
the  28,000  men  forming  the  garrison  oi 
Dresden,  it  will  be  found  that  the  numer- 
ical force  of  the  entire  army  at  Leipsic 
was  180,000  men.  These  forces  Napoleon, 
on  the  15th  of  October,  drew  up  in  a  circle 
around  the  city,  an  action  being  now  in- 
evitable. The  army  was  still  strong  and 
select,  for  all  those  of  its  ranks  who  had 
become  tired  and  disgusted  with  the  war 
had  returned  to  France,  and  such  again  as 
were  of  weakly  constitution  had  been  car- 
ried  off  by  famine  and  the  severity  of  the 
weather,  or  had  sunk  under  the  infirmities 
and  illness  produced  by  their  continual 
marching.  The  troops  that  now  remained 
formed  a  firm  and  hardy  body  of  men, 
defying  all  danger,  and  well  aware  that, 
surrounded  as  they  were  at  every  point  by 
an  embittered  and  vengeance-seeking  foe, 
their  united  strength  and  courage  alone 
could  save  them.  At  the  same  time  the 
confidence  they  continued  to  place  in  their 
master  was  so  strong  and  unchangeable 
that  they  regarded  victory  as  certain,  and 
themselves  as  invincible  in  his  presence. 
At  the  same  time  Napoleon  sought  still 
more  by  every  possible  means  to  inflame 
the  courage  of  his  men.  He  created  new 
leaders,  made  fresh  promotions,  distributed 
crosses  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  and  other 
marks  of  distinction,  while  several  regi- 
ments were  furnished  with  the  imperial 
eagle.  Thus  he  celebrated  a  grand  mili- 
tary fete  throughout  the  entire  camp,  aa 
was  his  custom  on  the  eve  of  any  great  and 
decisive  event. 

On  his  part,  Prince  Schwartzenberg,  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  allied  army 
neglected  nothing  in  order  to  encourage 


458 


THE  THREE  DAYS'  BATTLE  OF  LEIPSJC. 


his  troops,  and  in  his  address  pointed  out  to 
them,  that  the  moment  had  now  arrived, 
when  by  their  valor  and  firmness  they 
must  reconquer  and  establish,  once  more 
and  forever,  the  liberty  of  their  country. 


CHAPTER     XXXVIII. 

The  Three  Days'  Battle  of  Leipsic— Murat— The  Aus- 
trian General  Meerveldt  taken  prisoner— Battle  of 
Moeckern— Marshals  Marmont  and  Bliicher— Gen- 
eral Horn— Total  Defeat  of  the  French— Bonaparte's 
Offers  to  Negotiate  rejected— Breitenfeld— Bernadotte 
— Bennigsen— The  Princeof  Hesse  Homburg— Prince 
Poniatowsky— Probstheyda— The  Saxon  Army  de- 
serts Bonaparte  and  joins  the  Allies— The  Allied 
Sovereigns— Night  Scene  on  the  Field  of  Battle— Bo- 
naparte's Slumber— Retreat  of  the  French— Destruc- 
tion of  the  Elster  Bridge— Prince  Poniatowsky 's 
Death— Triumphant  Entry  of  the  Allies  into  Leipsic. 

THE  French  army  had  so  encamped 
itself  around  Leipsic  that  it  commanded  all 
the  approaches  to  it  within  a  distance  of 
four  miles,  except  on  the  west  side  near 
Lindenau,  whence  Napoleon  felt  secured 
from  any  serious  attack,  and  where,  about 
two  miles  from  the  city,  General  Bertrand 
was  posted  with  the  fourth  division  of  the 
army. 

During  the  night  of  the  15th  of  Octo- 
ber, Prince  Schwartzenberg  ordered  three 
rockets  to  be  fired  off  as  the  agreed  signal 
to  the  Silesian  army  on  the  other  side  of 
Leipsic,  which  was  immediately  answered 
by  the  ascension  of  four  rockets  in  that 
quarter,  an  acknowledgment  producing 
universal  joy  and  confidence  among  the 
allied  forces. 

The  morning  of  the  16th  was  at  first 
extremely  misty  and  gloomy,  but  towards 
nine  o'clock,  after  a  second  signal  had 
been  given  by  the  discharge  of  three  can- 
non-shots, which  was  succeeded  by  the 
thunder  of  artillery  on  both  sides,  the 
clouds  of  vapor  gradually  disappeared,  the 
sky  became  serene,  and  during  the  whole 
of  this  sanguinary  day  the  sun  shone  upon 
the  field  of  battle.  The  cannonading  kept 
up  on  both  sides  was  so  terrific  that  the 
very  earth  trembled  with  the  continued 
concussion,  and  the  oldest  warriors  present 
declared  never  until  that  moment  to  have 
witnessed  such  awful  discharges  of  artil- 
lery :  for  on  the  side  of  the  French  alone 
the  number  of  cannon  employed  in  this 
destructive  work  was  600  pieces,  and  that 


on  the  part  of  the  allies  amounted  to  be 
tween  800  and  1000. 

The  battle  raged  with  great  fury  a, 
three  principal  points,  but  the  most  seriou? 
engagement  was  southwest  of  the  city, 
near  Markleeberg,  Wachau,  and  Liebert 
wolkwitz,  where  the  main  body  of  the 
allied  army  fought;  next,  to  the  west  near 
Lindenau,  between  Bertrand  and  the  Aus- 
trian general,  Giulay  ;  and,  finally,  towards 
the  north,  near  Moeckern  and  Lindenthal, 
between  Blucher  and  Marshal  Marmont. 
This  last  action  assumed  a  more  distinct 
form,  and  was  called  the  battle  of  Moeckern. 

Prince  Schwartzenberg  had  posted  at 
his  extreme  left,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Pleisse,  General  Meerveldt,  who  was  to 
attack  the  flank  of  the  right  wing  of  the 
French  ;  at  this  point  was  stationed  Prince 
Poniatowsky  with  his  Poles,  who,  as  usual, 
fought  with  the  greatest  bravery  for  Napo- 
leon. The  centre  was  occupied  by  the 
Russians  and  Prussians,  commanded  by 
Wittgenstein  and  Kleist;  .and  at  the  right 
wing  were  the  Austrians  under  Klenau. 
All  these  divisions  of  the  allied  army  had 
arrived  in  the  morning,  prepared  for  the 
attack.  General  Kleist  took  possession  of 
Markleeberg;  to  the  left,  the  prince  of 
Wiirtemberg  penetrated  through  the  centre 
into  Wachau  with  the  Russians  and  Prus- 
sians; and  the  Austrians  under  Klenau 
made  themselves  masters  of  Kolmberg 
near  Liebertwolkwitz  to  the  right.  The 
whole  battle-line  of  the  French  army  fell 
back,  and  Napoleon  himself  with  his  guards 
was  so  close  to  the  fire  of  the  allies,  that 
several  of  his  staff  were  killed  around 
him  ;  but  he  was  not  the  man  to  abandon 
the  field  of  battle  on  the  first  assault. 

In  the  midst  of  the  battle's  rage,  he  had 
with  his  keen  eye  examined  the  whole 
range  of  contention  around  him,  and  to  the 
right  and  left  of  Wachau  had  prepared 
meantime  two  strong  columns  of  attack, 
omposed  of  the  flower  of  his  infantry, 
cavalry,  and  artillery ;  which  he  now, 
seeing  it  the  most  favorable  moment, 
pushed  forward  against  the  centre.  This 
attack,  ordered  by  himself  and  effected 
under  his  own  eyes,  was  so  impetuous  that 
the  allies  were  forced  to  abandon  the  vil- 
ages  they  occupied,  and  to  retreat  within 
:he  lines  they  had  quitted  in  the  morning. 
The  French  now  succeeded  in  capturing 
several  of  the  heights  on  the  opposite  sid« 
of  these  villages,  and  penetrating  as  far  a* 


MURAT  AT  GULDENGOSSA— DEFEATED 


45S 


the  village  of  Giildengossa,  took  possession 
of  the  hills  called  the  Swedish  intrench- 
ments,  which  command  the  country  many 
miles  round. 

Victory  appeared  now  as  if  inclined  to 
pronounce  in  favor  of  Napoleon  ;  already 
the  left  and  right  wings  of  the  allies  were 
nearly  both  cut  off  from  their  centre,  and 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  Napoleon 
dispatched  a  courier  to  Leipsic  to  an- 
nounce his  triumph  to  the  king  of  Saxony, 
with  the  command  that  all  the  bells  should 
be  rung  in  honor  of  the  glorious  event. 
These  sounds  brought  with  them  but 
gloomy  prospects  to  our  fellow-Germans 
shut  up  within  the  walls  of  their  city — but 
circumstances  very  speedily  produced  a 
more  cheerful  state  of  feeling,  for  the  can- 
nonading had  not  yet  discontinued,  nor  had 
its  echo  become  more  distant ;  nay,  it  ap- 
peared, on  the  contrary,  to  approach  more 
and  more  closely.  This  changed  aspect 
in  affairs  was  produced  by  the  following 
happy  circumstance  : 

Some  officers  of  Prince  Schwartzen- 
berg's  army  stationed  in  Gautsch,  having 
observed  from  the  tower  of  the  church, 
whence  they  commanded  a  full  view  of 
the  field  of  battle,  the  dangerous  turn 
events  had  taken,  made  their  report  to  the 
prince  forthwith,  who  saw  at  once  that  this 
was  now  the  decisive  moment.  It  was  of 
the  last  importance  not  to  allow  the  enemy, 
against  whom  the  powers  of  Europe  were 
assembled  in  arms,  to  retain  even  a  mo- 
mentary advantage.  Accordingly  he  or- 
dered forth  the  Austrian  reserve  under  the 
command  of  the  hereditary  prince  of  Hesse- 
Homburg,  and  these  troops,  consisting  of 
the  various  regiments  of  cuirassiers  de- 
nominated those  of  Albert,  Lorraine,  Fran- 
cis, Ferdinand,  and  Sommarina,  advanced 
across  difficult  roads,  crossed  the  Pleisse, 
and  attacking  the  French  division,  which 
had  established  itself  to  the  right  of  Wa- 
chau,  dislodged  it ;  whence  the  junction 
of  the  left  wing  with  the  centre  was  re- 
formed. Thus  Kleist,  who  with  his  Prus- 
sians had  maintained  possession  of  Mark- 
leeberg  against  every  attack,  was,  at  five 
o'clock,  relieved  from  his  arduous  duty  by 
the  arrival  of  the  Austrians,  and  was  per- 
mitted, after  his  hard-fought  defence,  to 
take  a  little  breath. 

On  the  other  side,  the  left  column  of 
[Napoleon's  attack,  led  on  by  the  impetuous 
Murat,  had  already  reached  Giildengossa, 


and  used  every  effort  to  take  possession  cf 
the  place ;  and  had  they  succeeded,  the 
allied  army  would  have  been  thrown  into 
the  utmost  confusion,  and  its  centre  forcec1 
into  the  marshes  of  the  valley  of  GoseL 
The  enemy's  battalions  of  infantry  had  al- 
ready penetrated  into  the  middle  of  the  vil- 
lage, their  cuirassiers  attacked  and  carried 
by  a  desperate  assault  a  battery  of  twenty- 
six  cannon,  cutting  down  all  before  them, 
and  pushing  on,  they  had  nearly  gained 
the  height  where  the  monarchs  of  Russia 
and  Prussia  were  attentively  surveying  tht, 
battle,  when  the  emperor  Alexander  im 
mediately  ordered  his  body-guard  of  Dor 
Cossacks,  under  the  command  of  Coun 
Orloff-Denissow,  to  attack  the  daring  in- 
truders, and  he  was  immediately  obeyed ; 
with  their  usual  loud  and  savage  shouts 
they  rushed  down  like  lightning  with  their 
lances,  and  completely  overthrew  their 
mailed  and  more  heavily  accoutred  adver- 
saries, whose  principal  leader,  Latour- 
Maubourg,  in  a  charge  he  made,  had  his 
leg  completely  smashed. 

The  danger  was  now  over ;  the  enemy 
lost  all  the  advantages  previously  obtained. 
It  was  now  five  o'clock,  and  the  day  was 
drawing  to  a  close,  when  Murat  ventured 
upon  another  attack  against  Guldengossa  ; 
but  it  was  valiantly  met  and  repulsed  by 
Prince  Eugene  of  Wiirtemberg  with  his 
Russian  grenadiers,  and  the  Prussians  un- 
der Pirch  and  Jagow,  and  the  enemy  was 
forced  to  give  it  up.  This  was  the  last 
effort  made  on  this  side ;  night  broke  in 
and  terminated  the  contest. 

Thus,  after  a  struggle  of  ten  hours, 
during  which  so  much  blood  had  been 
shed,  both  armies  at  this  point  remained  in 
the  same  position  as  in  the  morning ;  ex- 
cepting that  the  French  retained  posses- 
sion of  the  Swedish  intrenchments  on  their 
left  wing ;  while,  on  the  other  side,  the 
moiety  of  the  village  of  Markleeberg  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  Prussians  and 
Austrians. 

By  this  plan  of  battle  the  allies  did  not 
realize  their  expectations,  and  in  this  re- 
spect, therefore,  Napoleon  was  a  gainer  by 
this  sanguinary  day :  their  object  having 
been  to  cut  off  his  retreat  to  the  Saale. 
An  Austrian  division  had  been  dispatched 
in  advance  to  Weissenfels;  General  Giulay 
was  to  make  himself  master  of  Lindenau, 
and  General  Meerveldt  with  the  left  wing 
was  to  advance  along  the  Pleisse  against 


160 


BATTLE  OF  MOECKERN— GENERAL  HQRN. 


Leipsic,  and  form  a  junction  with  General 
Giulay.  Had  these  objects  been  effected, 
and  had  Bliicher  at  the  same  time  ad- 
vanced from  the  northwest  as  far  as  Leip- 
sic, the  French  army  must  have  been  com- 
pletely cut  off  and  lost.  But  Giulay  en- 
deavored in  vain  throughout  the  entire  day 
to  gain  possession  of  Lindenau,  which  was 
defended  by  General  Bertrand  ;  the  strong 
intrenchments  were  gained  for  a  moment 
by  the  Austrians,  but  were  almost  immedi- 
ately afterwards  recaptured  by  the  French, 
and  the  former  were  eventually  forced  to 
withdraw.  General  Meerveldt  was  still 
more  unfortunate ;  he  made  various  at- 
tempts to  advance  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Pleisse  and  dislodge  the  Poles  from 
Do'litz,  Losnig,  and  Connewitz  ;  but,  owing 
to  the  marshy  ground  and  the  incessant  fire 
kept  up  by  the  enemy,  he  failed  in  his  ob- 
ject altogether  for  a  length  of  time,  and 
when,  finally,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, he  did  succeed  in  taking  Do'litz  with 
a  portion  of  his  troops,  he  was  immediate- 
ly followed  by  a  large  body  of  the  guards 
which  Napoleon  dispatched  to  relieve  the 
Poles,  and  thus  the  Austrians  being  pressed 
on  all  sides,  were  completely  overthrown 
and  their  brave  leader  himself  made  pris- 
oner, at  the  moment  when  his  horse  was 
shot  under  him  in  a  final  charge  he  made. 
This  was  a  fortunate  event  for  Napoleon, 
and  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the 
circumstance  by  getting  General  Meer- 
veldt to  use  all  his  influence  with  the  em- 
peror of  Austria,  and  persuade  that  mon- 
arch to  abandon  the  other  allied  powers. 

But  Napoleon  lost  at  Moeckern  against 
Bliicher  three  times  over  the  benefits  he 
derived  from  the  action  gained  at  Linde- 
nau and  the  capture  of  General  Meer- 
veldt ;  for  at  the  very  moment  that  he 
made  known  his  victory  at  Leipsic,  and 
the  bells  were  set  ringing  in  order  to  stim- 
ulate the  courage  of  his  soldiers  by  their 
deceptive  sound,  Blucher  by  one  well- 
timed  blow,  entirely  disappointed  his  pre- 
mature calculations.  He  had  not  been 
prepared  for  this  promptitude  displayed  by 
the  old  warrior,  however  willing  he  was 
to  acknowledge  the  celerity  of  his  move- 
ments generally.  That  general  had  ar- 
rived about  mid-day,  and  immediately 
ordered  the  attack  to  be  made,  with  the 
entire  force  under  York,  against  Marshal 
Marmont  in  Moeckern,  simultaneously  with 
that  executed  by  Langeion  against  Gross 


and  Klein  Wiederitsch  ;  and  as  the  tv/M 
points  of  attack  were  widely  apart  from 
each  other,  Sacken  was  stationed  in  the 
centre  with  the  reserve,  to  furnish  aid 
either  to  the  right  or  left. 

Glorious  recollections  were  attached  to 
this  field  of  battle,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the 
same  spot  on  which  the  great  Gustavus 
Adolphus  had,  in  former  times,  completely 
defeated  Tilly,  the  ruthless  destroyer  of 
Magdeburg. 

The  Prussians  had  to  sustain  the  most 
obstinate  and  hard-fought  contest  of  all  in 
Moeckern  and  its  neighborhood ;  never- 
theless they  did  not  flinch,  although  their 
numbers  diminished  very  seriously  ;  and 
the  reserve,  consisting  of  General  Horn's 
brigade,  was  all  now  left  to  them.  Field- 
marshal  Blucher  now  sent  orders  to  Gene- 
ral Sacken  to  advance  with  his  troops ; 
but  the  distance  was  too  great,  and  York 
saw  well  that  at  this  critical  moment  he 
had  no  time  to  lose,  but. must  depend  upon 
his  own  resources.  Accordingly,  he  dis- 
patched one  of  his  aides-de-camp  to  Gene- 
ral Horn,  who  was  stationed  in  the  open 
plain,  and  announced  to  him  the  pressing 
danger  in  which  he  was  placed  :  "  Eh!  is 

it  so,  Captain ?"  exclaimed  the  brave 

general.*  "  Well,  then,"  addressing  his 
soldiers,  "  let  us  in  our  turn,  comrades, 
advance  to  the  rescue  with  our  cheers !" 
Saying  which,  he  led  on  his  troops  amidst 
loud  shouts  to  the  attack,  and,  penetrating 
to  the  left  of  the  village,  charged  the  ene- 
my with  the  bayonet,  and  before  the  latter 
were  enabled  to  load  their  cannon  a  third 
time,  they  were  captured  and  their  ranks 
overthrown.  Happily  arrived  also,  just 
at  this  moment,  the  entire  corps  of  Meck- 
lenburg hussars,  who,  dashing  upon  the 
French  squares  of  infantry,  completely 
overpowered  them,  and  putting  them  to 
flight,  pursued  them  as  far  as  the  Partrm, 
thus  coming  up  just  in  time  to  terminate 
gloriously  the  fate  of  the  day,  without 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  Sacken  and  the 
Russian  reserve.  More  than  fifty  pieces 
of  artillery,  besides  ammunition,  were  cap- 
tured. 

Langeron,  on  his  part,  had  fought  at  the 

*  By  a  singular  coincidence  of  good  fortune,  it  was 
ordained  that  General  Horn  should  thus  essentially 
contribute  to  the  glorious  decision  of  this  day,  on  the 
very  same  spot  where,  in  1G31,  his  ancestor,  Gustavua 
Horn,  leader  of  the  left  wing  of  the  Swedes,  fought  so 
valiantly  at  the  head  of  his  foot-soldiers  against  Pap- 
penheirh's  cavalry  that  he  produced  the  moet  triumph* 
ant  results  in  that  great  battle. 


NAPOLEON  REFUSED  AN  ARMISTICE. 


4C1 


ncad  of  the  Russians  with  no  less  courage, 
and  carried  the  villages  of  Gross  and 
Klein  Wiederitsch,  taking  thirteen  cannon  ; 
so  that  Marmont  found  himself,  on  the  eve- 
ning of  this  day,  pursued  as  far  as  the 
left  bank  of  the  Partha,  close  to  Leipsic. 

On  the  following  day,  the  17th,  Napo- 
eon  used  every  effort  in  order  to  divide 
-he  allied  parties,  and  obtain  a  suspension 
of  arms,  during  which  he  hoped  to  recover 
from  his  present  dilemma.  But  the  pro- 
posals he  caused  to  be  made  to  the  emperor 
Francis  through  the  medium  of  Count 
•rveldt  were  not  listened  to  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  for  his  character  was  now  too  well 
known  not  to  see  that  his  object  was  only  to 
gain  time.  If,  as  he  declared,  his  only 
motive  was  to  save  all  farther  effusion  of 
blood,  it  was  only  necessary  for  him  to 
withdraw  and  make  the  retreat,  which, 
after  all,  he  was  forced  to  effect  two  days 
later,  and  after  an  additional  sacrifice  of 
50,000  men.  He  might  have  known  by 
the  actions  already  fought  on  the  10th, 
that  he  could  never  succeed  in  beating  the 
brave  forces  of  the  allies.  He  himself 
could  expect  no  more  reinforcements,  all 
the  troops  he  commanded  were  now  as- 
sembled around  him ;  while  the  allies,  on 
the  other  hand,  still  had  large  corps  of 
reserve.  Bernadotte  arrived  during  the 
night,  driving  before  him  General  Regnier, 
whose  troops  were  chiefly  composed  of 
Saxons  ;  while  Bennigseri  marched  up  in 
the  morning  with  a  fresh  army  of  Rus- 
sians, and  at  mid-clay  Kolloredo  advanced 
with  an  Austrian  division. 

Napoleon,  however,  could  not  summon 
up  resolution  to  quit  the  field  of  battle  as 
long  as  there  was  the  least  shadow  of  hope 
remaining ;  and  yet,  at  the  same  time,  he 
lost  all  that  activity  he  had  on  former  oc- 
casions so  frequently  shown,  and  which  had 
so  often  crowned  him  with  victory. 

The  French  army  which  Napoleon  had 
drawn  up  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  was  to 
be  attacked  from  three  sides :  from  the 
north  by  Bernadotte  and  theSilesian  army; 
from  the  east  by  Bennigsen,  who,  with  the 
Russians,  had  also  under  his  command  the 
Austrians  under  Klenau,  and  a  division  of 
the  Prussians  under  Ziethen  ;  and  from  the 
south,  whence,  however,  the  grand  attack 
was  to  be  made,  as  that  was  the  enemy's 
strongest  point.  Here,  accordingly,  the 
general-in-chief  divided  his  army  into  two 
grand  divisions,  of  which  cne  composed  of 


Russians  and  Prussians  under  Wittgenstein 
and  Kleist  was  to  attack  the  central  point 
of  the  French,  and  the  other  constituting 
the  flower  of  the  Austrian  army,  under  the 
hereditary  prince  of  Hesse-Homburg,  was 
to  fall  upon  Prince  Poniatowsky,  who  had 
defended  himself  so  obstinately  on  the 
Pleisse,  and  force  him  to  retreat  to  Leipsic. 

Napoleon,  on  his  part,  had  drawn  togeth- 
er more  closely  his  half  circle  in  order  to 
render  it  more  firm.  He  had  abandoned 
Wachau  and  Lieberwolkwitz,  where  so 
much  blood  had  been  spilt  on  the  16th. 
and  made  Probstheycla  the  central  point  of 
operations;  he  himself,  however,  with  his 
guards,  took  up  his  position  between  this 
village  and  the  right  wing  on  the  Pleisse, 
establishing  his  head-quarters  upon  a  hill 
close  to  a  wind-mill,  pierced  through  and 
through  with  cannon-balls  and  half  in  ruins. 

Exactly  as  the  clock  struck  eight  the 
battle  commenced.  The  hereditary  prince 
of  Hesse-Homburg  advanced  towards  the 
Pleisse  against  Dolitz,  which  he  stormed. 
The  Poles  and  the  French  under  Ponia. 
towsky  defended  themselves  with  despera- 
tion, and  the  struggle  was  extremely  fierce 
and  sanguinary.  The  Austrians  were  sev- 
eral times  repulsed,  and  their  brave  com- 
mander himself  receiving  two  wounds,  his 
place  was  immediately  filled  by  Kolloredo. 
Finally,  being  supported  by  Bianki,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  conquering  Dolitz,  Dosen,  and 
the  heights  on  the  right  bank,  and  main- 
tained his  position  the  whole  day  in  spite  of 
Marshal  Oudinot  and  the  guards,  who  came 
up  to  the  aid  of  the  Poles. 

To  the  right,  the  Russians  and  Prussians 
had  likewise  been  successful,  and  drove  the 
enemy  before  them  as  far  as  Probstheyda, 
where,  at  mid-day,  they  came  right  in  front 
of  Napoleon.  Here  was  fought  the  most 
obstinate  battle ;  for  upon  the  retention  01* 
this  village  depended  the  fate  of  the  whole 
French  army.  Thence  Napoleon  had  as- 
sembled within  and  around  it,  large  bodies 
of  troops  of  all  arms,  and  had  erected  be- 
sides  several  strong  intrenchments  ;  whilt 
he  himself  remained  on  the  spot  with  his 
guards,  in  order  to  furnish  aid  without  a  mo- 
ment's  loss  of  time,  every  house  in  the  vi1. 
lage  being  converted  into  a  kind  of  citadel. 
The  Prussians,  nevertheless,  under  the 
command  of  Prince  Augustus  and  Pirch, 
penetrated  into  the  place  after  a  fierce  and 
heroic  combat ;  but  it  was  only  for  a  mo. 
ment,  for  they  were  unable  to  maintaii 


1C2 


THE  ALLIES  VICTORIOUS— JOINED  BY  THE  SAXONS. 


their  ground.  A  strong  division  of  Russians 
now  advanced  to  the  attack,  but  they  were 
likewise  repulsed,  and  were  equally  unable 
with  all  their  courage  to  make  themselves 
masters  of  the  village.  The  carnage  was 
so  great  that  the  allied  .troops  could  scarce- 
ly move  along,  the  bodies  of  their  slain 
comrades  completely  choking  up  every  pas- 
sage. At  length  the  three  allied  sovereigns, 
having  from  a  neighboring  height  where 
they  were  assembled  in  order  to  watch  the 
progress  of  the  battle,  observed  the  super- 
human efforts  made  by  their  brave  troops 
in  that  quarter,  gave  orders  at  five  o'clock 
to  give  up  the  contest  for  the  place,  and 
spare  the  lives  of  the  men ;  especially  as 
the  victory  was  now  made  decisive  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  field,  and  Napoleon  had, 
in  fact,  already  given  orders  to  Marshal 
Bertrand  to  retire  with  his  troops  from  Lin- 
denau  towards  the  Saale — an  undeniable 
proof  that  he  had  decided  upon  the  retreat 
of  his  whole  army. 

Such  were  the  results  produced  in  this 
part  of  the  field  of  battle.  On  the  west 
side  Bennigsen  attacked  Marshal  Macdon- 
ald,  who  was  ordered  to  defend  the  French 
lines  in  this  direction.  The  marshal  main- 
tained  his  position  with  great  bravery,  es- 
pecially in  Holzhausen,  which  was  taken 
and  retaken  several  times.  At  length, 
however,  about  two  o'clock,  the  Austrians 
and  Russians  made  themselves  masters  of 
this  place  ;  while  the  Prussians  took  Ziick- 
elhausen,  and  now  Macdonald  retired  to 
Stotteritz,  close  to  Prcbstheyda.  The  whole 
of  the  troops  which  had  formed  the  centre 
were  now  concentrated  around  these  two 
villages,  and  they  maintained  their  position 
there  until  night. 

On  the  left  wing,  however,  Marshal  Ney 
experienced  the  most  severe  defeat  of  the 
whole  day.  He  had  under  his  charge  the 
defence  of  the  entire  line  of  country  from 
Macdonald's  position  to  the  Partha  ;  but 
he  found  it  impossible  to  hold  out  against 
the  two  armies — the  Northern  and  Silesian 
— which  now  advanced  against  him,  and 
he  was  forced  to  retreat  to  within  a  short 
distance  of  Leipsic  itself.  I'he  two  armies 
crossed  the  Partha  in  two  directions,  Blii- 
eher,  with  the  Russians,  fording  the  river 
at  once  near  Mockau,  although  up  to  the 
waist  in  water,  because  he  found  it  would 
:ake  up  too  much  time  to  cross  over  by 
Taucha.  The  French,  under  Marmont, 
made  no  resistance,  but  retreated  in  all 


haste  to  Schonfeld;  while  the  Saxon  regi. 
ments  of  hussars  and  lancers,  together  with 
several  battalions  of  infantry,  received  the 
allies  with  open  arms  and  joined  their  ranks 
at  once. 

About  mid-day  the  army  of  the  north, 
which  had  remained  to  cross  the  river  at 
Taucha,  advanced  to  fill  up  the  gap  left 
between  Blucher  to  the  right  and  Bennig- 
sen to  the  left,  thus  making  the  line  perfect 
to  its  whole  extent,  and  by  which  the 
French  were  gradually  surrounded  more 
and  more  closely.  Langeron,  at  the  head 
of  the  Russians,  took  possession  of  Schon- 
feld, on  the  Partha,  which,  however,  was 
defended  with  the  greatest  obstinacy  by 
Marmont.  The  contest  lasted  four  hours, 
and  fresh  troops  on  both  sides  were  con- 
tinually brought  forward  ;  until,  at  length, 
between  five  and  six  o'clock,  when  the  vil- 
lage and  its  church  were  completely  in 
flames,  the  French  quitted  the  place  and 
retreated  by  Reudnitz  and  Volkmansdorf 
to  Leipsic.  Ney  and  Regnier,  who  had  to 
maintain  possession  of  the  open  country  be- 
yond Paunsdorf,  being  attacked,  in  the 
afternoon,  by  the  army  of  the  north  and  the 
Prussians  under  Biilow,  were  driven  alto- 
gether out  of  Paunsdorf,  and  when  they  at- 
tempted to  defend  themselves  in  the  plain 
the  Russian  and  Prussian  cavalry,  which 
had  all  this  time  been  unemployed,  as  the 
fighting  had  been  confined  to  the  villages, 
dashed  with  all  their  fury  among  them, 
seconded  by  several  congreve-rockets, 
which  were  fired  into  their  squares,  and 
spread  death  and  destruction  in  every  part. 
They  were  completely  overthrown  and  pu£ 
to  flight,  never  stopping  until  they  reached 
Volkmansdorf,  and  the  villages  were  re- 
captured. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  the  entire 
army  of  the  Saxons,  which  had  been  led 
forth,  very  unwillingly,  to  draw  the  sword 
in  the  cause  of  Napoleon,  resolved  to 
abandon  him ;  and  forthwith  marched 
over  in  a  body  to  the  ranks  of  the  allies, 
under  their  various  commanders,  and  with 
their  ensigns  flying,  accompanied  by  the 
music  of  their  different  bands,  and  followed 
by  all  their  cannon,  ammunition,  and  bag- 
gage-wagons. 

Napoleon,  completely  disconcerted  by 
this  event,  hastened  to  send  the  cavalry  of 
the  guard,  under  the  command  of  Nausou- 
ty,  to  fill  up  the  vacant  ranks.  These 
troops  had  no  sooner  arrived  than,  acccjni 


MGHT— NAPOLEON'S  SLUMBER— HIS  RETREAT. 


463 


panied  by  a  heavy  train  of  artillery,  they 
advanced  to  attack  the  flank  of  Bulow's 
division  ;  but  the  Austrians,  under  Biilow, 
who  were  close  by,  marched  forward 
themselves  to  meet  the  enemy's  assault; 
while  from  another  quarter  the  Swedes, 
oy  Bcrnadotte's  orders,  discharged  among 
their  ranks  the  artillery  just  brought  over 
by  the  Saxons.  The  old  French  guard 
wa<  accordingly  forced  to  retire  and  aban- 
don possession  of  the  country  to  the  al- 
lies. 

At  length  the  sanguinary  day  approach- 
ed its  end;  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  shed 
their  parting  genial  lustre  over  the  heads 
of  the  three  sovereigns  and  their  distin- 
guished companions,  as,  standing  upon  the 
hill,  they  contemplated  the  gradual  termi- 
nation of  this  memorable  scene  of  action. 
Thither  also  Prince  Schwartzenberg  sum- 
moned a  council  of  war,  including  the 
principal  leaders  of  the  allied  army,  and 
arrangements  were  forthwith  made  for  the 
operations  of  the  ensuing  day. 

Napoleon,  on  his  part,  awaited  the  ap- 
pearance of  night  with  impatience  and 
anxiety,  for  then  the  remainder  of  his 
troops  might  hope  to  be  rescued  from  the 
farther  fury  of  the  enemy.  He  had  lost  a 
great  deal  of  ground,  and  had  reduced 
considerably  his  crescent-formed  army  of 
the  morning,  so  that  it  was  now  diminished 
into  the  form  of  a  triangle,  of  which  one 
point  was  at  Probstheyda,  whence  the  line 
joining  Connewitz  and  the  Pleisse  com- 
posed one  side,  and  that  joining  Stotteritz 
and  Volkmansdorf  formed  the  other.  Had 
not  his  army  fought  with  the  greatest  cour- 
age, and,  notwithstanding  the  difficulties 
with  which  they  were  beset,  retreated  in 
perfect  order — for  this  praise  cannot  be 
withheld  from  them — one  of  these  lines  of 
the  triangle  would  inevitably  have  been 
destroyed  before  the  evening,  Leipsic  taken, 
and  the  entire  army  lost.  Napoleon  this 
day  fought  only  for  a  retreat,  and  already, 
at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  immense 
Drains  of  baggage-w&gons  and  others  of 
every  description,  together  with  innumera- 
ble horses,  had  quitted  Leipsic  under  an 
escort  of  troops,  belonging  to  General  Bor- 
land's division. 

When  darkness  covered  the  wide  field 
of  battle,  Napoleon  still  remained  at  his 
station  on  the  hill  near  the  windmill,  where 
he  sat  gazing  on  the  watch-fire  he  nad 
ordered  to  be  lighted.  He  had  confided 


the  charge  of  the  retreat  to  his  superior 
general,  Berthier,  who  gave  the  necessary 
orders  to  his  aides-de-camp  before  anothe? 
watch-fire  which  appeared  behind  his  mas- 
ter ;  during  which  a  profound  silence 
reigned  around.  The  French  emperor, 
overcome  at  length  by  the  extraordinary 
exertions  of  the  present  and  preceding 
days,  as  well  as  by  the  agitations  of  his 
mind,  now  gradually  sunk  into  a  slumber; 
with  his  elbows  upon  his  knees  and  his 
head  resting  between  his  hands,  he  thus 
for  a  short  time  reposed  amid  the  horrors 
of  the  gory  scene  around  him — of  that 
field  covered  with  the  lifeless  bodies  of 
those  who  had  fallen  the  victims  of  his  in- 
ordinate ambition  and  pride.  His  generals 
near  him  preserved  a  deep  and  gloomy 
silence,  which  was  interrupted  at  intervals 
by  the  low  murmuring  noise  of  the  retreat- 
ing columns  as  they  marched  underneath 
at  the  base  of  the  hill,  or  pursued  their 
course  in  the  distant  plain.  At  the  end  of 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  Napoleon  awoke,  and 
cast  around  him  a  look  of  inquietude  and 
wonder.  The  present  reality  may  have 
struck  him  for  a  moment  as  a  dream,  for, 
starting  up  from  his  chair,  he  mounted  his 
horse  and  galloped  on  to  Leipsic,  which  he 
re-entered  at  nine  o'clock. 

The  retreat  of  the  whole  army  through 
Leipsic  commenced  immediately  after  mid- 
night ;  but  as  the  various  regiments, 
marching  from  all  parts  of  the  field  of 
battle,  could  arrive  by  one  route  alone — 
the  narrow  paved  road  of  Ranstadt — con- 
siderable obstruction  and  confusion  was 
unavoidable ;  wagons  and  cannons  were 
mingled  and  clogged  together,  while  the 
foot-soldiers  with  difficulty  extricated 
themselves  from  this  scene  of  disorder. 
The  rear-guard  was  ordered  to  remain  be- 
hind and  defend  Leipsic  as  long  as  was 
possible,  and  although  the  place  was  not 
fortified,  the  utmost  was  done  to  render  it 
strong  by  forming  intrenchments,  barrica- 
ding the  gates,  and  putting  in  a  state  of  de- 
fence the  moats  and  garden-walls. 

Meantime  the  allied  army,  by  no  means 
inclined  to  permit  the  French  to  retire  so 
quietly,  and  carry  away  with  them  the 
spoils  and  supplies  of  ammunition  they  had 
accumulated  in  Germany,  advanced  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  stormed 
the  gates  of  the  city.  This  sudden  attack 
increased  the  disorder  still  reigning,  and 
Napoleon  himself  was  forced  to  quit  the 


404 


THE  ALLIES  ENTER  LEIPSIC— BAVARIA. 


place  by  a  by-path.  The  allies  might 
have  added  to  this  embarrassment  consider- 
ably, and  have  caused  more  extensive  de- 
struction, if  they  had  brought  their  artillery 
to  bear  against  the  gates  and  walls  of  the 
city.  But  such  a  proceeding,  which  must 
have  involved  the  innocent  as  well  as  the 
guilty  in  one  common  ruin,  would  have 
been  too  cruel,  and  they,  accordingly,  con- 
fined themselves  to  storming  the  gates. 
The  French  and  the  Poles  made  an  obsti- 
nate resistance  and  disputed  every  inch  of 
ground  ;  the  victory,  however,  was  not 
long  doubtful,  and  the  allied  troops  made 
themselves  masters  of  the  city. 

It  was  just  at  this  moment  that  the  bridge 
on  the  other  side  of  the  city,  that  of  the 
Elster-Miihlengraben,  the  only  one  left  for 
the  French  to  cross  over,  was  blown  up  in 
the  air,  without  its  being  known  positively 
by  what  cause  :  whether  by  command  of 
Napoleon  to  secure  his  army  from  the  pur- 
suit of  the  allied  troops,  or  whether  it  origi- 
nated in  the  too  precipitate  alarm  of  the 
officer  in  charge  of  it.  An  exclamation  of 
horror  arose  from  the  crowds  as  they 
hastened  to  reach  the  spot  in  time  to  cross. 
A  great  number  threw  themselves  into  the 
Elster,  in  order  to  swim  to  the  other  side, 
but  the  majority  were  either  drowned  or 
perished  in  the  mud-banks.  Several  of 
the  generals  sprang  likewise  with  their 
horses  into  the  river,  in  order  to  escape 
being  made  prisoners  ;  but  they  nearly  all 
lost  their  lives,  and  among  the  sufferers 
was  Prince  Poniatowsky,  whom  but  three 
days  before,  Napoleon  had  created  a  field- 
marshal  of  France  ;  Macdonald  fortunately 
escaped,  whilst  Ilegnier,  Bertrand,  and 
Lauriston  were  taken  prisoners. 

Napoleon  lost  more  men  on  this  day  than 
on  the  day  of  battle  itself.  More  than 
15,000  well-armed  soldiers  were  taken 
prisoners  after  the  bridge  was  blown  up, 
and  more  than  25,000  sick  and  wounded 
were  abandoned  and  left  to  the  discretion 
of  the  conquerors.  In  the  city,  and  on  the 
road  leading  to  it,  an  incredible  quantity 
of  cannon  and  ammunition-wagons  were 
everywhere  scattered,  of  which  more  than 
300  of  the  former,  and  1000  of  the  latter, 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  allies. 

At  one  o'clock,  the  emperor  Alexander 
and  the  king  of  Prussia,  attended  by  their 
numerous  staff  of  generals,  entered  the 
city  of  Leipsic,  the  acclamations  of  their 
own  brave  troops  mingling  with  those  of  the 


happy  inhabitants,  who  greeted  with  joy 
the  appearance  of  their  deliverers ;  the 
emperor  Francis  arrived  a  few  days  later, 
and  participated  in  this  glorious  scene. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

Napoleon's  Retreat  across  the  Rhine— Bavaria— Gen- 
eral Wrede— Hanau— The  Allied  Forces  invade 
France— The  Minister  Von  Stein— Their  rapid  March 
—Napoleon  against  Bliicher— Battle  of  Brienne— Bat- 
tle of  Rothiere— Repulse  of  the  French— Temporary 
Successes  of  Napoleon— The  Congress  of  Chatlllon— 
Napoleon's  Confidence  restored— His  Declaration— 
Bliicher's  bold  Movement— Soissons— Laon— Napo- 
leon against  Schwartzenberg— Rheims— Arcis—  Na- 
poleon's desperate  Courage  and  final  Charge  with  his 
Cavalry. 

BAVARIA,  by  the  treaty  of  Ried,  had  al- 
ready joined  the  grand  alliance  before  the 
battle  of  Leipsic  ;  and  she  now  sent  her 
general,  Marshal  Wrede,  to  the  provinces 
on  the  Maine,  with  a  large  army,  to  which 
were  united  some  Austrian  and  Wiirtem- 
berg  troops,  in  order  to  oppose  the  passage 
of  the  French  across  the  Rhine,  and  effect 
their  total  annihilation.  Wrede  directed 
his  march  to  Hanau  and  Frankfort,  while 
the  grand  army  of  the  allies  pursued  the 
fugitives  from  another  side,  and  York  es- 
pecially overtook  and  attacked  them  at 
Freiberg  on  the  Unstrut,  causing  them 
great  loss.  In  front  and  on  each  side  of 
them,  they  were  harassed  by  Czernitschef 
and  other  light  troops,  and  all  who  detached 
themselves  from  the  main  body  were  made 
prisoners.  Thus  they  proceeded  along  the 
route  from  Leipsic  to  Erfurt,  and  thence 
to  the  Rhine,  abandoning  at  every  moment 
all  that  could  not  follow  in  their  train,  can- 
nons, baggage,  and  such  of  their  comrades 
as  were  too  ill  to  proceed  along  with  them ; 
for  the  march  was  so  rapid  and  continuous, 
that  at  the  end  of  eleven  days,  the  army 
had  already  reached  Frankfort. 

Napoleon  arrived  with  the  remnant  of 
his  forces  of  from  70,000  to  80,000  men 
before  Hanau,  where  he  encountered  Mar- 
shal Wrede,  who  determined  to  oppose  his 
passage,  although  his  army  was  inferior  in 
numbers  ;  for  if  he  succeeded  in  detaining 
him  until  the  arrival  of  the  allied  grand 
army,  his  ruin  was  certain.  This  Napo- 
leon well  knowing,  he  employed  his  guard, 
as  yet  in  good  condition,  to  force  their  pas- 
sage  onward.  During  three  entire  days. 


THE  ALLIES  INVADE  FRANCE— THEIR  ARMIES. 


4Gi> 


ihe  29th,  30th,  arid  31st  of  October,  the 
contest  was  carried  on  with  the  greatest 
obstinacy  before  and  within  the  town  of 
Hanau,  Marshal  Wrede  himself  being 
severely  wounded.  Finally,  however,  the 
French  succeeded  in  cutting  their  way 
through,  although  at  a  great  loss. 

On  the  2d  of  November  Napoleon 
gained  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  which  he 
now  saw  for  the  last  time;  he  was  imme- 
diately followed  in  all  haste  by  his  troops 
over  the  bridge  of  Mentz,  while  General 
Bertrand  intrenched  himself  on  the  heights 
of  Hochheim.  This,  however,  was  not 
tolerated  by  the  allies,  who  would  not  suffer 
the  French  to  possess  an  inch  of  ground  on 
this  side  of  the  Rhine  ;  accordingly,  on  the 
9th  of  November,  Prince  Schwartzenberg 
caused  him  to  be  attacked  by  General 
Giulay,  and  he  was  forced  to  retreat  to 
Mentz.  The  three  allied  sovereigns  were 
now  reunited  in  Frankfort,  where  they  de- 
termined together  upon  the  continuation  of 
the  war. 

With  the  commencement  of  the  new 
year,  1814,  the  allied  powers,  seeing  clear- 
ly that  nothing  but  the  sword  could  decide 
between  them  and  their  obstinate  adver- 
sary, redoubled  their  efforts,  confiding  in 
their  superior  strength  and  in  the  justice 
of  their  cause.  The  Russians  brought  at 
least  200,000  men  into  the  field  ;  the  Prus- 
sians 160,000;  and  Austria  230,000,  equal- 
ly divided  on  the  Rhine,  in  Italy,  and  in 
the  interior  of  Germany.  In  addition 
to  these  forces,  the  brave  Field-marshal 
Wellington  had  already  placed  his  foot  on 
the  French  territory  with  the  British  army 
of  80,000  men.  Finally,  the  other  states 
of  Germany  furnished  their  contingent  of 
troops  of  150,000  to  160,000  men. 

These  were  divided  into  eight  distinct 
corps,  viz :  the  first  comprised  36,000 
Bavarians  under  General  Wrede ;  the 
second  was  under  the  command  of  the  duke 
of  Brunswick,  and  consisted  of  33,000 
Brunswickers,  Hanoverians,  Oldenburgers 
and  Mecklenburgers,  together  with  some 
Hanseatic  troops ;  the  third,  amounting  to 
23,000  men  from  the  Saxon  territories,  was 
commanded  by  the  duke  of  Saxe- Weimar  ; 
the  foarth,  consisting  of  14,000  Hessians, 
was  led  on  by  the  elector  of  Hesse-Cassel 
himself;  the  fifth,  comprising  10,000  men 
from  the  provinces  of  Waldeck,  Lippe, 
Nassau,  Coburg,  Meiningen,  Hildburghau- 
sen,  and  Strelitz,  was  under  the  orders  of 
59 


the  duke  of  Saxe-Coburg;  the  sixth  was 
commanded  by  the  prince  of  Hesse-Hom- 
burg,  and  formed  the  contingent  furnished 
by  Darmstadt,  Wiirzburg,  Frankfort-on-the- 
Maine,  Isenburg,  and  Reuss ;  the  seventh 
consisted  of  12,000  Wiirtembergers  under 
the  leadership  of  their  own  crown-prince 
himself;  and,  lastly,  the  eighth  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  the  Baden  general, 
Count  von  Hochberg,  which  included  the 
troops  of  Baden,  Hohenzollern,  and  Lich. 
tenstein. 

Although  the  entire  mass  of  these  troops 
could  not  be  sent  into  the  field  all  at  once, 
and  there  was  a  necessity  for  continuing  to 
retain  possession  of  a  great  extent  of 
country,  while  many  thousands  of  troops 
were  required  to  invest  the  numerously 
fortified  towns  which  the  allies  would  not 
lose  time  in  laying  formal  siege  to,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  certain,  that  an  army  con- 
sisting of  at  least  500,000  men  was  now  in 
full  march  against  France,  and  which 
would  surround  the  enemy's  forces,  not 
amounting  now  to  half  that  number.  At 
the  same  time,  in  the  rear  of  the  allied 
army  every  preparation  was  made  neces- 
sary to  ensure  its  complete  equipment  and 
organization,  for  which  purpose,  and  in 
order  that  operations  might  be  carried  on 
with  all  possible  order  and  uninterrupted 
unanimity,  a  sort  of  central  administration 
or  council  of  war  was  established  and  pre- 
sided over  by  a  man  who  might  truly  be 
characterized  as  a  hero,  and  one,  too,  who 
worked  indefatigably  for  the  liberty  of  our 
country,  although  not  actually  marching 
at  the  head  of  her  armies.  This  noble- 
minded  patriot  and  persevering  champion 
was  the  minister  Baron  von  Stein.  He 
was  one  of  those  who,  while  Germany  was 
sighing  under  the  yoke  of  the  usurper,  in- 
dignantly and  resolutely  spurned  every 
attempt  made  to  render  him  subservient ; 
for,  on  the  contrary,  he  never  ceased,  as  be- 
fore stated,  devoting  his  superior  genius  as 
well  as  all  his  thoughts  and  actions  towards 
the  emancipation  of  his  country,  and  gain- 
ing thus  the  confidence  of  his  fellow-coun- 
trymen, he  was  looked  up  to  as  a  tower  of 
strength  in  their  cause.  When  the  war 
of  1812  broke  out  against  Russia,  he  re- 
paired thither  at  the  head  of  many  others 
of  an  equally  bold  and  dauntless  mind, 
in  order  to  assist  in  annihilating  the  expe- 
dition thus  directed  against  a  nation  whose 
energy  was  well  known  to,  and  appreciated 


160 


RAPID  MARCH  OF  THE  ALLIES. 


}jy  him.  The  emperor  Alexander  found 
;n  him  all  the  support  he  so  much  needed 
at  that  all-important,  trying  moment,  and 
it  must  ever  be  acknowledged  that  it  is  to 
the  bold  and  active  genius  of  Von  Stein 
that  Germany  owes  her  complete  deliver- 
ance from  the  yoke  of  foreign  despotism. 

During  the  first  twenty  days  of  January, 
the  allies  had  already  traversed  Switzer- 
land, Franche-Comte,  Alsace,  Lorraine, 
and  Burgundy,  without  meeting  with  any 
obstacle  ;  and  the  mountains  of  the  Jura, 
the  Waldensis,  the  Hundsruck,  and  the 
forest  of  Ardennes,  together  with  numer- 
ous rivers  and  a  triple  line  of  fortifications 
on  the  frontiers,  were  all  happily  captured 
and  cleared,  and  the  armies  of  Schwartzen- 
berg  and  Blucher  were  already,  within  a 
short  distance  of  each  other,  in  full  march 
along  the  banks  of  the  Seine  and  the  Aube, 
and  within  some  ninety  or  a  hundred  miles 
of  Paris  itself.  Now,  however,  Napoleon 
entered  the  field  at  the  head  of  his  army. 
His  object  was  to  penetrate  between  his 
enemies,  prevent  their  junction,  drive  them 
back  one  after  the  other  to  the  mountains 
they  had  just  left,  where  the  effects  of  the 
winter  and  the  armed  inhabitants  would 
combine  together  to  render  their  retreat  one 
equally  disastrous  and  fatal.  Blucher  had 
established  his  head-quarters  in  Brienne,  a 
small  town  near  the  Aube,  with  a  castle 
which  had  served  as  a  military-school  for 
young  Frenchmen,  and  where  Napoleon 
had  himself  learned  that  science  in  which 
he  afterwards  so  distinguished  himself. 
Suddenly  the  French  appeared  and  attack- 
ed the  town.  The  assault  was  repulsed, 
but  as  soon  as  it  was  dusk,  the  French 
general,  Chateau,  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  localities  of  the  place,  penetrated 
with  his  grenadiers  into  the  gardens  of  the 
castle  as  far  as  the  terrace  itself,  without 
being  observed.  Blucher  was  in  great 
danger  of  being  taken,  and  had  scarcely 
time  to  mount  his  horse  and  escape  by  a 
private  road.  He  immediately  placed  him- 
self at  the  head  of  his  troops,  and  inspiring 
them  with  the  most  undaunted  courage,  he 
warned  them  not  to  let  the  enemy  boast  of 
having  put  them  to  flight  on  their  first  en- 
counter upon  French  ground,  and  he  main- 
tained the  contest  until  midnight,  and 
completely  drove  back  the  left  wing  of  the 
enemy,  not  abandoning  the  place  before  it 
was  set  on  fire  by  the  French,  "  in  order," 
as  he  wrote  in  his  dispatch,  "  that  Napo- 


leon might  set  fire  to  his  cradle  with  hia 
own  hand."  Nevertheless,  the  latter  did 
not  succeed  in  cutting  off  Blucher's  army 
from  that  of  Schwartzenberg. 

The  battle  of  Brienne  took  place  on  the 
29th  of  January,  and  on  the  1st  of  Feb- 
ruary the  intrepid  Blucher  was  already 
again  on  the  same  spot,  drawn  up  in  battle 
array.  He  had  not  as  yet  assembled  all 
his  troops,  for  Langeron  was  still  at  Mentz, 
and  York  and  Kleist  were  en  route  ;  but 
Schwartzenberg  had  furnished  him  with 
the  greater  part  of  his  army — the  divisions 
of  Giulay  and  the  prince  of  Wiirtembjerg — 
together  with  the  Russian  reserve  corps : 
by  which  means  he  found  himself  sufficient- 
ly strong  to  advance  against  Napoleon. 
The  latter  had  taken  up  a  strong  position 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Brienne,  and  estab- 
lished  his  centre  in  the  village  of  Rothiere, 
about  four  miles  distant.  The  battle  began 
at  mid-day  at  all  points.  To  the  right  the 
prince  of  Wiirtemberg,  having  paved  his 
way  through  the  forest  of  Eclance,  took 
possession  of  the  villages  of  Lagibrie  and 
Petit- Mesnil.  On  the  side  of  the  Wiirtem- 
bergers,  General  Wrede,  at  the  head  of  the 
Bavarians  and  Austrians,  advanced  like- 
wise and  conquered  the  villages  of  Morvil- 
liers  and  Chaumenil,  and  thus  laid  bare 
the  whole  of  Napoleon's  left  wing.  The 
latter  now  came  up  himself  with  the  artil- 
lery of  his  guard,  and  fired  upon  Morvil- 
liers,  whence  he  succeeded  in  dislodging 
the  Bavarians.  Wrede  now  detached  his 
best  regiment  of  cavalry,  commanded  by  the 
brave  Diez,  which  forthwith  threw  itsel f  u pon 
the  French  and  completely  routed  them. 

Meantime  the  battle  was  continued  with 
the  utmost  fury  in  the  village  of  Rothiere, 
which  formed  the  principal  point  in  the 
position  held  by  the  French.  Here  Napo- 
leon commanded  in  person,  and  continually 
brought  up  fresh  troops  against  the  Rus- 
sians. On  the  other  side,  the  emperor 
Alexander  and  the  king  of  Prussia  encour- 
aged on  their  troops  by  their  presence, 
whence  prodigies  of  valor  were  performed 
At  length  Marshal  Blucher  placed  himself 
at  the  head  of  his  troops,  and  threw  him 
self  into  the  village,  exclaiming,  "  For- 
wards !"  The  village  was  carried  and 
taken  definitively.  The  right  wing  of  the 
enemy,  which  had  defended  the  village  of 
Dieuville  against  Giulay,  was  likewisa 
forced  to  retreat  at  midnight,  and  the  vic- 
tory was  now  decisive  at  all  points. 


SUCCESSES  OF  NAPOLEON. 


46T 


The  allies  finding  that  Napoleon's  force 
was  not  so  extensive  as  they  imagined, 
and  knowing  that  the  late  actions  must 
lave  reduced  it  still  more,  deemed  a  com- 
oined  plan  of  operations  unnecessary,  and 
determined  therefore  to  divide  their  armies  : 
that  of  Bliicher  to  take  the  route  towards 
ihe  Marne,  while  that  of  Schwartzenberg 
»vas  to  proceed  along  the  Seine.  This  was 
exactly  what  Napoleon  wished  ;  for  by  this 
separation  he  should  be  enabled  to  resort  to 
his  former  promptitude  of  manoeuvring, 
lie  maintained  his  position  between  the 
two  armies,  and  watching  his  opportunity, 
alternately  attacked  the  one  or  the  other 
division  as  his  prey,  and  overpowered  it  by 
the  superiority  of  his  forces.  By  this  means, 
he  succeeded  in  obtaining  those  temporary 
successes  which  enabled  him  to  detain  them 
on  their  march  to  Paris  several  months. 

The  Silesian  army,  accordingly,  advan- 
ced towards  the  capital  by  the  route  of 
Champagne,  in  detached  bodies ;  Sacken 
to  the  rear,  Kleist  the  centre,  and  Bliicher, 
the  general-in-chief,  brought  up  the  rear- 
division  of  Kleist.  The  Russian  advanced- 
guard  had  now  arrived  to  within  fifteen 
leagues  of  Paris,  which  many  of  the  in- 
habitants were  now  abandoning  in  all  haste, 
believing  the  emperor's  reign  completely 
at  an  end.  Suddenly,  however,  the  latter, 
being  now  reinforced  with  20,000  men  of 
the  old  troops,  which  he  had  conveyed  from 
Spain  in  coaches  and  light  wagons,  oblique- 
ly traversed  the  immense  plains  between 
the  Seine  and  the  Marne,  in  spite  of  the 
representations  of  his  generals,  who  held 
the  execution  of  his  plan  to  be  impossible  ; 
and,  although  forced  to  leave  his  cannons 
in  the  mud  behind  him,  he  came  in  front 
of  the  enemy,  and  seeking  his  opportunity, 
fell  upon  the  rear-guard  of  Sacken,  com- 
manded by  General  Olsufiew,  cutting  the 
moiety  of  them  in  pieces,  or  making  them 
prisoners.  This  was  the  first  ray  of  good 
fortune  which  once  more  shone  upon  Na- 
poleon, and  reproduced  confidence  within 
him.  He  wrote  to  the  duke  of  Vicenza, 
his  plenipotentiary  at  the  congress  of  Cha- 
tillon,  then  sitting,  that  his  arms  had  been 
once  more  crowned  with  a  brilliant  victory, 
and  that  the  French  government  might 
now  reassume  its  independent,  dictatorial 
tone. 

Meantime,  Field-marshal  Bliicher,  when 
news  reached  him  of  the  danger  threaten- 
ed, marched  with  all  possible  haste  en  route 


for  Champaubert  with  Kleist's  division, 
and  the  Russians  under  General  Kapcze« 
witsch,  in  all  about  20,000  men.  But 
the  generals  whom  he  wished  to  join 
had  already  recrossed  the  Marne,  and  on 
the  14th  he  found  himself  attacked  by  the 
French,  with  a  far  superior  force.  Their 
cavalry  threw  itself  upon  the  two  wings, 
while  the  infantry  and  artillery  attacked 
the  centre  with  such  desperate  fury,  that 
on  the  first  onset  several  of  the  Prussian 
battalions  were  completely  destroyed.  In 
addition  to  this  force,  the  allies  found  an- 
other body  of  French  cavalry  advancing 
upon  them  in  their  rear  upon  the  high  road 
between  Champaubert  and  Etoges.  No 
other  resource  was  left  them  now  but  to 
trust  to  their  courage  and  resolution  and 
cut  their  way  through.  They  formed 
themselves  into  solid  squares,  and  advan- 
ced with  charged  bayonet  against  the  cav- 
alry, which  gave  way  before  therrj.  The 
enemy  now  attacked  them  in  the  fjank, 
and  harassed  them  in  every  direction,  in 
order  to  bring  their  ranks  into  disorder ; 
but  by  the  able  management  of  the  brave 
and  prudent  general,  Gneisenau,  the  furi- 
ous attacks  were  received  with  firm  and 
unshaken  courage  and  order,  and  to  this 
alone  is  the  preservation  of  the  army  to  be 
attributed. 

At  length  night  arrived,  and  promised 
the  Prussians  the  repose  they  so  much 
needed.  They,  however,  were  forced  to 
encounter  some  hard  fighting  when  they 
arrived  at  Etoges ;  but  they  once  more 
opened  for  themselves  a  road  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  and  gained  at  length  their 
former  position  at  Vergeres.  The  divisions 
of  the  Silesian  army  united  together  behind 
the  Marne,  and  shortly  after  marched  to- 
wards the  Aube,  in  order  to  form  a  junction 
with  the  grand  army. 

Napoleon  was  delighted  beyond  all  meas- 
ure in  being  able  once  again  to  boast  of 
his  victories  in  his  bulletins  and  gazettes ; 
but  these  triumphant  strains  were  very 
speedily  hushed  when  it  was  known  as  a 
certainty,  that  the  advanced  guard  of 
Schwartzenberg  was  only  ten  leagues  dis- 
tant from  the  capital,  while  the  French 
army  was  fighting  on  the  Marne.  Napo- 
leon gave  up  at  once  all  farther  pursuit  of 
the  Silesian  troops,  in  order  to  turn  his 
force  against  Schwartzenberg.  The  latter 
had  detached  Wrede  and  Wittgenstein  to 
the  rear  of  the  French  army,  in  order  to 


168 


BLUCHER'S  BOLD  MARCH. 


relieve  the  Silesian  army ;  but  as  all  the 
operations  in  that  quarter  had  been  ex- 
tremely rapid,  the  aid  came  too  late,  and 
these  two  generals  found  themselves  op- 
posed to  Napoleon,  who  with  his  superior 
army  forced  them,  after  a  severe  action, 
to  retreat  to  the  Seine.  The  brave  prince 
of  Wiirtemberg,  who  led  the  advanced 
guard  of  the  grand  army,  had  taken  up  his 
position  with  his  Wiirtembergers  and  Aus- 
trians,  in  the  village  of  Montereau.  Na- 
poleon, after  pursuing  Wittgenstein,  on  the 
17th  of  February,  as  far  as  Nangis,  made 
a  violent  attack  on  the  prince's  troops  on 
the  18th.  The  latter,  nevertheless,  main- 
tained themselves  firmly  throughout  the 
whole  day ;  but  having  expended  all  their 
ammunition,  and  finding  themselves  taken 
in  the  flank  by  the  French,  they  were  for- 
ced to  give  way  and  to  recross  the  river. 

These  ten  days  of  success  restored  to 
Napoleon  all  his  former  presumption,  espe- 
cially as  just  at  this  moment  Marshal  Au- 
gereau  sent  him  a  message  from  Lyons, 
that  he  had  driven  back  the  Austrian  gen- 
eral, Bubna,  as  far  as  Geneva,  and  was 
penetrating  into  Switzerland  with  a  power- 
ful body  of  troops.  If  the  French  general 
succeeded  in  reconquering  that  country, 
then  the  retreat  of  the  allied  army  must 
be  completely  cut  off,  and  already  calcu- 
lating upon  this  conquest,  Napoleon's  ima- 
gination foresaw  Alsace  and  Lorraine 
rising  en  masse  against  the  allies,  and  all 
the  numerous  garrisons  along  the  frontiers 
uniting  with  the  national  guard  to  anni- 
hilate the  enemy.  Thence,  although  the 
conference  at  Chatillon  was  still  continued, 
he  would  no  longer  hear  of  peace  ;  and 
when,  among  the  terms  stipulated,  it  was 
required  that  he  should  resign  Holland  and 
Italy,  he  exclaimed  :  "  What  are  our  ene- 
mies thinking  of?  Tell  them,  I  am  at  this 
moment  closer  to  Vienna  than  they  are  to 
Paris  !" 

Paris  was  in  a  state  of  joyful  excite- 
ment, and  the  whole  of  France  shared  in 
the  hopes  of  the  emperor.  At  the  same 
time  any  acute  observer  could  easily  see 
that  it  was  merely  a  moment  of  illusion ; 
for  although  the  grand  army  did  partially 
withdraw,  still  it  was  in  accordance  with 
the  plan  of  the  campaign,  and  not  after 
any  general  defeat,  nor  because  there  was 
any  discouragement  in  the  soldiers,  who, 
on  the  contrary,  were  more  eager  than 
ever  to  march  tc  Paris 


Meantime,  at  head-quarters,  the  ques. 
tion  of  a  peace  was  seriously  discussed, 
and  it  was  already  suggested,  that  the 
allied  forces  should  gradually  retire  to  the 
Rhine,  in  order  to  await  the  result  of  the 
conference  held  at  Chatillon.  The  vete- 
ran Bliicher,  however,  opposed  this  with 
his  whole  force.  He  offered,  in  a  dispatch 
he  sent  to  the  allied  sovereigns,  from  his 
quarters  at  Merry,  to  march  direct  to 
Paris,  and  thus  draw  off  Napoleon  from 
the  grand  army,  if  they  would  place  under 
his  orders  the  divisions  of  Biilow  and  Win- 
zengerode.  He  would  then  find  himself 
again  at  the  head  of  an  excellent  army  of 
100,000  men,  and  with  that  alone  he  would 
venture  to  threaten  the  capital  without  any 
farther  delay.  His  wish  was  accorded. 
This  unexpected  movement — pronounced 
by  a  French  historian  to  be  the  boldest 
throughout  the  campaign — completely  dis- 
concerted the  French  emperor,  who  was 
at  this  moment  in  Troyes.  He  had  just 
refused  the  offer  of  an  armistice,  and  al- 
ready beheld  himself  in  imagination  once 
again  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  whereas 
he  found  himself  now  forced  to  abandon 
the  grand  allied  army,  and  devote  all  hia 
attention  to  the  bold  adversary  he  thought 
he  had  completely  beaten. 

Napoleon's  object  was  to  come  up  with 
the  old  marshal  before  he  had  formed  a 
junction  with  the  other  corps  of  the  army, 
from  which  he  was  separated  by  the  river 
Aisne.  But  Bulow  and  Winzengerode  had 
already  laid  siege  to  Soissons,  situated  on 
this  river,  where  an  excellent  bridge  form- 
ed a  desirable  point  of  reunion  for  the  two 
armies.  This  strongly  fortified  city  con- 
tained a  numerous  garrison,  but  Biilow 
forthwith  made  preparations  for  an  assault. 
Already,  towards  night,  the  scaling-ladders 
were  fixed  and  the  assailants  about  to  mount 
them,  when  the  commandant  of  the  place, 
not  aware  of  Napoleon's  presence  in  the 
vicinity,  surrendered  the  city,  and  retired 
with  his  garrison.  Bliicher  immediately 
crossed  the  river  and  advanced  north- 
ward as  far  as  Laon,  where  he  united 
all  his  forces  and  took  up  a  strong  position 
near  that  city-  Napoleon,  in  order  to  grap- 
ple with  and  overthrow  this  daring  oppo- 
nent, pursued  him  closely  to  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  although  by  so  doing  he  left 
more  and  more  distant  in  his  rear  both  the 
grand  army  of  the  allies  and  Paris  itself, 
which  was  three-and-thirtv  leagues  off. 


NAPOLEON  AGAINST  SCHWARTZENBERO. 


4G9 


On  the  7th  of  March  he  attacked  Win- 
zengerode  and  Woronzow  in  their  intrench- 
ed position  on  the  heights  of  Craone,  and 
only  forced  them  to  retreat  toLaon  after  he 
himself  had  suffered  a  great  loss.  Here 
Bllicher  awaited  him, having  made  the  city, 
which  was  situated  upon  an  almost  impreg- 
nable height,  the  central  point  of  his  position. 
On  the  9th  of  March,  at  break  of  day,  the 
French  attacked  and  took  the  village  of  Se- 
milly,  at  the  base  of  the  hill,  which,  how- 
ever, they  retained  only'a  short  time,  being 
driven  from  it  by  Billow's  troops,  and  Napo- 
leon did  not  venture  to  ascend  the  height. 
The  contest,  at  both  wings,  lasted  the  entire 
day,  Napoleon's  object  being  especially  to 
drive  the  Prussians  from  the  high  road  to 
Belgium.  Towards  mid-day  he  succeeded 
in  obtaining  the  advantage,  and  the  Prus- 
sian advanced. guard  was  forced  to  abandon 
the  village  of  Athis;  but,  in  the  evening, 
Generals  Kleist  and  York  resolved  to  an- 
nihilate his  plan  at  once  by  a  coup  de  main. 
As  soon  as  it  was  completely  dark,  and  the 
enemy,  believing  the  sanguinary  day  at  an 
end,  had  already  lighted  their  fires  in  the 
camp,  the  Prussians  returned  to  the  attack. 
Every  thing  succeeded  ;  the  enemy  was  ut- 
terly overthrown  and  forty-six  pieces  of 
artillery  captured.  This  complete  victory 
was  gained  with  scarcely  any  loss  on  the 
side  of  the  Prussians  ;  while  that  of  the 
corps  of  Marmont,  which  had  suffered  this 
defeat,  was  very  considerable. 

Napoleon  was  not  a  little  mortified  at 
finding  this  attack  upon  the  Silesian  army 
so  unsuccessful.  Nothing  now  remained 
for  him  but  to  turn  his  arms  against 
Schwartzenberg,  surprise  the  grand  army, 
and,  endeavoring  to  separate  it,  attack  and 
destroy  each  detached  corps. 

The  commander-in-chief  had  again  taken 
up  his  position  ^on  the  Aube,  whither  he  had 
marched  immediately  after  the  departure 
of  Napoleon  in  pursuit  of  the  Silesian  army. 
The  issue  of  operations  between  Bliicher 
and  Napoleon  he  soon  learned  by  the  sud- 
den appearance  of  the  latter  himself,  who 
returned  from  Laon  to  commence  his  move- 
ments against  the  grand  army.  He  had 
scarcely  arrived  before  he,  on  the  13th 
of  March,  suddenly  attacked  and  took  the 
town  of  Rheims,  which  was  occupied  by 
General  Saint-Priest  and  the  Russians, 
killed  that  general,  and  on  the  20th  he  was 
in  front  of  the  grand  army,  and  took  pos- 
session of  Arcis-sur-Aube.  lie  hope,  by  a 


prompt  manoeuvre  to  bring  the  allies  into 
confusion,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  make  the 
attack  contemplated  ;  but  he  found  their 
ranks  too  firmly  knit  together,  and  he  was 
thus,  a  second  time,  defeated  in  his  design. 
The  emperor  Alexander  and  the  king  of 
Prussia  themselves,  who  were  resolved  not 
to  defer  longer  a  decisive  battle,  had  has- 
tened by  forced  marches  to  rejoin  the  army, 
and  on  this  day,  the  20th  of  March,  a  most 
serious  engagement  took  place  near  Arcis. 
The  regiments  of  French  guard  were  re- 
pulsed with  so  much  force,  that  Napoleon, 
in  order  not  to  lose  such  an  important  place, 
drew  his  own  sword,  and  rallying  the  fly- 
ing  squadrons,  placed  himself  at  their  head, 
and  led  them  on  to  the  attack  again.  In 
this  charge  he  exposed  himself  so  much 
that,  in  order  to  defend  himself  against  a 
cossack  who  rushed  upon  him  with  his  lance, 
he  was  forced  to  5re  at  him  one  of  his  own 
pistols.  A  great  number  of  his  staff  were 
killed  and  wounded  around  him,  and  his 
own  horse  was  shot  under  him ;  neverthe- 
less, instead  of  shunning  danger,  he  ap- 
peared only  to  court  it.  It  was  only  by 
these  extraordinary  exertions,  and  the  arri- 
val of  a  reinforcement  of  infantry,  that  he 
was  enabled  to  save  the  town. 


CHAPTER    XL. 

The  French  and  Allied  Armies  in  Battle  Array— Napo- 
leon's sudden  and  mysterious  Retreat  before  Action 
—His  secret  Designs  for  the  Destruction  of  the  Allies 
—His  Plot  Discovered— The  Allies  before  Paris—  Its 
Capitulation — Triumphant  Entry  of  the  Allies  in 
that  City— Napoleon  Deposed— Louis  XVIII.  Kins 
of  France — Napoleon  at  Fontainebleau—  His  Abdi- 
cation—Banishment to  Elba— Peace  signed  in  Paris 
— Conclusion. 

THE  allied  army  prepared  for  a  grand 
and  final  action  on  the  following  day ;  Na- 
poleon himself  formed  his  line  of  battle  in 
front  of  Arcis,  and  the  two  armies  thus 
facing  each  other  waited  a  considerable 
time — extending  even  to  several  hours — for 
ach  other's  attack.  In  truth,  it  was  a 
solemn  moment,  and  one  portending  the 
most  important  and  decisive  results  to  the 
whole  world.  It  was  during  this  interval 
that  Napoleon  brought  into  operation  a  plan 
he  had  long  contemplated,  and  upon  which 
be  based  all  hopes ;  but  which,  neverthe- 
less, produced  his  ruin.  While,  therefore, 
the  eyes  of  the  allied  army  were  anxiously 


no 


NAPOLEON'S  RETREAT— HIS  PLOT  DISCOVERED. 


fixed  upon  his  movements,  it  was  observed, 
to  their  no  little  astonishment,  that  the  ranks 
of  the  enemy  were  broken  up,  and  the 
troops,  crossing  over  the  Aube  in  confused 
masses,  were  seen  ascending  the  opposite 
hills,  and  the  field  of  battle  was  abandoned 
by  them  without  a  blow  being  struck.  Af- 
ter long  consideration,  Napoleon  fei-  :ie  had 
already  good  reason  to  remember  how  often 
he  had  met  the  allied  armies  in  the  open 
field,  and  he  accordingly  determined  now 
to  change  the  plan  of  battle. 

His  mano3uvre  this  time  was  to  gain  the 
rear  of  Schwartzenberg  by  forced  marches, 
and  as  the  allies  would  doubtless  fall  back 
in  order  to  secure  for  themselves  a  safe  re- 
treat, he  was  in  good  hopes  they  might  fall 
into  the  various  ambuscades,  which  he 
would  take  good  care,  with  the  aid  of  the 
different  garrisons  and  the  inhabitants  them- 
selves, to  have  planted  ready  to  meet  them 
in  Lorraine  and  Alsace.  He  had,  in  fact, 
long  since  made  his  preparations  for  the 
execution  of  this  design  ;  all  his  command- 
ants throughout  those  countries  having  re- 
ceived his  instructions  to  this  effect  through 
secret  messengers  and  spies.  The  inhabit- 
ants entered  most  cordially  into  the  spirit 
of  the  plot,  and  had  already  commenced 
operations  by  concealing  themselves  in  the 
woods,  narrow  passes,  and  cross  roads,  and 
attacking  all  the  couriers  and  small  detach- 
ments of  soldiers  proceeding  in  those  direc- 
tions. All  the  convoys  were  stopped,  and 
the  allies  already  began  to  experience  the 
want  of  ammunition ;  and  thus  a  retreat 
must  have  produced  the  total  ruin  of  the 
allied  armies. 

Meantime,  a  letter  addressed  by  Napo- 
leon to  the  empress,  in  which  he  detailed  to 
her  the  whole  of  his  plan,  was  found  upon 
one  of  his  messengers  who  was  taken  pris- 
oner, and  was  the  means  of  making  the 
whole  plot  known  to  the  allies.  This  then 
was  a  most  important  moment  for  them. 
One  party  held  it  advisable  to  secure  their  re- 
treat and  march  back  to  the  Rhine ;  the  other 
again,  more  confident,  deemed  it  preferable 
to  proceed  direct  to  Paris,  which  could  not 
resist :  and  this  last  counsel  was  adopted. 
It  was  resolved  to  leave  Napoleon  in  the 
rear,  and  that  the  grand  army  should  forth- 
with march  in  advance,  in  order  to  form  a 
junction  with  Bliicher  on  the  Marne. 

On  the  following  day,  the  24th  of  March, 
it  was  found  that  the  Silesian  army  was 
already  in  the  vicinity,  and  the  council  of 


war,  assembled  at  Vitry,  resolved  at  once 
that  the  two  united  armies  should  march 
for  Paris,  and  that  General  Winzengerode 
should  remain  behind  to  meet  Napoleon 
with  10,000  cavalry  ana  flying  artillery, 
in  order  to  make  him  believe  that  the  main 
body  of  the  allied  army  followed  them  in 
the  rear. 

After  various  victories,  the  allied  armies 
marched  forward  in  conjunction,  and  ar- 
rived at  length,  on  the  29th  of  March  to- 
wards evening,  before  the  gates  of  the 
proud  city  which  had  styled  itself  the  capi- 
tal of  the  whole  world.  Joseph,  Napo- 
leon's brother,  and  formerly  king  of  Spain, 
was  there  with  numerous  partisans,  and  he 
continued  to  deceive  the  inhabitants,  by 
assuring  them  that  it  was  merely  a  de- 
tachment of  the  allied  army,  which  had 
advanced  for  the  purpose  of  frightening 
the  city.  Marshals  Marmont  and  Mortier 
had  assembled  all  the  troops  they  could 
muster,  and  posted  them  on  the  heights 
outside  the  city,  with  all  their  artillery  ; 
their  army  thus  distributed  on  the  Mont- 
martre  and  other  hills,  consisted  altogether 
of  25,000  men,  and  150  pieces  of  cannon. 
Their  object  was  to  hold  the  allies  at  bay 
until  the  emperor  marched  up  to  their  re- 
lief. 

Napoleon  was  in  truth  advancing  with 
all  speed  to  their  aid,  but  he  was  at  too 
great  a  distance  to  arrive  in  time.  He 
had  been  the  victim  of  his  blind  confi- 
dence, and  had  thus  given  the  allied  army 
the  advantage  of  four  days'  march  in  ad- 
vance of  him.  Generals  Winzengerode 
and  Czernitschef  had  completely  deceived 
him,  in  making  him  believe  they  were  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  allied  army  in  pur- 
suit of  him,  and  he  already  congratulated 
himself  upon  the  successful  results  of  his 
ruse.  Nevertheless,  finding  the  troops 
consisted  of  nothing  else  but  cavalry,  and 
that  not  a  single  foot-soldier  was  visible, 
he  became  suspicious,  and,  determined  tc 
convince  himself,  he  attacked  General 
Winzengerode,  who  was  accordingly  forced 
to  give  way  before  him.  Still  he  could 
ascertain  nothing  certain,  until  the  29th 
of  March,  when  an  estafette  arrived  from 
Paris  and  met  him  at  Doulancourt,  on  the 
Aube.  He  hastened  to  peruse  the  contents 
of  these  mysterious  dispatches,  and  was 
struck  as  by  a  clap  of  thunder,  when  he 
found  that  the  allies  were  before  the  gates 
of  the  capital,  while  he  himself  was  at 


ALLIES  BEFORE  PARIS— ITS  CAPITULATION. 


47] 


that  moment  more  than  forty  leagues  dis- 
tant !  He  lost  not  a  moment,  but  aban- 
doning his  army  at  once,  departed  with  a 
few  followers  in  hopes  of  still  arriving  in 
time  :  but  he  urged  his  postilions  on  in 
vain,  for  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  made,  he 
was  forced  to  content  himself  with  only 
hearing  at  a  distance  the  heavy  cannon- 
ading before  his  capital ;  and  on  the  30th, 
at  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  on  reaching 
Fromenteau,  five  leagues  from  the  metrop- 
olis, he  learned  he  had  arrived  a  few 
hours  too  late — Paris  had  surrendered. 
Napoleon  was  only  separated  by  the  Seine 
from  the  advanced  posts  of  the  allied  army  ; 
the  fires  from  their  bivouacs  lighted  up  the 
whole  length  of  the  left  bank,  while  the 
darkness  of  the  night  concealed  from  ob- 
servation the  presence  of  himself,  a  few 
companions,  and  the  two  post-chaises.  At 
four  o'clock  on  the  following  morning, 
when  he  was  convinced  positively  that  the 
capitulation  was  signed,  he  turned  his 
horses'  heads  and  drove  off  to  Fontaine- 
bleau. 

On  the  morning  of  the  30th  of  March, 
General  Barclai  de  Tolly,  who  commanded 
the  Russians  and  Prussians,  under  the 
orders  of  Prince  Schwartzenberg,  com- 
mander-in-chief,  attacked  the  heights  of 
Belleville,  which  formed  the  central  point 
of  defence.  The  contest  was  extremely 
obstinate,  and  at  the  same  time  indecisive  ; 
because  the  gardens,  vineyards,  and  shrub- 
beries everywhere  around  greatly  facilita- 
ted the  means  of  defence,  but  more  espe- 
cially because  the  troops  of  the  prince  of 
Wurtemberg  and  Blucher,  who  ought  to 
have  aided  on  the  right  and  left,  did  not 
arrive  before  mid-day.  The  French  artil- 
lery, which  commanded  a  good  position, 
did  great  execution  in  the  ranks  of  the 
brave  assailants  ;  but,  finally,  the  heights 
of  Belleville  were  carried,  and  the  cannon 
taken.  Then  it  was  that  the  Parisians 
perceived  that  the  troops  before  the  place 
formed  a  more  numerous  and  powerful 
body  than  a  mere  detachment,  and  they 
soon  had  too  much  reason  to  know  the  real 
state  of  things.  At  mid-day,  the  Silesian 
army  stormed  the  heights  of  Montmartre. 
York,  Kleist,  and  Langeron,  drove  the 
French  before  them  out  of  all  the  villages, 
and  on  this  occasion,  the  cavalry  bore  a 
principal  part  in  the  achievements  of  this 
day  ;  the  black  hussars,  and  those  of  Bran- 
denburg especially,  making  a  most  valiant 


attack  upon  the  enemy — who  defended  the 
village  of  La  Villette  to  the  last — and 
forced  them  to  evacuate  it,  and  thence 
Montmartre  fell  forthwith  into  the  hands 
of  the  allies. 

At  the  extreme  left,  the  prince  of  Wur- 
temberg had,  likewise,  in  spite  of  the  vig- 
orous defence  maintained  by  the  various 
troops  posted  in  the  quarter  of  Vincennes, 
forced  them  to  give  way  and  advanced  to 
the  gates  of  the  city  on  that  side.  Thus 
the  entire  army  of  the  allies  was  now  as- 
sembled on  and  around  the  heights  they 
had  conquered,  ready  to  follow  up  their 
victory  by  penetrating  at  once  into  the 
capital.  But  the  two  marshals,  and  the 
authorities  of  the  city,  having  come  for- 
ward and  offered  to  capitulate,  it  was  ac- 
cordingly agreed  that  the  place  should  be 
surrendered  to  the  allies  on  the  following 
day,  the  31st  of  March,  and  that  the  said 
Marshals  Marmont  and  Mortier  should  re- 
tire with  the  remnant  of  their  troops. 

Accordingly,  as  arranged,  and  on  the 
day  fixed,  the  emperor  Alexander  and  the 
king  of  Prussia — the  emperor  Francis  hav^ 
ing  remained  behind  at  Lyons  with  his  ar. 
my — accompanied  by  their  staff,  and  fol- 
lowed by  a  portion  of  their  army,  made 
their  triumphant  entry  into  the  city. 

On  the  1st  of  April  the  emperor  Alexan- 
der published,  in  the  name  of  himself  and 
allies,  a  declaration,  "  That  he  would,  in 
no  way  whatever,  treat  either  with  Napo- 
leon or  any  one  of  his  family ;  and  the 
French  were  at  liberty  to  choose  another 
government." 

In  consequence  of  this  decree,  the  muni- 
cipal council  of  the  metropolis  declared  it- 
self absolved  from  its  oath  of  fealty  to  Na- 
poleon, and  demanding  the  restoration  ol 
the  ancient  royal  house,  that  body,  on  the 
2d  of  April,  in  the  name  of  France,  de- 
clared the  deposition  of  Napoleon. 

This  event  acted  with  the  force  of  a 
thunder-stroke  upon  Napoleon,  who  had 
continually  flattered  himself  with  the  cer- 
tainty of  reassembling  his  army,  and  once 
more  trying  the  chances  of  war.  He  was 
still  at  Fontainebleau,  twelve  leagues  from 
Paris,  where  he  remained  a  prey  to  his 
feelings,  and  alternately  excited  by  disap- 
pointment and  hope ;  at  length  he  resolved 
on  marching  to  Paris,  being  full  of  confi- 
dence in  his  army.  The  3d  of  April  was 
fixed  for  his  departure,  and  already  a  crowd 
of  warriors  assembled  to  follow  him ;  but 


PEACE  SIGNED  IN  PARIS— CONCLUS  [ON 


just  at  that  moment  his  marshals  refused  to 
act  in  co-operation  with  him  for  the  promo- 
tion  of  his  design.  Ney  and  Lefebvre  fol- 
lowed him  into  his  chamber,  and  made 
known  to  him  the  fact  of  his  deposition, 
and  declared  they  could  not  depend  upon 
the  army.  He  was,  however,  still  desirous 
of  securing  the  crown  of  France  for  his 
son,  whom  he  had  made  king  of  Rome, 
and  he  offered  to  abdicate  on  this  condition  ; 
but  neither  the  allies  nor  the  provisional 
government  would  accede  to  it. 

Accordingly,  on  the  6th  of  April,  the 
senate  acknowledged  Louis  XVIII.  as 
kins:  of  France,  and  invited  him  to  ascend 
the  throne,  while  to  Napoleon  was  offered 
the  possession  of  the  island  of  Elba,  on  the 
coast  of  Italy.  Against  all  expectation  he 
calmly  signed  the  abdication  of  all  his  im- 
perial power  and  sovereignty,  and  de- 
parted, on  the  20th  of  April,  for  his  new 
dominion,  where  he  arrived  and  fixed  his 
residence.  Louis  XVIII.  made  his  entry 
in  the  capital  on  the  3d  of  May,  and 
mounted  the  throne  of  his  ancestors  twenty- 
one  years  after  his  brother's  execution. 

On  the  30th  of  May  the  first  peace  of 
Paris  was  concluded  between  France  and 
Europe.  France  retained  the  same  limits 
as  she  had  possessed  under  her  kings,  and 
consequently  held  possession  of  Alsace  and 
Lorraine,  which  in  former  times  belonged 
to  Germany ;  while  she  also  had  secured 
to  her  an  extent  of  territory  conquered 
during  the  wars  of  the  republic.  She  had 
likewise,  in  addition  to  this,  no  share  to 
pay  of  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  the  city 
of  Paris  was  not  obliged  to  restore  the 
valuable  productions  of  art  and  science, 
collected  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
all  the  thousands  of  French  prisoners  in 
Germany,  Russia,  and  England,  were 
forthwith  set  at  liberty. 


We  have  now  traced  the  history  of  Ger- 
many from  the  earliest  time  down  to  the 
moment  when  it  was  fervently  hoped,  that 
the  peace  of  that  severely-dealt-with  coun- 
try, together  with  that  of  Europe  gene- 
rally, was  finally  and  permanently  es- 
tablished. The  restless  ambition,  how- 
ever, of  Napoleon  produced  a  renewal  of 
hostilities,  and  once  more,  but  for  the.  last 
time,  all  the  sovereigns  and  princes  of 
Germany,  as  well  as  the  whole  of  Europe, 


armed  and  advanced  against  him,  anc 
Providence  crowned  their  wishes  with  suc- 
cess. On  the  memorable  plains  of  Ligny 
and  Waterloo,  the  pride  and  ambition  of 
that  dangerous  man  were  forever  crushed, 
his  troops  completely  beaten  and  almost 
annihilated,  and  he  himself  forced  eventu- 
ally to  yield  himself  a  prisoner,  and  end 
his  days  on  the  rock  of  St.  Helena. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  describe  the 
well-known  details  of  a  victory  unparal- 
leled in  history,  the  beneficial  results  ol 
which  have  been,  and  still  continue  to  be 
so  distinctly  felt  and  gratefully  acknow- 
ledged. The  great  and  glorious  achieve- 
ments of  the  arms  of  combined  Europe 
under  Wellington  and  Blucher,  can  never 
be  forgotten  or  too  highly  appreciated. 

According  to  the  arrangements  made  in 
the  general  and — happily  as  it  has  proved — 
lasting  peace,  concluded  by  all  the  powers 
of  Europe  at  the  congress  of  Vienna,  in 
1815,  Germany  received  back  all  the 
provinces  she  possessed  anteriorly  to  the 
Revolution,  but  of  which  she  had  been  de- 
prived during  that  and  the  subsequent 
period.  They  were  now  so  divided  among 
the  members  of  the  newly-formed  Con- 
federation of  Germany,  that  the  majority 
received  either  the  same  territories  they 
previously  owned,  those  granted  to  them  by 
the  peace  of  Luneville,  or  such  as  they 
held  at  the  period  of  the  Rhenish  league. 

The  members  of  the  Confederation  con- 
stituted at  first  a  body  of  thirty-eight,  viz.  : 
Austria,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Saxony,  Han- 
over, Wiirtemberg,  Baden,  Hesse-Cassel, 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  Holstein,  Luxemburg, 
Brunswick,  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  Meck- 
lenburg-Strelitz,  Nassau,  Saxe- Weimar, 
Saxe-Gotha,  Saxe-Coburg,  Saxe-Meiningen, 
Saxe-Hilburghausen,  Oltenburg,  Anhalt- 
Dessau,  Anhalt-Bernburg,  Anhalt-Coeth- 
en,  Schwarzburg-Sondershausen,  Schwarz- 
burg-Rudolstadt,  Hohenzollern-Hechingen, 
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen,  Lichtenstein, 
Waldeck,  Reuss,  (senior  branch,)  Reuss, 
(junior  branch,)  Schaumburg-Lippe,  to- 
gether with  the  free  cities  of  Lubeck, 
Frankfort-on-the- Maine,  Bremen,  and  Ham- 
burg. Subsequently  was  added  Hesse. 
Homburg ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
house  of  Saxe-Gotha  becoming  extinct,  in 
1825,  it  was  incorporated  with  that  of  Co- 
burg,  so  that  the  number  of  members  still 
remained  thirty-eight.  The  ducal  houses 
of  Saxony1  are  divided  thus:  Saxe-Coburg 


THE  STATES  OF  GERMANY—HOLY  ALLIANCE. 


475 


Gotha  ;  Saxe-Meiningen-Hilburghausen  ; 
and  Saxe-Altenburg. 

Austria  has  received  back  her  faithful 
Tyrol,  together  with  Salzburg  and  the  coun- 
try around  ;  Bavaria  rules  over  her  own 
herditary  lands  as  well  as  Franconia ; 
while,  as  an  indemnification  for  the  losses 
she  sustained,  she  has  been  accorded  the 
palatinate  of  the  Rhine  ;  her  entire  popu- 
lation thus  forming  more  than  4,000,000  of 
subjects.  WUrtembarg  holds  dominion  in 
Swabia  over  more  than  1,500,000  subjects, 
and  is  separated  by  the  Black  Forest  from 
Baden,  whose  possessions  extend  along  the 
Rhine  to  Basle,  and  beyond  Manheim, 
through  a  beautiful  and  fertile  country. 
Hesse-Darmstadt  has  likewise  enlarged 
her  former  line  of  territory  very  considera- 
bly, and  holds  in  her  possession  the  city 
of  Mentz,  the  most  important  stronghold  of 
the  Confederation.  Above  all  the  rest, 
however,  the  king  of  Prussia  has  under  his 
sovereignty  the  greatest  number  of  subjects 
speaking  the  mother  tongue,  amounting  to 
more  than  14,000,000.  So  that  Prussia  is 
at  the  present  moment  one  entire,  and  all 
but  exclusively,  German  state. 

As  regards  the  government  of  Germany, 
it  has  been  converted  by  the  so-called  Holy 
Alliance  into  a  confederation  of  free  and 
independent  states,  according  to  the  follow- 
ing decrees  : — 

"  The  object  of  the  alliance  is  the  main- 
tenance of  the  internal  and  external  securi- 
ty of  Germany,  together  with  the  indepen- 
dence and  inviolability  of  the  confederated 
states. 

"  All  the  members  of  the  alliance  have, 
as  such,  equal  and  uniform  rights. 

"  The  general  interests  of  the  body  shall 
be  discussed  and  arranged  at  a  Diet,  the 
seat  of  which  it  is  appointed  shall  be  fixed 
at  Frankfort-on-the-Maine,  and  at  which 
Austria  shall  hold  the  presidency  ;  this  diet 
is  perpetual,  and  the  period  for  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  session,  when  the  state  of  busi- 
ness allows,  must  not  extend  beyond  four 
months  at  the  most. 

"  The  assembly  must  devote  its  attention 
especially  to  the  subject  of  the  fundamental 
laws  of  the  Confederation  and  its  organic 
regulations,  in  connection  with  its  internal, 
external,  and  military  relations. 

"  All  the  members  of  the  Confederation 
promise  to  unite  together  against  any  and 
every  attack,  and  when  a  war  takes  place 
Ihey  pledge  themselves  not  to  enter  upon 


any  secret  compact,  nor  conclude  any  par. 
tial  armistice  or  peace  with  the  enemy. 
Meantime  they  reserve  to  themselves  the 
right  of  forming  alliances  of  every  kind,  but 
they  bind  themselves  down  not  to  conclude 
any  one  such  alliance  which  may  injurious- 
ly affect  the  welfare  and  security  of  the 
country,  or  be  opposed  to  the  interests  of 
any  one  individual  member.  At  the  same 
time  the  members  shall  not  be  allowed, 
under  any  pretext  whatever,  to  carry  on  a 
war  against  each  other,  but  shall  lay  ab 
matters  of  dispute  before  the  Diet,  which 
shall  either  mediate  or  adjudge  accordingly, 
and  to  the  decision  of  which  the  parties 
must  submit. 

"In  all  the  states  of  the  Confederation 
there  shall  be  a  constitutional  government, 
(Landstiindische  Verfassung.) 

"  The  difference  of  Christian  sects  can- 
not affect  the  enjoyment  of  civil  and  political 
rights  in  any  of  the  states  of  the  Confedera- 
tion ;  but  as  amelioration  is  necessary  in  the 
civil  condition  of  those  professing  the  Jewish 
faith,  the  Diet  of  the  Confederation  shall 
advise  and  determine  upon  the  matter. 

"  The  subjects  of  the  German  princes 
shall  have  the  right  to  pass  from  one  state 
into  the  other,  and  to  accept  of  either  civil 
or  military  service  therein,  if  no  military 
engagement  already  binds  them  to  their  na- 
tive place. 

"The  Diet  shall  occupy  itself  with  the 
formation  of  laws  for  the  liberty  of  the  press 
and  against  piracy,  as  well  as  for  the  com- 
mercial and  trading  intercourse  between 
the  states  of  the  Confederation. 

"  Further,  the  Diet  has  decreed  the  exact 
numerical  force  of  the  army  of  the  Confed- 
eration to  be  maintained  in  peace  and  war ; 
of  what  arms  it  shall  consist ;  a  fixed  con- 
tingent to  be  supplied  by  each  member;  to 
whom  and  by  whom  the  chief  command 
shall  be  given ;  and,  finally,  how  many 
and  what  fortifications  shall  be  garrisoned 
and  maintained  by  the  Confederation." 

The  army  of  the  confederation  consists 
of  300,000  men  :  to  which  Austria  con- 
tributes 94,000  ;  Prussia,  79,000  ;  Bavaria, 
35,000;  Wiirtemberg,  13,600;  Hanover, 
13,000;  Saxony,  (the  kingdom,)  12,000; 
Baden,  10,000 ;  Hesse-Darmstadt,  6000  ; 
Hesse-Cassel,  5400  ;  and  thus  in  proportion 
the  other  members.  The  whole  army  is 
placed  under  the  command  of  one  general- 
in-chief,  who  is  appointed  by  the  Diet,  to 
whom  he  renders  the  oath  of  duty  and  ser 


i74 


THE  ARMY  OF  THE  CONFEDERATED. 


vice,  and  from  whom  he  receives  authority 
and  orders,  and  to  which  body,  likewise, 
he  is  bound  to  send  in  his  reports.  The 
Diet  also  appoints  a  lieutenant-general  as 
his  representative  or  successor  in  command. 
The  army  is  divided  into  ten  distinct  corps, 
thfc  leaders  of  which  receive  their  orders 


only  from  the  general-in-chief.  Of  these 
ten  corps  Austria  contributes  three  ;  Prus. 
sia,  three  ;  Bavaria,  one  ;  and  the  remain- 
ing  three  are  formed  out  of  the  other  con- 
tingents.  The  fortified  places  garrisoned 
and  maintained  by  the  Confederation  are 
Mentz,  Luxemburg,  and  Landau. 


THE  END, 


INDEX. 


AdDURAcnKAN  the  Arab,  Page  88 

Abderam  the  A  nib,  94. 

Abdication  of  Charles  V.,  301. 

Aboukir,  battle  of,  425. 

Abulabaz  the  elephant,  101. 

Abuses  of  the  Papacy,  254. 

Acre,  the  siege  of,  170. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  146 

Adalbert,  archbishop  of  Bremen,  142. 

Adalbert,  archbishop  of  Mentz,  154. 

Adalbert  of  Carinthia,  137. 

Adalbert  of  Prussia,  134. 

Address  by  Blucher  to  his  soldiers,  452. 

Address  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  at 

his  abdication,  301. 
Adelaide,  the  princess,  124. 
Adelbert,  the  son  of  Berengar,  124. 
Adelhard,  bishop  of  Reggio,  124. 
Ademar  of  Puy,  156. 
Adgandaster  the  Chatti,  31. 
Adjustment  of  the  religious  differences 

in  Germany,  346. 
Administration  ot  affairs  in  Germany 

under  Maximilian,  238. 
Adolphus  III.,  of  Holstein  160. 
Adolphus  of  Nassau,  209. 
Adrian,  Pope,  93. 

-  ,  death  of,  97. 
Adrian  IV.,  Pope,  161. 
Adrian  VI.,  Pope,  260. 
Adrianople,  the  city,  69. 

./Eneas  Sylvius,  Pope  Pius  II.,  188. 
Affairs,  religious,  276. 
Age  of  Frederick  the  Great,  408. 
AOES,  THE  MIDDLE,  182. 

-  architecture  of,  190. 

-  arts  of,  189. 

-  chivalry  of,  182. 

-  cities  of,  185.        ' 

-  convents  of,  194. 
--  Faustrecht  of,  196. 

-  Freistuhls  of,  200. 

-  Hanse  towns  of,  187. 

-  jurisprudence  of,  197. 

-  laws  of,  199. 

-  literature  of,  191. 

-  monasteries  of,  193. 

-  monks  of,  194. 

-  nuns  of,  194. 

-  painting  of,  191. 
peasantry  of,  189. 

try  of,  191  . 

n  priesthood  of,  195. 

-  sciences  of,  189. 

-  troubadours  of,  191. 

-  Vehmgericht,  or  secret  tribunal 

of,  201. 

-  warlike  spirit  of,  192. 
Air»randizement  of  Charles  IV.,  218. 
Agitolfingi,  the,  95. 

Agricola  of  Berlin,  293. 
Agriculture  of  Germany,  350. 
AUtulph,  the  Longobard,  88. 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  the  city  of,  101. 

-  -  peace  of,  354. 
Alani,  the,  71. 

Alaric  the  Goth,  72. 

-  death  of,  71. 

Alba,  the  Duke  of,  291,  307. 
Albert  I.  of  Austria,  209. 
Albert  II.  of  Austria,  226. 
Albert  of  Brandenburg,  229. 
Albert  of  Longwy,  141. 
Albert  of  Saxony,  188. 
Albert  the  Bear,'  J58. 
Albert,  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg  — 
Culmbarh,  2W. 

Longobard,  81. 


-  poetry 

-  Roma 


Alcuin,  the  historian,  98. 
Alexander  III.,  Pope,  161. 

and  Frederick  the  Emperor, 


165. 

Alexander,  the  Autocrat  of  Russia,  446. 

Alexandria,  a  city  of  Italy,  165. 

Alfred  of  England,  174. 

Algiers,  the  siege  of,  1541,  274. 

Aliso,  castle  of,  33. 

the  battle  of,  56. 

Allemanni,  the,  64. 

Alliance  against  Austria,  378. 

Alliance  against  France,  419. 

Alliance  between  the  Emperor  Charles 
V.  and  the  Pope,  2(i6. 

Alliance  between  Ferdinand  of  Bohe- 
mia and  Maximilian  of  Bavaria.  'MS. 

Alliance  of  Britain  with  Prussia,  382. 

Alliance  of  the  princes  of  the  empire 
formed  by  Frederick  the  Great,  416. 

Alliance,  the  first  electoral,  215. 

"  Alliance,  the  Holy,  so  called,"  473. 

Alliance,  the  Protestant,  at  Torgau,  267. 

Allied  armies,  the,  of  Austria  and  Rus- 
sia, 432. 

Allied  Protestants,  retreat  of  the,  from 
before  the  army  of  Charles  V.,  283. 

Allies  of  Britain  against  France,  419. 
defeat  of,  420. 


Allies,  the,  before  Dresden,  453. 

before  Paris,  1814,  471. 

enter  Leipsic,  1813,  464. 

forces  of  the,  1813,  451. 

invade  France,  1814,  465. 

rapid  march  of,  466. 

the  Saxons  join,  1813,  462. 

victorious  over  Napoleon, 

461. 

Alphonso  of  Castile,  178. 

Alsace,  the  Count  of,  181. 

Alsace,  the  Sh"oe---league  of,  242. 

Amalians,  the,  66. 

Amasia,  33. 

Ambassadors,  the,  of  the  Emperor  Fer- 
dinand at  the  Council  of  Trent,  304. 

Ambition  of  Wallenstein,  322. 

Ambroni,  the,  45. 

Ambrosius  of  Milan,  163. 

America,  discovery  of,  246. 

Amiens,  peace  of,  430. 

Amisia,  33. 

Amsivarians,  the,  33. 

Anabaptists,  the,  272. 

Anarchy  in  Germany  and  Italy,  248. 

Ancient  German  history,  sources  of,  15. 

ANCIENT  GERMANS,  19. 

arms  of,  28. 

arts  of,  30. 

civil  institutions  of,  25. 

: customs  of,  23. 

Gefolge  of,  28. 

history  of,  15. 

manners  of,  23. 

manufactures  of,  31. 

music  of,  31. 

races  of,  20. 

religion  of,  29 

trade  of,  31. 

war— regulations  of,  27. 

A  neon  a,  siege  of,  192. 

Anecdotes  of  Frederick  the  Great,  396, 
404,  408,  410,  412,  417. 

Angaria,  34. 

Angeli,  the,  36. 

Angilbert  the  poet,  103. 

Angrivari,  the,  34. 

Annals  of  Tacitus,  17. 

Ansibari,  the,  33. 


Anti-German  feelings  of  Frederick  the 

Great.  411. 

Antony  of  Freisingen,  113. 
Appeal  of  Frederick  the  Great  to  hia 

army,  391. 
Appeal  of  Maria  Theresa  to  the  Hun 

garians,  379. 
Ara  Flavia,  42. 
Arabs,  the,  87,  94. 
Arbalo,  34. 

Arbesau,  battle  of,  454. 
Arcadius,  Emperor,  69. 
Archbishop  Boniface,  86. 
Archbishop  of  Cologne,  ducal  authority 

of,  179. 

Archbishoprics  of  Germany,  182. 
Archbishops,  the,  142. 
Archduke  Charles,  423. 
Arcis,  the  battle  of,  469. 
Arctaunum,  37. 

Arderic,  king  of  the  Gepidi,  75. 
Ardovine  of  Italy,  136. 
Arechis  the  Longobardian,  95. 
Ariovistus  the  Marcoman,  47-49. 
Aristocracy,  the  German,  183. 
Aristotle,  174. 
Armanarich  the  Goth,  66. 
Armies  allied  with  Austria,  385. 
Armies  of  the  Allies  for  the  invasion  of 

France,  1814,  465. 

rapid  march  of,  466. 

Arminius,  55-61. 

Armistice  between  Napoleon  and  the 

Allies,  1813,  449. 
Armistice  proposed  by  Napoleon  to  the 

Allies,  1813,  refused,  461. 
Armoricae,  the,  76. 
Arms  of  the  ancient  Germans,  14. 
Army  and  Treasury  of  Frederick  the 

Great,  412. 

Army  of  Bonaparte  in  Italy,  1796,  422. 
Army  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  329. 
Army  of  Modern  Germany,  473. 
Army  of  Schmalkald,  280. 
Army  of  Wallenstein,  oppressions  and 

tyranny  of  the,  335. 
Army,  the  Prussian,  1806,  435. 
Arnold  of  Winkelried,  220. 
Armilf  of  Bavaria,  1 14. 
Arnulf,  the  king,  109. 
Arquebus,  invention  of  the,  213. 
Arrival  of  Napoleon  at  Dresden,  453. 
Arrogance  of  France,  1697,  364. 

of  the  French,  1802,  429. 

Arslan,  the  Sultan  of  Iconium,  169. 

Artillery,  the  invention  of,  243. 

Arts  and  industry  of  modern  Germany 

Arts  of  the  ancient  Germans,  30. 

Ascalingium,  33. 

Aspern,  battle  of,  439. 

Assembly  of  Crusaders  at  Clermont,  155 

Athanaric  the  Goth,  69. 

Athaulf  the  Goth,  71. 

Athens,  the  city  of,  164. 

Attack  on  the  French  army  by  Ziethen, 
403. 

Attempted  reconciliation  of  the  Protest- 
ants and  Catholics  vain,  277. 

Attila  the  Hun,  72-75. 

Auerstadt,  the  battle  of,  435. 

Augsburg  Confession,  the,  269. 

Augsburg,  the  city  of,  37. 

Diet  of,  1518,  242,  255. 

Diet  of.  1530,  2(57. 

Diet  of,  1555,  300. 

submissipn  of  the  city  to  tt* 

Romanists,  300. 


476 


INDEX. 


Augustulus,  the  last  of  the  Roman  em- 
perors, 75. 

Augustus  III.  of  Poland,  378. 
Augustus  the  Roman  emperor,  50. 
Auiic  Council,  the,  of  Germany,  239. 
Austerasia,  35. 
Austerlitz,  the  battle  of,  432. 
Austria,  alliance  against,  378. 

and  Prussia,  alliance  against 

France,  418. 

and  Prussia,  peace  between, 

1742,  380. 

and   Prussia,   peace  between, 

1~<lt,  407. 

declaration  of  war  by,  s^ainst 

France,  438. 

emperor  of,  434. 

grand  duke  of,  208. 

house  of,  373. 

invasion  of  by  Frederick  the 

Great,  376. 

joined    the   alliance    against 

France,  1813,  450. 
Austrian  and  Prussian  armies,  condition 

of,  in  the  year  1757,  396. 
Austrian  and  Russian  generals,  jealousy 

of,  400. 
Austrians,  defeat  of  at  Leipsic,  332. 

in  Silesia,  405. 

retreat  of,  402. 

victorious  over  Frederick  the 

Great,  1757,  401. 
Authentic  history  of  the  Germans,  the 

commencement  of,  15. 
Authors  on  the  ancient  history  of  the 

Germans,  15,  16. 
Avari,  the,  92-95. 
Azzo  the  Italian,  144 

BADEN,  margrave  of,  229. 

Baldwin,  king  of  Jerusalem,  157. 

Baldwin  II.,  184. 

Bultians,  the,  66. 

Banquets  of  the  ancient  Germans,  25. 

Barbarossa,  Frederic,  159. 

Barrit,  the,  or  war-cry  of  the  ancient 

Germans,  29. 

Bartholomew,  massacre  of,  306. 
Basle,  the  Council  of,  227. 
Bastarnians,  the,  20. 
Satavi,  the,  40. 
BATTLES— of  Aboukir,  425. 

Adrianople,  69. 

Aldenhoven,  419. 

Aliso,  56. 

Amberg,  423. 

—  Aqua;  Sextia,  45. 

—  Arbesau,  454. 

—  Arcis,  469. 

—  Aspern,  439. 

—  Auerstadt,  435. 

—  Austerlitz,  432. 
Bautzen,  448. 
Belgrade,  228. 
Belleville,  471. 
Bergen,  397. 

Besancon,  49. 

Blenheim,  367. 

Breslau,  391. 

Brienne,  406. 

Cassano,  426. 

Catalaunian  plain,  74. 

Champaubert,  467. 

Chateau-Cambresis,  420. 

Cortenuova,  173. 

Craonz,  4f>9. 

Crefeld,  393 

Crecy,  243. 

Cuma,  80. 

Custrin,  394. 

Czaslau,  379 

Dennewitz,  455. 

Detmold,  95. 

Dorneck,  236. 

Dresden,  453. 

Eckmuhl,  438. 

Esslingen.  439- 

.  Etoges,  467. 

Eylau,  436. 

Famars,  419. 

Ferbellin.  355 


BATTLES — of  Fleurus,  420. 

Frankenhausen,  262 

Freiburg,  406. 

Friedland,  436. 

Giengen,  229. 

Gross-beeren,  451 

Gross-jagersdorf,  389. 

Guldengossa,  459. 

Hanau,  464. 

Hastenbeck,  287. 

Hochkirk,  395. 

Hochst,  421. 

Hochstadt,  367. 

Hohenburg,  145. 

Hohenlinden,  428. 

Hohenfriedburg,  381. 

Idistavius,  60. 

Jankau,  344. 

Jemappes,  419. 

Jena,  435. 

Jerusalem,  1099,  156 

• Kaiserslautern,  421. 

Katzbach,  452. 

Kay,  398. 

Kesseldorf,  381. 

Kollin,  3S7. 

Kulm,  454. 

Kunersdorf,  399. 

Landshut,  284,  401. 

Langensalza,  145. 

Laon,  469. 

Lauffen,  271. 

Lechfeld,  125. 

Leipsic— 1631,  322. 

Leipsic— 1642,  343. 

Leipsic— 1813,  458. 

Lenzen,  119. 

Leuthen,  391. 

Liegnitz,  402. 

Lignano,  165. 

Ligny,  472. 

•  Lowositz,  384. 
Lutterberg,  407 
Lutzen— 1632,  336. 
Lutzen— 1813,  446. 
Magdeburg— 1631,  330. 
Malplaquet,  371. 
Marchfeld— 1278,  207. 
Marengo,  4^8. 
Melrichstadt,  151. 
Merseburg,  119. 
Milan,  162. 
Minden,  397. 
Moeckern,  460. 

•  Molwitz,  377. 
Morgarten,  213. 
Muhlberg,  288. 
Muhldorf— 1322,  214. 
Murten,  231. 
Nancy,  231. 
Nangis,  423. 
Neerwinden,  419. 
Nordlingen,  341. 
Noreja,  44. 

Novi,  426. 
Oudenarde,  370. 
Paunsdorf,  462. 
Pavia— 1004,  136. 
Pavia— 1525,  264. 
Pfaffenhofen,  438. 
Pillerent— 1456,  230 
Prague,  386. 
Probstheyda,  461. 
Ramillies,  369. 
Ratisbon,  438. 
Raucour,  381. 
Raudian  plain,  47 
Riesenberg,  225. 
Rome— 1111,  153. 
Rome— 1520,  266. 
Rossano,  390. 
Rossbach,  390. 
Rothiere.  466. 
Saalfeld,  435. 
Schweidnitz,  405. 
Sempach,  220. 
Soltau,  248. 
Sorr,  381. 
Southern  Gaul,  44. 


Spurs,  the,  237. 

Squillace,  131. 


BATTLES— of  Stralsund,  324. 

• Taun,  438. 

Teutoburger  forest,  58 

Toplitz,  456. 

Torgau,  403. 

Tournay,  420 

— Tours,  88. 

Tunis,  273. 

Turin,  369. 

Ulm,  432. 

Veronice,  78. 

Vienna,  with  the  Turks- 

1683,  358. 
Vienna,  with  the  Turks 

1809,  439. 

Wachau,  458. 

VVagram,  440. 

Wartenburg,  456. 

Waterloo,  472. 

Weissenberg,  319. 

Wittstock,  342. 

Xeres  de  la  Frontera,  88. 

Zeitz,  456. 

Zorndorf,  394 

Zulpich,  78. 

Zurich,  427. 


Bavaria,  elector  of,  366. 
Bavaria,  the  house  of,  216. 
Bavarian  war  of  the  succession,  375 
Bavarians,  the  ancient,  21. 
Beginning  of  the  Thirty  Years'  Wai 

316. 

Belisarius,  72. 
Benedict  VIII.,  Pope,  136. 
Benedict  IX.,  Pope,  140. 
Benedict  XII.,  Pope,  215. 
Benedict  XIII.,  Pope,  223. 
Benedict  of  Nursia,  the  monk,  193 
Benevento,  the  principality  of,  81. 
Berengar,  the  king  of  Italy,  126 
Bernadotte,  Prince,  450. 
Bernard  of  Seckau,  206. 
Bernard,  the  Abbot,  195. 
Berne,  the  city  of,  219. 
Bernward  of  Hildesheim,  133 
Bertrand,  General,  452. 
Besancon,  the  city  of,  48. 
Bible,  the  first  printed— 1462,  343. 

the  Gothic  translation  of,  67. 

the,  with  other  religious  books  (A 

the  elector  of  Saxony  seized,  294. 
Blucher,  Marshal,  452. 
Bohemia,  76. 

evangelical  union  of,  309. 

united  with  Hungary,  238. 

Bohemians,  the,  1415,  225. 
Boi,  the,  43. 

Bojorix,  a  German  prince,  45. 
Boleslas  the  Pole,  136. 
Bologna,  council  at,  292. 
Bonaparte,  Jerome,  437. 
Bonaparte,  Joseph,  433. 
Bonaparte,  Louis,  433. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  422. 

army  of,  in  Italy— 1796,  422. 

character  of,  422. 

emperor,  431. 

first  consul,  427. 

in  Egypt,  426. 

in  Germany,  432. 

in  Italy,  422. 

marriitpe  of,  to  Maria  LciiLsa 

of  Austria,  442. 

success  of,  441. 

Boniface,  archbishop  of  Mentz,  86. 
Bonn,  the  fortress  of,  51. 
Botschkai  of  Hungary,  309. 
Bourbon,  the  duke  of,  265. 
Brahe,  Tycho,  309. 
Brandenburg,  elector  of,  354. 

proclaimed  king  i  f 

Prussia,  363. 

Brandenburg,  margraviate  of,  229. 
marches  of,  1 18. 


Bravery  of  Wallenstein,  322. 

Bremen,  the  city  of,  95. 

Brennus  the  Gaul,  47. 

Bridge  of  Elster-MUhlengraben,  404 

Brittany,  76. 

Brukteri,  the,  32. 

Bruno  the  Monk,  194 


INDEX. 


477 


Brunswick,  the  duke  of,  277. 

Brutal  character  of  the  German  Lanz- 
knechte,  244. 

P.iilgarians,  the,  155. 

Bull  of  Pope  Leo  X.,  burning  of  by  Lu- 
ther, 256. 

Hull  of  the  pope  in  favor  of  the  rrnsaile 
against  the  Protestants  by  Charles 
V.,  W 

Hull,  the  golden,  217. 

Hurgundians,  the,  31). 

Burgundy,  Charles  duke  of,  230. 

Burgundy,  Mary  ,,f.  •„•:«). 

Bukhara,  duke  of  Swabia,  IK 

Burning,  the,  of  Moscow,  443. 

;.  Julius,  48. 
Cajetan,  Cardinal,  2."). 
Calamities  of  the  fourteenth  century, 

210. 

Calixtus  II.,  Pope,  154. 
IU  III..  Pope,  227. 
Ci.lvinism,  308. 
Calvinists,  the,  303. 
Camaldulensian  Monks,  the,  195. 
Caiubray.  the  League  of,  237. 
Camp  ofBunzelwitz,  404. 
Canip  of  Charles  V.  at  Ingol.stadt,  284. 
Campaign  of  1793, 419. 
Campaign  of  Napoleon  in  Russia,  443. 
Campo-Formio,  peace  of,  424. 
Cannlne&ti,  the,  40. 
Canute  of  England,  138. 
Capistraii,  John,  the  Hungarian,  227. 
Capitulars,  106. 

Capitulation  of  Paris,  1814,  471. 
Capitulation  of  the  French  in  Italy,  265. 
Caretta  the  Itali'in,  339. 
Carinthia,  grand  dukes  of,  182. 
Carlovingians,  the,  89. 

end  of  the,  110. 

Carlstadt,  Andrews,  the  Reformer,  2G1. 

Carnage  at  Torgau,  403. 

Carnot,  the  French  Minister  of  War,  420. 

Carocium,  the,  163. 

Carthage,  the  city  of,  429. 

Carthusian  Monks,  the,  194. 

Casimir  III.  of  Poland,  233. 

•":nsimir,  John,  Count  Palatine,  308. 

Cassiodorus,  77. 

Caste! lum  Valentiani,  42. 

Catalaunian  Plain,  the,  battle  of,  74. 

Catharine  of  Russia,  40G. 

"Catholic  League,"  the,  310. 

Catulus,  the  Roman  Consul,  40. 

<:au>ts  of  the  Schism  in  the  Papacy, 

250-254. 

Celestin  III.,  Pope,  176. 
Centgrafen,  the,  26. 
Centgraviates,  the,  200. 
Challenge,  the,  of  Claudius  Barre,  243. 
Chamavi,  the,  33. 
Chamber,  the  Imperial,  239. 
Chambres  de  r<  unions,  356. 
Champaubert,  battle  of,  467. 
Changes  in  the  Germans,  82. 
Character,   the  biutal,    of  the    Lanz- 

knechte,  244. 
Character  of  Bonaparte,  422. 

of  Charlemagne,  100 

of  Ferdinand  of  Bohemia,  313. 

of  Frederick  of  Prussia,  409. 

of   Gustavus    Adolphus    of 

Sweden,  327,  337. 

of  Maurice  of  Saxony,  299. 

of  Maximilian  I.,  234. 

• of  the  ancient  Germans,  24. 

of  Wallenstein,  322. 

Charlemagne,  90. 

• administration  of,  105 

character  of,  100. 

«• coronation  of,  98. 

death  of,  99. 

decrees  of,  105. 


portraiture  of,  100-100. 

II.  of  Spain,  361. 


Charles 

Charles  III.  ,,r  Spain,  369. 

Charles  IV.,  Emperor,  216. 

•  aggrandizement  of,  213 

at  Rome,  218 

death  of,  21«. 


Charles  V.,  Emperor,  248. 

abdication  of,  301. 

and  the  Pope,  279. 

character  of,  249. 

coronation  of,  250. 

death  of,  302. 

declaration  of,  269. 

farewell  address  of,  301. 

flight  of,  297. 

IWeign  relations  of,  263 

in  Africa,  273. 

in  France,  274. 

in  Saxony,  287. 

Charles  VI.,  Emperor,  372. 

death  of,  375. 

Charles  VII.,  Emperor,  379 

death  of,  380. 

Charles  VIII.  of  Anjou,  235. 
Charles  XII.  of  Sweden,  373. 
Charles  Martel,  87. 
Charles  of  Anjou,  178. 
Charles  of  Burgundy,  230. 

and  the  Swiss,  231. 

defeat  and  death  of,  231. 

wealth  of,  231. 


Charles  of  Lorraine,  359. 
Charles,  the  Archduke,  423. 
Charles  the  Bald,  108. 
Chasuari,  the,  33. 
Chateau-Cambresis,  battle  of,  420 
Chatillon,  Congress  at,  468. 
Chatti,  the,  35. 
Chattuari,  the,  33. 
Chatici,  the,  18,  34. 
Cherusci,  the,  34 

—  alliance  of,  27. 

Chevalier  Bayard,  264. 
Childeric  III.,  the  Frank,  88. 
Chivalry,  decline  of,  235 

end  of,  243. 

legends  of,  191. 

period  of,  183. 

Choiseul,  duke  of,  396. 
Christian  architecture,  190. 
Christian  doctrine,  perversions  of,  252. 
Christian  liberty,  262. 
Christian  of  Mentz,  192. 
Christianity  in  Germany,  85. 
Christiern  IV.  of  Denmark,  321. 
Christina  of  Sweden,  338. 
Christopher  of  Stadion,251. 
Church,  Roman,  abuses  in  the,  254. 
schism  in  the,  250 


Church,  the,  dominion  of,  127. 

protection  of  by  Otho  the  Em- 
peror, 128. 

Chytraus,  David,  of  Rostock,  308. 

Cimbri,  the,  35,  43. 

Cimbrlan  era,  the,  16. 

Cimbrian  panic,  the,  44. 

Cimbrian  war,  the,  17. 

Circles  of  Germany,  the,  240. 

Cisalpine  republic,  the,  424. 

Cistercian  Monks,  the,  195. 

Cities  of  Germany,  the  origin  of,  122. 

Cities,  the  free  imperial,  241,  285. 

decline  of,  350. 

surrender  of,  351. 

yield  to  Gustavus  Adolphus,  333. 

Civil  Institutions,  25. 

Civilization,  progress  of,  122. 

Civitas  Aurelia  Aqnensis,  42. 

Claims  of  Indemnification  by  France 
and  Sweden  for  the  Thirty  Years' 
War,  344. 

Clairfait,  General,  421. 

Classes  of  the  people,  183. 

Claudius  Barre,  the  challenge  of,  243. 

Claudius  Civilis,  the  Batavian  62. 

Clement  1 1.,  Pope,  140. 

Clement  HI.,  Pope,  169. 

Clement  IV.,  Pope,  178. 

Clement  VI.,  Pope,  216. 

Clement  VII.,  Pope-,  266. 

Clergy,  the,  ignorance  and  vices  of,  in 
the  year  1500,  251. 

Clergy,  the,  in  the  year  614,  87. 

Clermont,  the  Crusaders  at,  155. 

Cleves,  the  duke  of,  275. 

Climate  of  Germany,  19. 

Closterseven,  convention  of,  388. 


Clothaire  II.,  the  Frank,  86. 
Clotilda  the  queen,  78. 
Clovis  the  Frank,  77. 
Clunv,  the  Monks  of,  195. 
Coalition  against  Napoleon,  431. 
Code  of  Laws,  the  Imperial,  197 
Coccina  the  Roman  general,  59 
Cceur-de-Lion,  170. 
Colbert,  the  Abbe,  353. 
Cologne,  diet  of,  240. 

elector  of,  278,  312. 

university  of,  278. 


Colonia  Agrippina,  62. 

Combination  of  Powers  against  Freow- 

ick  of  Prussia,  383. 
Comes  palatii,  106. 
Commerce  of  Germany,  31. 
Commodus,  the  Emperor,  63. 
Commotions  of  1270,  205. 
Companionship  in  arms,  28. 
Concessions,   mutual,  of  the  German 

princes,  300. 

Concordat  of  Vienna,  227. 
Condemnation  of  the  Elector  Frederick, 

289. 

Condition  of  Germany,  18. 
Condition  of  the  Austrian  and  Prussian 

armies,  396. 
Confederation  of  modern  Germany,  472 

of  Saxons,  65. 

of  the  Swiss,  211. 

of  Swabia,  219,  233. 

the  Germanic  tribes,  27, 

64. 
the,  of  Lombardy,  163. 


-  the  Rhenish,  353,  434. 


Conference  between  Frederick  HI.  and 

Charles  of  Burgundy,  230 
Confession  of  Augsburg,  269. 
Confidence  of  Napoleon,  468. 
Confiscation  of  Wallenstein's  estato 

340. 

Congress  at  Chatillon,  468. 
Congress  of  Prague,  450. 
Conquest  of  Jerusalem,  156. 
Conquest  of  Magdeburg  by  Tilly,  330 
Conquests  of  Clovis,  77. 
Conrad  I.,  the  Frank,  111. 

death  of,  115. 

Conrad  II.,  Emperor,  137. 
Conrad  III.,  Emperor,  158. 

-  in  Palestine,  159. 


Conrad  IV.,  Emperor,  177. 

Conrad  League,  the  poor,  242. 

Conrad  of  Franconia,  157. 

Conrad  of  Hochstedt,  Archbishop,  190 

Conrad  of  Hohenstaufen,  181. 

Conrad  of  Swabia,  132. 

Conrad  of  Wurzburg,  the  poet,  191. 

Conrad,  the  Emperor,  111. 

Conradin  of  Swabia,  178. 

Conspiracy  against  Wallenstein.  339. 

Constance,  Council  of,  222. 

Constantino  the  Great,  67,  154. 

Constantinople,  67. 

Constanza,  the  Norman  princess,  168. 

Constitution  of  the  Germans,  the,  82. 

progress  of,  180. 

the  Germanic,  179. 


Consulship  of  Bonaparte,  431. 
Convention  of  Closterseven,  388. 
Convents,  the,  196. 
Coronation  of  Matthias  I.,  311 
of  Rudolphns,  206. 


Corpus  Christi  day,  268. 

Corvinius,  John,  the  Hungarian  chief 

228. 

Cortenuova,  battle  of,  173. 
Council  of  Basle,  227. 
Council  of  Constance,  222. 
Council  of  Trent,  278,  292. 
the   imperial    ambassadors    a 

the,  304. 

Council,  the  Aulic,  241. 
Council,  the  Imperial,  in  the  year  153Q 

Count  Mansfeld,  317 
Count  Thurn,  315 
Count  Tilly,  330. 
Counts  of  Germany,  82 
Courage  of  Napoleon,  446. 


478 


INDEX. 


Cranach  the  painter,  298. 

Craon,  battle  of,  469. 

Crecy,  -battle  of,  243. 

Crefeld,  battle  of,  393. 

Crepi,  the  peace  of,  276. 

Crequi,  the  duke  of,  361 

Cross,  the,  vice  the  Sceptre,  206. 

Crown  Prince  of  Sweden,  the,  450. 

Crown,  imperial,  inscription  on  the,  151. 

Cruelties  of  the  French  in  Germany  by- 
order  of  Louis  XIV.,  361. 

Cruelty,  success  of  at  Magdeburg,  331. 

Crusade  of  Frederick,  169. 

Crusade,  the  first,  156. 

Crusaders,  the  assembly  of  £  Clermont, 
155. 

Cuma,  battle  of,  80. 

Cunigunde  of  Isenberg,  209. 

Custine,  General,  419. 

I-ustoins  of  the  Germans,  23. 

changes  in,  82. 

Czaslau,  battle  of,  379. 

Cxernitchef,  the  Russian,  406. 

I>AOOBERT  the  Frank,  87. 
Dalmatia,  63. 
Dalmatians,  the,  118. 
Damasus  II.,  Pope,  140. 
Dampiere,  General,  419. 
Danes,  the,  124. 

• subjection  of,  120. 

Dantzic,  the  city  of,  436. 
Danube,  the,  18. 
Daun,  Marshal,  387. 
Davoust,  Marshal,  435. 

capture  of  Hamburg  by,  449. 

Death  of  Albert  the  Margrave.  299. 

of  Conrad,  115. 

of  Gessler,  211. 

of  Henry,  136. 

of  Luther,  279. 

of  Maurice  of  Saxony,  299. 

of  Moreau,  454. 

of  Otho,  135. 

of  Rudolphus,  151. 

of  Wallenstein,  340. 

Debate  at  Leipsic,  between  Carlstadt 

and  Eck,  255. 
Decanus  the  German,  198. 
Declaration  of  Charles  V.,  269. 
Declaration  of  war  by  Gustavus  Adol- 

phus,  328. 

Decline  of  chivalry,  235. 
Decrease  of  freemen  in  Germany,  113. 
Defeat  of  Frederic,  388. 

—  of  Murat  at  Guldengossa,  459. 

'of  Otho,  131. 

of  the  Anabaptists,  272. 

— —  of  the  Prussians  near  Landshut, 
401. 

•  of  the  Saxons,  145. 

of  the  Turks,  271. 

Degeneracy  of  the  monks,  198. 
Degradation  of  Germany  by  the  Thirty 

Years'  War,  351. 
Demands  for  reformation,  252. 
D'Enghien,  duke,  431. 
Denmark  and  Germany,  peace  between, 

325. 

Dennewitz,  battle  of,  455. 
Deposition  of  Napoleon,  471. 
of  three  popes  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Constance,  223. 

of  VVenceslas,  221. 

Description  of  the  battle  of  Vienna — 

1683,  by  John  Sobieski,  359. 
Desertion  of  Charles  V.  by  Maurice, 

296. 

Desiderius  the  Longobard,  91. 
Despotic  father  of  Frederic  the  Great, 

411. 
Despotic    government   of  Frederic  of 

Prussia,  412. 

Despotism  of  Bonaparte,  435. 
Dessaix,  General,  428. 
Dessau,  the  league  of,  267. 
Destruction  of  the  French  fleet  at  Abou- 

kir,  425. 

Detmold,  battle  of,  95. 
Devil's  Bridge,  the,  427. 
Devil's  Wall,  the,  in  Geraany  41. 


Devotion  of  the  emperor  Otho,  125. 
Diet  of  Augsburg— 1518,  242,  255. 

of  Augsburg— 1530,  267. 

of  Augsburg— 1548,  293. 

of  Augsburg— 1554,  300. 

of  Cologne,  240. 

of  Ingelheim,  95 

ofMentz,  242. 

of  Ratisbon— 1757,  396 

of  Worms— 1521,  258. 

Dieterich  of  Berne,  79. 
Dieterich,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  230. 
Dieterich  the  Goth,  73. 
Diether  of  Mentz,  229. 
Dio  Cassius,  17. 

Disasters  of  Frederic  the  Great,  401. 
Discontent  of  the  people,  261. 
Discovery  of  gunpowder,  243. 
of  Mexico,  250. 


Dismemberment  of  Poland,  414. 

of  the  empire,  345. 

Dispute  on  the  Investiture,  154. 

with  the  popes,  172. 

Dissensions  in  Germany,  262. 
Distribution  of  the  circles  in  Germany, 

240. 

Distribution  of  the  Germanic  tribes,  76. 
Division  among  the  chiefs  in  the  league 

against  Charles  V.,  283. 
Doctrine  of  popish  indulgences,  254. 
Doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  perversion  of, 

by  the  papal  priesthood,  252. 
Doctrines    of   the    Reformation,   rapid 

propagation  of,  256. 
Doernberg,  General,  445. 
Dominic  the  Monk  and  Inquisitor,  195. 
Dominicans,  the,  195,  254. 
Domitian,  the  Roman  emperor,  63. 
Domitius  JEnobarbus,  53. 
Dorneck,  battle  of,  236. 
Doublet  of  Rudolphus,  207. 
Dreadful  visitations,  217. 
Dresden,  battle  of,  453. 
evacuation   of,   by  the  Prus- 
sians, 400. 

peace  of,  381. 

the  allies  before,  453. 


Drusus  the  Roman,  51 . 

apparition  to,  52. 

Drusus  Vaart,  the,  51. 

Dschinges  Khan,  the  Mongolian,  176. 

Duke  of  Alba,  307. 

Dukedoms  hereditary,  112. 

of  Germany,  179. 

Dulgibini,  the,  33. 
Dumourier,  General,  419. 
Durer,  Albert,  the  painter,  350.  • 

EARUEST  history  of  Germany,  15. 

"  Earth,"  a  deity  among  the  ancient 

Germans,  30. 

Earthquake,  the  great,  217. 
East  Germany,  176. 
East  Indies,  the,  246. 
East  Roman  empire,  90. 
Eastern  Goths,  66. 
Eastphalians,  the,  66. 
Ebbo,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  107. 
Eberhard  of  Wlirtemberg,  208. 
Eberhard,  the  French  duke,  111. 
Eccard  of  Meissen,  180. 
Ecclesiastical  reservation,  the,  300. 
Echte  Ding,  the  court  of  session,  198, 

201. 

Eck,  the  papist  disputant,  255. 
Eckbert  the  Saxon,  114. 
Eckmuhl,  the  battle  of,  438. 
Economy  of  Frederic  the  Great,  409. 
Edgitha,  the  Saxon  princess,  120. 
Education  of  Frederic  the  Great,  411. 
Education,  zeal  of  Frederic  II.  for,  175. 
Edward  I.  of  England,  209. 
Eginhard,  the  historian,  98. 
Egypt,  Bonaparte  in,  425. 

the  sultan  of,  172. 

Einhart  the  Frank,  103. 
Eisleben,  the  battle  of,  154. 
the  birth-place  of  Martin  Lu- 
ther, 254. 

Ejection  of  Martimtz  from  Prague,  315. 
of  Slavata  from  Prague,  315. 


Elba,  Napoleon  at,  472. 
Eleanor  of  Portugal,  234. 
Election  of  emperor,  the,  157. 
Elector  of  Bavaria,  335,  366. 
Elector  of  Brandenburg,  312,  355. 
Elector  of  Cologne,  312. 
Elector  of  Mentz,  the,  Bertold,  238. 
Elector  of  Saxony,  the,  captured  by 
Charles  V.,  288. 

outrages  on,  294. 

release  of,  298. 


Elector  of  Saxony,  the,  Frederic  the 
Wise,  248. 

Elector  of  Saxony,  the,  Maurice,  295 

Electoral  alliance,  the  first,  215. 

Electress  of  Saxony,  the,  290. 

Eleonora  of  Spain,  266. 

Elephant,  the,  Abulabaz,  101. 

Elevation  of  German  princes,  362. 

Elizabeth  of  Aragon,  214. 

Elizabeth  of  Russia,  383. 

Elizabeth  the  Bohemian,  212. 

Elizabeth  the  Holy,  180. 

Eloquence  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  337. 

Elster,  the  battle  of,  151. 

Elster-gate  of  Wittemberg,  256. 

Elster-Mlihlengraben,  the  bridge  of,  464 

Elysi,  the,  38. 

Emmaus,  in  Palestine,  156. 

Emmeran  the  missionary,  85. 

Emperor  and  Pope,  the,  at  Canossa,  150 

Emperor  and  Wallenstein,  334. 

Emperor  Charles  V.  and  the  Pope,  rup- 
ture between  the,  293 

Emperor  Francis  I.,  381. 

Emperor  triumphant,  240 

Emperors  and  Popes,  127. 

rivalry  of,  151. 


Empire,  dismemberment  of  the,  345. 

of  Charlemagne,  98. 

state  of  the,  in  the  year  800, 

99. 

in  the  year  1500,  247 

in  the  year  1630,  350. 

the  Western  renewed,  126 


End  of  the  Hohenstaufens,  179 
Engelbert  the  Frank,  103 
Engerians,  the,  66. 
England,  91. 

and  allies  against  France,  419. 

and  France,   peace  between, 

429. 
and  Prussia,  alliance  between, 


and  Russia,  427. 

conquests  of,  407. 

war     declared     by,    against 

France,  419,  430. 
war  of,  with    France  in  the 

year  1742,  379. 
Eniva  the  Goth,  66. 

Entrance  of  the  allies  into  Leipsic,  464. 
Enzius  of  Sicily,  174. 
Epke  von  Repgow,  the  first  compiler  of 

German  law,  199. 
Erasmus,  302. 
Erfurt,  diet  of,  168. 
Eric  of  Calenberg,  239. 
Ernest  Augustus  of  Hanover,  362. 
Ernest  of  Brunswick,  288. 
Ernest  of  Mansfeld,  317. 
Ernest  of  Swabia,  138. 

death  of,  139. 

legends  concerning,  139. 


Esslingen,  the  battle  of,  439. 

Etoges,  the  battle  of,  467. 

Etzel,  the  Hun,  72. 

Eucharis^  the,  division  of  opinion  cun 

cerning,  280. 

Eudocia,  the  empress,  75. 
Eudosi,  the,  36. 
Eugene  III.,  Pope,  136,  158 
Eugene  IV.,  Pope,  226. 
Eugene  de  Beauharnois,  431. 
Eugene  of  Savoy,  359,  3l>4. 
Eugene  of  Wtirternberg,  459. 
Europe,  changes  in,  234. 
northern,  91. 


"  Evangelical  Union"  of  Bohemia,  lha 

309. 
Excitement,  religious  307. 


INDEX. 


479 


Exclusion  of  Hildebrand  from  the  pope- 
dom,  l>>-  Henry  IV.  the  emperor,  148. 

Excommunication  of  Henry,  149. 

Excommunication  of  Martin  Luther,26G. 

I  Aeration  of  Palm,  440. 

«f  Henry  the  emperor,  in  Eng- 
land, 168. 

Expeditions  in  Germany,  320. 

Extraordinary  character  of  WallenstolB, 

Eyliiu,  l>uU!e  of,  436. 

FABRICH-S,  chaplain  of  Gustavus  Adol- 
plms,  335. 

Fall  of  Henry  of  Brunswick,  167. 

Fa  mars,  the  battle  of,  419. 

Fanatics,  the,  in  Germany,  2G2,  272. 

Tather,  the,  of  Frederick  the  Great,  411 

F.UIM.  John,  the  printer.  -J-4.~>. 

lii-rhi,  the,  11-J,  1%,  306. 

IVhde-Kecht,  the,  1D7. 

Frli\  V.,  P..pr,  226. 

JYinale  decorations  of  the  ancient  Ger- 
mans, 24. 

Female  occupations  of  the  ancient  Ger- 
mans, 31. 

Fcmgericht,  the,  200. 

Fends,  the,  83. 

I  Vrlieilin,  the  battle  of,  355. 

Ferdinand  I.,  Emperor,  302. 

death  of,  30f). 

erdinand  II.,  deposition  of  in  Bohemia, 

318. 
death  of,  342. 

Ferdinand  III.,  Emperor,  343. 

death  of,  352. 

Ferdinand,  king  of  Rome,  341. 

Ferdinand,  king  of  the  Romans,  270. 

Ferdinand  of  Bohemia,  313. 

devotedness  of  to  popery,  314. 

Ferdinand  of  Brunswick,  386. 

defeat  of  the  French  by,  393. 

Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  236. 

Fermer,  the  Russian  General,  394. 

Festivals  of  the  ancient  Germans,  25. 

Feudal  system,  the,  83. 

Feudatories,  the,  83. 

Fifth  Period,  the,  204. 

Final  adjustment  of  religious  questions. 
34(J. 

Fire,  the  worship  of,  29. 

First  Consul  of  France,  Bonaparte,  427. 

First  Electoral  alliance,  215. 

First  German  New  Testament,  261. 

First  grand  Crusade,  156. 

First  king  of  Prussia,  363. 

First  Period,  the,  43. 

First  printed  Bible  in  Latin,  245. 

First  Silesian  war,  377. 

Flacius  Illyricus,  295. 

Fleet  of  Bonaparte  destroyed  at  Abou- 
kir,425. 

Fleurus,  the  battle  of,  420. 

Fleiiry,  Cardinal,  378. 

Flevum  Ostium,  the,  51. 

Flight  of  Charles  V.,  297. 

Fin-res  of  the  allies  against  France,  451. 

Forsheim,  diet  of,  150. 

Fusi,  the,  34. 

Foundation  of  the  cities,  122,  185. 

Fourth  Period,  the,  115. 

Framen,  the,  German  arms,  28. 

France,  76, 130,  275. 

alliance  against,  419. 

and  England,  position  of— 1802, 

430. 

and    Germany,    war    between, 

354,  360. 

and  Prussia,  peace  between,421. 

and  Russia,  conference  between 

the  emperors  of,  on  the  river 
Niemen,  436. 

• Austria  at  war  with,  438. 

invasion  of  by  the  allies,  465. 

war  between,  and  Charles  V., 

266. 

Fiancis  I.,  Emperor»381. 

Francis  I.,  of  France,  237,  248. 

a  prisoner,  265. 

liberation  of,  265. 

Fiancis  II.,  Emperor,  418. 


Francis  IF.,  alliance  of  with  Prussia,  418. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  the  monk,  195. 
Franconia,  85,  137. 

dukes  of,  181. 


Franconian  house,  the,  137. 
Frankenhausen,  the  battle  of,  203. 
Frankfort,  capture  of  by  Gustavus  Adol- 
phus,  329. 

conferences  at,  357. 

diet  of,  208,  217. 

Franks,  the,  65,  77. 


fine-money  of,  84. 

kingdom  of,  80. 

laws  of,  81. 

Franz  of  Selbitz,  £41. 
Franz  of  Sickingen,  241,  257. 
Frederick  I.  Barbarossa,  the  emperor, 
159. 

and  Pope  Adrian  IV.,  161. 

and  Pope  Alexander,  166. 

death  of,  169. 

grand  crusade  of,  169. 

qualities  of,  160,  169. 

siege  of  Alexandria  by,  165. 

successes  of,  169. 

Frederic  I."  of  Prussia,  363. 
Frederic  II.,  emperor,  171. 

death  of,  174. 

erudition  of,  175. 

excommunication  of,  173. 

genius  of,  174. 

marriage  of,  172. 

-. talents  of,  174. 

zeal  of,  for  education  and 


science,  175. 
Frederic  III.  a  fugitive,  232. 

besieged  in  Vienna,  229. 

conference  of,  with  Charles 

of  Burgundy,  230. 
return  of,  232. 


Frederic  IV.,  the  elector,  308. 
Frederic  V.  of  Bohemia,  318. 
Frederic  and  Lewis,  212. 
Frederic,  archbishop  of  Mentz,  125. 
Frederic  of  Austria,  212,  227. 
Frederic  of  Baden,  178. 
Frederic  of  Hohenzollern,  206. 
Frederic  of  Liegnitz,  375. 
Frederic  of  Swabia,  157. 
Frederic  the  Great  of  Prussia,  376. 

age  of,  408. 

and  the  allied  princes,  416. 

anecdotes  of,  396, 404,  408, 410, 

412,  417. 

armies  against,  385. 

camp  of  at  Bunzelwitz,  404. 

combination  of  powers  against, 

383. 

conversaziones  of,  410. 

death  of,  417. 

defeat  of,  388. 

despotic  father  of,  411. 

despotic  government  of,  412. 

disasters  of,  401. 

economy  of,  409. 

education  of,  411. 

improvement  of  the  kingdom 

by,  409. 

industry  of,  410. 

march  of  into  Silesia,  377. 

musical  performances  of,  410. 

perseverance  of,  410. 

promptitude  of,  410. 

recreations  of,  410. 

reunions  of,  410. 

youth  of,  411. 

Frederic  the  Warlike,  226. 
Frederic  the  Wise  of  Saxony,  248. 

and  the  Protestant  princes,  258. 

Frederic  William  of  Brandenburg,  354. 
Frederic  William  of  Prussia,  418,  443. 

war  declared  by,  against 

France,  444. 

Free  cities,  the  imperial,  285. 
Freedom  of  Silesia,  402. 
Freemen,  decrease  of,  113. 
privileges  of,  25. 


Freistuhls,  the,  20C 

French,  the,  arrogance  of,  353. 

at  Malta,  425. 

Directory  of,  424. 

in  Germany,  301. 

influence  of,  351. 

outrages  of,  361. 

; in  Italy,  426. 

literature  in  Prussia,  413. 

republic,  dangers  from,  424 

Fridigern  the  doth,  69. 
Fried  land,  the  battle  of,  436. 

the  dukedom  of,  3'22. 

Frilinpi,  the,  25. 

Frisi,  the,  and  the  Frisians,  35,  96. 

Fronboten,  the,  200. 

Fugitive,  a,  Henry  IV.  149. 

Fugger,  the  Austrian   historiographer 

243. 
Fulda,  the  abbey,  85. 

writers  employed  at,  105. 

Funerals,  ancient,  30. 
Furst  of  Attinghausen,  211. 
Furst,  the  German,  ib. 
Futi,  the,  72. 

GALLICIA,  a  domain  of  the  Goths,  88 

Gallus,  the  emperor,  66. 

Callus,  the  priest,  85. 

Gambling  among  the  ancient  Germans, 

25. 

Gattinava  the  Spaniard,  265. 
Gau,  the,  27. 
Gaul,  ancient,  48. 
Gauls,  the,  43. 

Gauna,  the  pretended  prophetess,  30. 
Gefolge,  the,  28. 
Geisa  of  Hungary,  160. 
Gelasius  II.,  Pope,  153. 
Gelimer  the  Vandal  made  captive,  72. 
Gemeinde,  the,  26. 
Genoa,  the  city  of,  266. 
Genserich  the  Vandal,  72. 
George  I.  of  England,  363. 
George  II.  of  England,  378 
George  Lewis  of  Hanover,  362. 
George  of  Freundsburg,  264. 
George  of  Saxony,  262. 
George  William  of  Liineburg,  362 
Gepidi,  the,  39. 
(Herbert  the  Monk,  132. 
German.  Achilles,  the.  232. 
German  army  at  Antioch  destroyed  by 

disease,  169. 
German  character,  214. 
German  diets,  228. 

German  electoral  princes  at  Reuse,  215. 
German  grammar,  the,  104. 
German  Hiitte,  the,  190. 
German  league  at  Dessau,  the,  267. 
German  migrations  and  settlements,  in 

the  year  1200,  176. 
German  New  Testament,  261. 
German,  origin  of  the  word  and  name, 

20. 

German  prelates  of  the  year  1150,  161. 
German  princes,  elevation  of,  362. 

reconciliation  of,  160. 

the,  inimical  to  Henry 


Freiburg,  the  battle  of,  406. 
Freigerichte,  the,  201. 
Freigraf,  the,  200. 
Freischoflen,  the,  200. 


IV.,  150. 

Germanicus  the  Roman,  57-61. 

Germans,  the,  at  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance in  favor  of  a  Reformation, 
224. 

Germans,  the,  in  Italy,  a  pestilence 
among,  164. 

GERMANY,  the  Achilles,  of,  232. 

—  ancient,  15. 

archbishoprics  of,  182. 

architecture  of,  189. 

. arms  of,  27. 

army  of  the  confederation 

of,  474. 

arts  of,  189. 

at  war  with  France— 1674, 

354. 

—  in  the  year  1792,  419. 

—  in  the  year  1805,  431. 


calamities  of,  217. 
changes :n,  110. 
Christiai.ity  in,  85. 


4SO 


INDEX. 


GERMANY,  circles  of,  240. 

cities  of,  187. 

civil  institutions  of,  23. 

civil  war  of,  202. 

climate  of,  19. 

code  of  laws  of,  199.  *~ 

commerce  of,  31. 

confederations  of,  64,  187. 

constitution  of,  82. 

country  of,  18. 

counts  of,  82. 

crusade  in,  228. 

customs  of,  23. 

diets  of,  228. 

disasters  of,  216. 

disputes   in,    125,   151,   164, 

174,  177,  205,  228. 
distribution  of  the  tribes  of, 


•  dress  of  the  inhabitants  of, 

24. 

•  dukes  of,  182. 

•  early  history  of.  15. 

•  earthquake  in,  217. 

•  "  ecclesiastical  reservation" 

of,  300. 

•  electors  of,  182. 

• "  Evangelical  Union'*  of,  309. 

•  famine  in,  217. 

•  festivals  of,  25. 

•  food  of,  24. 

•  forces  of  the  allies  in,  451. 
forests  of,  18. 


Gogerichte,  the,  of,  200. 

great  events  in,  during  the 

year  1796,  423. 

Heerbann,  the,  of,  27. 

"  Holy  Alliance,"   the,  of, 

473. 

«  H0iy  War,"  the,  of,  282. 

Hiitte,  the,  of,  190. 

judicial  system  of,  197. 

language  of,  82,  113. 

laws  of,  84.      *~ 

manners  of,  23. 

manufactures  of,  30. 

march  of  Napoleon  to,  in  the 

year  1813,  444. 

middle  ages,  the,  of,  182. 

military  expeditions  in,  320. 

music  of,  112. 

natives,  the,  of,  19. 

"nobility,"  the,  of,  257,  351. 

organs  of,  113. 

paintings  of,  191. 

papal  bull  for,  282. 

passion  of,  for  war,  221. 

pastimes  of,  85. 

peace  of,  with  Denmark,  325. 

peasantry  of,  189. 

plague,  the,  in,  217. 

poems  of,  191. 

polygarchy  of,  111. 

races  of,  20. 

religion  of,  29. 

religious  affairs  of,  276. 

religious  excitement  of,  307. 

religious  parties  of,  300. 

religious  peace  of,  400. 

repose  of,  299. 

rivers  of,  18. 

sacrifices  of,  429. 

sciences  of,  189. 


state  of  affairs  in  the  year 

1730,  474. 

state  of  in  the  year  1650, 350. 

states  of,  473. 

superstitions  of,  30. 

the  French  in,  361. 

the  Thirty  Years'  War  of, 

316. 

trade,  the,  of,  31. 

tribes,  the,  of,  32. 

troubadours,  the,  of,  191. 

war  regulations  of,  27. 

writers  of  in  the  year  800, 

103. 

Ghent,  revolt  of  the  city  of,  274. 
<3hAbelins,  the,  and  Guelfs,  158. 
Giselbert  of  Lorraine,  118. 
Giselbrecht  of  Lorraine,  124. 


Glengen,  the  battle  of,  229. 
Godefroy  of  Bouillon,  151. 

conquest  of  Jerusalem  by,  156. 

Godegiesel,  "God's  scourge,"  or  "the 

scourge  of  God,"  the  favorite  title 

of  Attila  the  Hun,  73. 
Gogerichte,  the,  200. 
Golden  Bull,  the,  217. 
Gothic  confederation,  the,  75. 
Gothic  translation  of  the  Bible,  67 
Goths,  the,  38,  66. 

conquest  of  Rome  by,  71. 

Gothini,  the,  37. 

Gotz  of  Berlichingen,  244. 

Graf,  the,  26,  200. 

Granvalla,  the  chancellor  of  Charles  V., 

290,294. 

Gratian  the  emperor,  68. 
Great  migration,  the,  in  the  year  373, 

68. 

Grecian  dominion  in  Italy,  91. 
Grecian  princess,  marriage  of  a,  to  Otho, 

129. 

Greece,  70. 

Greek  army,  the,  in  the  year  970,  129. 
Greek  authors  respecting  Germany,  16. 
Greek  empire,  the,  90. 
Greek  school,  the,  at  Osnaburg,  104. 
Greeks  and  Arabs,  the,  131. 
Greeks,  the,  in  Lower  Italy,  130. 
Greeks,  treaty  of  the,  169. 
Gregory  IV.,  Pope,  140. 
Gregory  V.,  Pope,  133. 
Gregory  VI.,  Pope,  140,  146. 
Gregory  VII.,  Pope,  140,  146. 

arrogance  of,  by  asserting 

the  universal  supremacy 
of  the  Roman  pontiff,148. 

at  Canossa  with  Matilda 

of  Tuscany,  150. 

claims  of  the  power  of  in- 
vestiture, 147. 

denunciation    of  by    the 

Emperor  Henry  IV.,  148. 

layvs  of,  147. 

priestly  celibacy  enforced 

by,  147. 

rejoicing  of  at  the  misery 

of  Germany,  148. 
Gregory  VIII.,  Pope,  169. 
Gregory  IX.,  Pope,  172. 
Gregory  X.,  Pope,  208. 
Gregory  XIT.,  Pope,  223. 
Gregory  XV.,  Pope,  321. 
Greuthungi,  the,  39,  66. 
Gross-beeren,  the  battle  of,  451. 
Gross-jiigendorf,  the  battle  of,  389. 
Guelfof  Altorf,  158. 

the  pilgrimage  of  to  Palestine,  108. 

GuelfofSwabia,  141. 

Guelf  the  Italian,  144. 

Guelfs,  the,  and  Ghibelins,  158. 

Gugerni,  the,  41. 

Guiscard  of  Normandy,  151. 

Guldengossa,  the  battle  of,  459. 

Gundikar  the  Burgundian,  72. 

Gunther  of  Schwarzburg,  216. 

Guodan  the  German,  30. 

Gustavus  III.  of  Sweden,  413. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  of  Sweden,  327. 

-and  Tilly,  331. 

death  of,  336. 

declaration  of  war  by  against 

Germany,  328. 

landing  of  in  Germany,  328. 

monument  of,  338. 

portraiture  of,  337. 

the  daughter  of,  Christina, 


•victory  of  at  Leipsic,  332. 


Gustavus  Horn,  the  Swede,  338. 
Guttenburg,  John,  the  printer,  245. 

HAMBURG,  the  city  of,  36,  107. 


pture  of  by  Dav 
mttle  of,  464. 


Davoust,  449. 


Hanau,  the  battle  of, 
Hannibal  of  Carthage,  62,  337. 
Hanno  of  Cologne.  142. 
Hanover,  66,  362,  366. 

the  French  in,  430. 

Hanse  Towns,  the,  187. 


"Hanseatic  league,  350. 
Hapsburg,  house  of,  205. 
Haradin  Barbarossa  of  Algiers,  272. 
Harold  of  Denmark,  130. 
Ilaroun  al  Raschid  of  Bagdad,  101. 
Harudi,  the,  49. 
Harz,  the  generic  word,  18. 
Hascen  of  Tunis,  273. 
Hasenburg,  the  baron  of,  200. 
Hastenbeck,  the  battle  of,  387 
Hatto  of  Mentz,  114. 
Heerbann,  the,  27. 
Heidelberg,  the  library  of,  320. 
Heldenbuch,  the,  191. 
Helveconi,  the,  38. 
Helvetia,  41. 
Hengist  the  Saxon,  72. 
Henry  I.  of  Saxony,  emperor,  114,  115. 

death  of,  121. 

institutions  of,  122. 

tranquillity  effected  by,  117. 

Henry  II.,  emperor,  135. 

coronation  of,  136. 

death  of,  136. 

superstition  of,  135. 

Henry  II.  of  England,  168. 
Henry  II.  of  France,  299. 
Henry  1J.  of  Liegnitz,  176. 
Henry  III.,  emperor,  139. 

courage  of,  141. 

death  of,  141. 


Henry  III.  of  England,  178. 
Henry  IV.,  emperor,  142. 

a  fugitive,  149. 

and  Pope  Gregory  VII.  at 

Canossa,  150. 

death  of,  152. 

denunciation  of  Hildebrand 

by,  148. 
excommunication  of.by  Pope 

Gregory  VII.,  148. 

injustice  of,  144. 

— — —  revenge  of,  on  the  Saxons 

145. 
revolt  of  the  sons  of,  152. 


Henry  IV.  of  France,  310. 

Henry  V.,  emperor,  152. 

at  Rome,  153. 

death  of,  154. 

dispute  of,  with  the  popes  re- 
specting the  investiture, 
154. 

Henry  VI.,  emperor,  170. 

death  of,  171." 

tomb  of,  171. 


Henry  VII.  of  Luxembourg.  212 

Henry  VIII.  of  England,  2G3. 

Henry  of  Altenburg,  276. 

Henry  of  Bavaria  and  Saxony,  158 

Henry  of  Breslau,  176. 

Henry  of  Brunswick,  262. 

Henry  of  Hesse,  180. 

Henry  of  Meissen,  180. 

Henry  of  Schwarzburg,  244. 

Henry  of  Thuringia,  111. 

Hnry  the  Lion,  160,  166. 

exile  of,  to  England,  167,  168. 

peace  by,  with  the  emperor,  170 

Henry  the  Turbulent,  132. 

Hercynian  forest,  the,  18. 

Hereditary  dukedoms,  112. 

Herisson,  the,  245. 

Hermann  Bilburg  of  Saxony,  126. 

Hermann  of  Cologne,  276. 

Herman   Salza,   Grand  Master  of  the 

Teutonic  order,  176. 
Hermann  Gessler  of  Brnneck,  210. 
'Hermann  the  German,  55-61. 
Hermanrich  the  Goth,  66. 
Hermionian  tribes.  20. 
Hermunduri,  the,  37. 
Heroism  of  Arnold  of  Winkelried,  !£» 
Heruli,  the,  and  Herulians,  39  71 
Herzog.  the,  27. 
Hesse  Cassel,  437. 
Hessia,  111. 
Hessians,  the,  35. 
Hildebrand,  Pope,  146. 
Hispania,  51. 
HISTORIANS  or  GERMANY 
Acerbus  Morena,  11$ 


INDEX. 


481 


HISTJRIANS  OF  GERMANY  — 
Adam  of  Bremen,  116. 

AilrllKiM,  lit!. 

A  ilelung,  348. 

Adrian!,  Gianbattista,  240. 

/Eneas   Sylvius,   Pope   Pius   II., 

works  of,  2()4. 
Albert  von  Stade,  116 
Akuin,  M. 

Alphonso  do  Ultoa,  24G. 
Andreas.  'Jill. 
Annales  Hertiani,  89. 
Annales  Uuedlinburgcnsis,  110. 
A  11  ton  ins  de  Vera,  246. 
Archduke  of  Austria,  349. 
An  hcnliol/,,  343,  349. 
Arnold,  110. 
Ast.>r,  349. 

Ausierlitz.  battle  of,  349. 
Balurius,  Capitularia  of,  89. 
Hrlliis.  -247. 
Hrrtholdy,  349. 
Hingraph'ies  of  Emperors,  204. 
Biographies,  the,  116. 
I  Similars,  110. 
Hothe,  205. 
Bredovv,  349. 
Bruno  of  Corvey,  116. 
Burgus,  247. 


Calvin,  John,  24G. 

Camerarius,  247. 

Carol!  IV.,  Commentarius,  204. 

-iixlorus,  77. 

Charles  VI.,  Life  of,  348. 
Chemnitz,  247. 
Chitraus,  247. 
Chronicles,  204. 
Codex  Carolinus,  89. 
Ccelestin,  247. 
Collections  of  History,  117. 
Contarinus,  348. 
Contributions  to  History,  348. 
Coxe's  Life  of  Marlborough,  343. 
Cyprian,  247. 
Damiani,  247 
Daviia,  247. 

Diarium  Europtcnm,  348. 
Dieterich  Engelhusen,  204. 
Ditmar,  116. 
Dohm,  349 
Dolce,  246 

Duchesne,  Collection  of,  117. 
E»inhardt,  77. 
Eichhorn,  349. 
Kinhard,  89. 
Ekkehardus,  116,  117. 
Enhard,  89. 
Erasmus,  246. 
Ermoldus  Nigellus,  89. 
Eugene  of  Savoy,  348. 
European  Fame,  348. 
Flodoard,  115. 
Forster,  349. 
Franks,  Sebastian,  205 
Fredegar,  77. 

Frederick  II.,  Life  of,  349. 
Frederick  the  Grea     Works  of, 

348. 

Galeazzo  Gualdi,  247. 
Genesius  de  Sepulveda,  246. 
Gerhard,  116. 
Girtanner,  349. 
Gobelinus,  204. 
Gotfried  von  Viterbo,  116. 
Gotz  of  Berlichingen,  247. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  77. 
Giinther,  116. 
Hartleder,  247. 
Heinrich,  349. 
Helmold,  116. 
Henricus  Sterv,  204. 
Hermannus  Contractus,  116. 
Hersberg,  349. 
History  of  the  War  of  Succes- 

sion, 348. 

Hofer,  Andreas,  349. 
Horoswitha.  115. 
Isidor,  77. 

Jacob  of  Konigshoven.  205. 
John  of  Trittcnheim,  204. 


HISTORIANS  OF  GERMANY — 

John  Vitododimimis,  204. 

Jordanis,  77. 

.Joseph  I.,  Life  of,  348. 

Jovius,  246. 

Kaiserrecht,  117. 

K In- veil hiillcr,  247. 

Kliiber,  349. 

Korner,  204. 

Kran/,,  204. 

Kriele,  349. 

Lambert  of  AschafTcnburg,  116. 

Lambt-rty,  348. 

Lamormaiij,  247. 

Leopold  I.,  History  of,  348. 

Leti,  Gregorius,  246. 

Letters,  Collection  of,  116. 

Leucht,  Faber,  and  Konig,  348. 

Leibnitz,  117. 

Ligurinus,  116. 

Limpurgian  Chronicle,  205. 

Lloyd,  History  by,  348. 

Luden,  349. 

Liiders,  349. 

Luitprand,  115. 

Luther,  Martin,  246. 

Machiavelli,  187. 

Maimbourg,  247. 

Manso,  349. 

Marianus,  Scotu*,  116. 

Matilda,  Life  of,  116. 

Matthias,  204. 

Manvillon,  349. 

Melanchthon,  Philip,  246. 

Menkea,  246. 

Menzel,  349. 

Mercure  Historique  et  Politique, 
348. 

Meyer,  349. 

Monachus  Sangallensis,  89. 

Monumenta  Germania:  Historica, 
349. 

Muffling,  349. 

Mliller,  205,  247. 

Munch  von  Bellinghansen,  349. 

Muratori,  Collection  of,  117. 

Mussatus,  204. 

Nauklrus,  204. 

Nicolas  de  Jamsilla,  117. 

Nithard,  89. 

Norbert,  116. 

Odeleben,  349. 

Otho,  116. 

Ottocar  of  Hornegk,  205. 

Pallavicini,  247. 

Paris,  Matthieu,  117. 

Paul  Diacontis,  77. 

Pertz,  Collection  of  Letters  by, 
117. 

Pertz,  Scripta,  205. 

Pfanner,  247. 

Piccolomini,  204. 

Pirkheimer,  205. 

Poeta  Saxo,  119. 

Posselt,  349. 

Procopius,  77. 

Puffendorf,  247,  348. 

Punzing,  205. 

Raul  of  Milan,  116. 

Records,  the  imperial,  348. 

Regiuo,  89,  115. 

Rehberg,  349. 

Reisneri,  247. 

Retzow,  348. 

Review  of  the  Prussian  mon- 
archy, 349. 

Ricci,  247. 

Riclvml  de  Saint  Germane,  117. 

Richer,  115. 

Rimbert,  89. 

Rolswink,  204. 

Romuald,  116. 

Rothe,  205. 

Rudolph  I.,  letters  of,  204. 

Rudolphu*,  89. 

Saalfeld,  349. 

Sachsenspiegel,  117. 

Salazar,  246. 

Sandoval,  246. 

Sarpi,  Paul,  247. 

Schard,  246,  247. 


HISTORIANS  OK  GERMANY— 
Bchamhont,  349 

S.-hiirtlin,  247. 

Schedel,  204. 

Schiller,  117. 

Schilling,  20.">. 

Schirachs,  349 

Schlozer,  349 

Schmidt,  349. 

Schwabenspiegel,  117 

Seckendorf,  246. 

Siglxrrt,  116. 

Sleidanus,  246. 

Spalatin,  246. 

St.  Simon,  348. 

Stein,  Baron,  349. 

Sylloge  publicorum  negotioruir. 

Theatrum  Europaeum,  247 

Theganus,  89. 

Thuanus,  246. 

Treizsauerwein,  205. 

UlricofHutten,  246. 

Ulrich  of  Bamberg,  116. 

Urstisius,  collections  by,  204. 

Vincenz  of  Prague,  116. 

Vita  HI udo,  89. 

Von  Biilovv,  349. 

Von  Eggers,  349. 

Von  Haller,  349. 

Von  Hormayr,  349. 

Von  Meyer,  349. 

Von  Plotho,  349. 

Von  Rheden,  349. 

Von  Valentini,  349. 

Voss,  349. 

Wallenstein,  Letters  and  Lifa  ol 
247. 

War-office,  Reports  of,  34H 

Wassenberg,  247. 

Widukind,  115. 

Windeck,  205. 

Wippo,  116. 

Zwingli,  Ulric,  246. 
History  of  Ancient  Germany,  15. 
Hoche,  General,  420. 
Hochkirk,  the  battle  of,  395. 
Hochst,  the  battle  of,  421. 
Hochstadt,  the  battle  of,  367. 
Hoffmann,  Christopher,  294. 
Hohenburg,  the  battle  of,  145. 
Hohenfriedburg,  the  battle  of,  381. 
Hohenlinden,  the  battle  of,  428. 
Hohenstaufen,  house  of,  158. 

end  of  the,  179. 

Holbein  the  painter,  350. 
Holland,  Austria,  and  Britain,  allia::x 
of,  365. 

a  republic,  420. 

"  Holy  Alliance,"  the,  473. 

Holy  Lance,  the,  120. 

Holy  Land,  the,  pilgrimages  to,  154 

Holy  War,  the,  282. 

Holzhausen,  the  conflict  at,  462. 

Honorius  III.,  Pope,  172. 

Honoring,  the  Emperor,  69-71 

Horn,  Genera!,  460. 

Horn,  Gustavus,  the  Swede,  338 

Horst  the  Saxon,  73. 

Hospital,  knights  of  the,  184. 

Hospitality  of  the  Germans,  35. 

Hostility  of  the  Saxons,  143. 

House  of  Austria,  the,  373. 

House  of  Franconia,  the,  137. 

House  of  Hohenstaufen,  the,  158,  179. 

Hugo  of  Constance,  25 1. 

Humiliation  of  Ottocai,  207. 

Hungarians,  the,  111,  1 18.  125. 

defeat  of,  120. 

under  Emmeric.  357 

Hungary,  75,  228,  308,  357. 

and  Bohemia  united,  238, 270 


Hunns,  the,  68. 
Huss,  John,  224 

martyrdom  of,  225. 

Hussites,  the,  226. 

IBRAHIM  Pasha,  271. 
Idistavius,  the  battle  of,  GO. 
Ignatius  Loyola,  the  Jesuit,  303. 
Ignorance  of  the  popish  priesthood,  251 

Gl 


INDEX 


Ignorance  of  writing  among  the  ancient 
Germans,  30. 

Illuminated  letters,  192. 

illyria,  54. 

Illyricus  Flacius,  295. 

Immense  armies  against  Frederick  the 
Great,  385. 

Imperial  army,  the,  in  Italy,  164. 

Imperial  camp,  the,  284. 

Imperial  Chamber,  the,  238. 

Imperial  Council,  the,  269. 

Imperial  free  cities,  the,  285,  286. 

Imperialists,  the,  army  of,  418. 

Improvement  of  Prussia  by  Frederick, 
409. 

Industry  of  Frederick  the  Great,  410. 

Ingavonians,  the,  20. 

Ingelheitn,  the  diet  of,  95. 

Inguiomar  the  German  61. 

Injustice  of  Henry  IV.,  144. 

Innocent  II.,  Pope,  161. 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,  171. 

Innocent  IV.,  Pope,  173,  195. 

Innovations  by  Joseph  II.,  416. 

Inspruch,  Charles  V.  at,  297. 

Institutions,  civil,  the,  25. 

Institutions  of  Henry  I.,  122. 

"  Interim,"  the,  293,  294. 

Internal  anarchy,  248. 

Internal  peace,  138. 

Internal  regulations  of  the  German  ci- 
ties, 186. 

Internal  revolts,  125. 

Internal  tranquillity,  117,  208. 

Interregnum,  the,  198,  205. 

Introduction,  the,  15. 

Invasion  of  France  by  the  allies,  465. 

Invasion  of  the  Tyrol,  366. 

Invention  of  printing,  245. 

Investitures,  the,  disputes  concerning 
the  power  of,  147,  154. 

Irminsul,  the  statue  of  Irmin,  93. 

Istavonians,  the,  20. 

Italians,  the,  134. 

Italicus  the  Roman.  26. 

Italy,  75,  91,  124,  133,  235. 

Bourbon's  army  in,  266 

saved  by  Stilicho,  70. 

the  French  in,  426. 

JAQOW  of  Brandenburg,  277. 

Jarnes  I.  of  Britain,  318. 

James  II.  of  Britain,  365. 

Jankau,  the  battle  of,  344. 

Jazygi,  the,  64. 

Jealousy  of  the  Spaniards,  249. 

Jemappes,  the  battle  of,  419. 

Jena,  the  battle  of,  435. 

Jerome  Bonaparte,  437. 

Jerome  of  Prague,  martyrdom  of,  225. 

Jerusalem,  capture  of  in  the  year  1099, 
156. 

Conrad  in,  159. 

pilgrimages  to,  155. 

siege  of,  169. 

Jesuits,  the,  279,  304,  313,  316,  357. 

Jews,  the,  122,  217. 

Jezebel,  an  example,  316. 

Joachim  II.  of  Brandenburg,  276. 

Joachim  II.  of  Silesia,  375. 

John  VIII.,  Pope,  113. 

John  XII.,  Pope,  K6 

John  XIII.,  Pope,  129. 

John  XIV.,  Pope,  131. 

John  XXII.,  Pope,  214. 

John  XXIII.,  Pope,  222. 

John  Casimir,  the  Count  Palatine,  308. 

John  Frederick  of  Saxony,  276. 

capture  of  by  Charles 

V.,288. 

condemnation  of,  289. 

• imprisonment  of,  295. 

— outrages  upon,  294. 

reception  of  by  the  Sax- 
ons, 298. 

refusal  by  of  the  "In- 
terim," 294. 

release  of,  298. 

Sibella  the  wife  of,  290, 

298. 

John  George  of  Saxony,  318. 


John  Huss  the  Bohemian  martyr,  224, 

225. 

John  of  Bohemia,  210. 
John  of  Denmark.  241. 
John  of  Dal  berg,  253. 
John  of  Heydeck,  296. 
John  of  Jerusalem,  172. 
John  of  Kestren,  281. 
John  of  Leyden,  the  Anabaptist,  272. 
John  of  Placentia,  134. 
John  Ulric  of  Pfirt,  219. 
John  the  Steadfast  of  Saxony,  262. 
John  Reuchlin,  253. 
John  Sobieski  of  Poland,  358-360. 
John  St.,  the  knights  of,  169. 
John  William  of  Juliers,  310. 
John  Wyclifle,  the  English  Confessor, 

224. 
Jordan,  the  friend    of   Frederick    the 

Great,  410. 
Joseph  I.,  Emperor,  3G8. 

death  of,  372. 

Joseph  II.,  Emperor,  413,  415. 

death  of,  417. 

innovations  by,  416. 

Joseph  Bonaparte,  433. 

Joseph,  the  king  of  Rome,  36C 

Joubert,  General,  426. 

Jourdan,  General,  420,  426. 

Judgment,  form  of  among  the  ancient 

Germans,  84. 
"Judgment  of  God,"   the,  among  the 

Germans,  85. 
Judith,  the  Empress,  72. 
Julian,  the  Cardinal,  225. 
Julius  II.,  Pope,  251. 
Julius  III.,  Pope,  295. 
Julius  Caesar,  48. 

death  of,  50. 
in  Gaul,  48. 
on  the  Rhine,  49. 


Jurischtisch  the  Hungarian,  271. 
Jurisprudence,  197,  198. 
Justinian,  the  emperor,  72. 
Jutland,  124. 

KAISERREOHT,  the,  200. 

Kaiserslautern,  the  battle  of,  421. 

Kaiserwiese,  the,  216. 

Kaja,  the  village,  destruction  of,  446. 

Kalknuth,  General,  436. 

Kammergericht,  the,  238. 

Kampfer,  the,  44. 

Kara  Mustapha  the  Turk,  337. 

Kast-vogt,  the,  196. 

Katti,  the,  35. 

Katualda  the  Goth,  61. 

Katzbach,  the  battle  of,  452. 

Kaunitz  the  Austrian,  382. 

Kay,  the  battle  of,  398. 

Kebehart  of  Lorraine,  112. 

Kepler  the  astronomer,  309. 

Kesseldorf,  the  battle  of,  381. 

Keza  the  historian,  126. 

Kilidish  Arslan,   the  Turkish   sultan, 

169. 

Kimber,  the,  44. 
King's  Mountain,  the,  81. 
Kingsky,  the  Count,  340. 
Kleist,  General,  the  Prussian,  454. 
Klesel,  the  Cardinal,  316. 
Knights  of  the  Hospital,  184. 
Knights  of  the  middle  ages,  184. 
Knipperdolling  the  Anabaptist,  272. 
Kollin,  the  battle  of,  387. 
Kolloredo,  the  Austrian  general,  456. 
Konigsbann,  the,  199. 
Korner,  the  poet.  450. 
Korsakow  the  Russian,  427. 
Kraft  of  Toggenburg,  191. 
Krechting  the  Anabaptist,  272. 
Kreuzpfennig,  the,  202. 
Kulm,  the  battle  of,  454. 
Kunersdorf,  the  battle  of,  399. 

LABRCYERE,  the  death  of,  448. 
Ladies,  the,  of  Germany  in  the  year 

900,  112. 

Lance,  the  holy,  120. 
Landammann,  the,  210. 
Landau,  the  siege  of,  366. 


Landenberg  the  Vo£t,  !__. 
Landfripde,  the,  199,  232,  2>' 
Lantisnut,  battles  at,  284,  4.'R 
Landwehr,  the,  of  Prussia,  44:5. 
of  Silesia,  45*5. 


Langensalza,  the  battle  of,  14">. 
Langeron,  the  Russian  general,  402. 
Language,  the  German,  neglect  of,  1 1.1 

compared  with  the  r.roi1* 

and  Latin  tongues,  113 
Lanzknechte,  the,  244. 
Laon,  the  battle  of,  271. 
Latin  language,  the,  82. 

study  of  the,  304 

Latin  psalmody,  112. 

Latinorum  Chronica,  43 

Laudohn,  General,  402. 

Lauffen,  the  battle  of,  271. 

Laws  of  the  ancient  Germans,  84. 

League  of  Cambray,  237. 

League  of  Schmalkald,  280. 

League  of  the  Protestant  princes,  2G7 

League,  the  poor  Conrad,  24.2. 

League,  the  Rhenish,  353. 

League,  the  Shoe,  242. 

League,  the  Swabian,  233. 

Lechfeld,  the  battle  of,  125. 

Lefrore,  General,  441. 

Legends  of  chivalry,  191. 

Lehen,  the,  83. 

Leipsic,  1631,  the  battle  of,  332. 

1642,  the  battle  of,  332 

1813,  the  battle  of,  458. 


Leipsic,  the  alliance  of,  329. 
Leipsic,  the  shoe-blacks  of,  230. 
Lemovi,  the,  39. 

Lenzen,  the  battle  and  siege  of,  110 
Leo  I.,  Pope,  74. 
Leo  III.,  Pope,  97. 
Leo  IV.,  Pope,  146. 
Leo  VIII.,  Pope,  128. 
Leo  IX.,  Pope,  140. 
Leo  X.,  Pope,  251,  254. 
Leopold  I.  of  Austria,  emperor,  353 
death  of,  367. 


Leopold  II.,  emperor,  417. 
Leopold,  archbishop  of  Passau,  310. 
Leopold  of  Austria,  154,  170,  219. 
Lessing  the  poet,  413. 
Leudes,  the,  83. 
Leute,  the,  113. 
Leuthen,  the  battle  of,  391. 
Lewis  II.  of  Hungary,  270. 
Lewis  XII.  of  France,  236. 
death  of,  237. 


Lewis  of  Bavaria,  212. 

deposition  of,  216. 

Lewis  of  Darmstadt,  318 

Lewis  of  Prussia,  435. 

Leyva,  commandant  at  Pavia,  264. 

Liberation  of  Francis  I.  of  France,  266 

Liberation  of  John  Frederic  of  Saxony 

298. 

Lidi,  the,  113. 
Liegnitz,  the  battle  of,  402. 
Lignano,  the  battle  of,  164. 
Ligny,  the  battle  of,  472. 
Literature,  French  and  German,  413. 
Livonjan  confederation,  the,  188. 
Livy  the  historian,  15. 
Lobkowitz,  the   treacherous  Austrian 

354. 

Lochau,  the  battle  of,  288. 
Lollius,  the  defeat  of,  52. 
Lombardian  confederation,  the.  163. 
cities,  186. 


Lombards,  the,  revolt  of,  104. 
Lombardy,  161,  168,  173. 
Longobardi,  the,  53.      -=- 

in  Italy,  81,  91. 

Lorraine,  the  dominion  of,  130,  Ul. 
Lorrainers,  the,  114,  124. 
Losses  of  Napoleon,  448. 
Lothaire  I.  of  Italy,  108. 
Lothaire  II.  of  Italy,  108, 
Lothaire  the  Burgundian,  124. 
Lothringians,  the,  114,  124. 
Louis  XI.  of  France,  231. 
Louis  XIV.  of  France,  352. 

and  Eugene  of  Savov   i 

and  the  Stuarts,  365. 


INDEX. 


483 


Louis  XIV.  airogance  of,  302 

at  Strasburg,  337 

cruelty  dt',  'Ml. 

death  of,  373. 

denunciation  of,  by  Wil- 
liam III.,  300. 

evils  of  the  reign  of,  374. 

• Irimiliation  of,  37J. 

• ravages  commanded  by,3Gl. 

treachery  of,  3.r>7. 

Louis  XVIII.  of  France,  473. 

Louis  Bonaparte,  433. 

L<mU,  king  of  the  Franks,  09. 

I    mis  df  (Jermany,  109. 

I   mis  the  Child,  110,  114. 

'   mis  the  Fat,  109. 

I   mis  the  Pious,  the  omperor,  106,  108. 

I   mviiis,  the  perfidy  of,  at  :»trasburg,  357. 

Love  of  nature  by  the  Germans,  ijij. 

Lpwositz,  the  battle  of,  38-1. 

Liiheck,  the  city  of,  16G. 

Lucerne,  the  lake  of,  211. 

Liu-ian,  the  philosopher,  63. 

Ludolf,  the  son  of  Otho,  12.5. 

LiK.'olphic  race,  the,  111. 

Luitburga,  the  wife  of  Tassilo  of  Ba- 
varia, 95. 

Luithold  of  Bavaria,  111. 

Luitprand  the  historian,  119,  120. 

Luneville,  tlie  peace  of,  429. 

Lupicinus,  the  Roman  general,  69. 

Lusatia,  318. 

Luther,  Martin,  2.>4. 

and  Eckius,  253. 

and  the  peasantry,  202. 

ut  Wartburg,  261. 

at  Worms,  259. 

burning  of  the  pope's  bull  and 

canon  law  by,  2f>6. 

controversy  of,  at  Leipsic,  255. 

death  of,  279. 

dispute  of,  respecting  tht-  Lord's 

supper,  276. 

doctrine  of,  250,  270. 

examination  of,  in  the  diet  of 

Worms,  259. 

excommunication  of,  200. 

fame  and  popularity  of,  256. 

letters  by,  268. 

the  New  Testament  translated 

into  German  by,  261. 
—  ninety-five   theses  against  in- 
dulgences by,  254. 

supported  by  Frederic  the  Wise, 

Lutherans,  the,  and  Calvinists,  303,  309. 
Lattenberg,  the  battle  of,  407. 
Liitzen,  1632.  the  battle  of,  336. 
Liitzen,  1813,  the  battle  of,  446. 
Liit/.ow  the  Prussian,  449. 
Luxembourg,  the  house  of,  222. 
Lyui,  the,  38. 

MADSCHARI,  the,  110. 

hurg,  the  batlle  of,  330. 

'desolation  of  in   the  year 

1631.  331. 

Magnus  of  Saxony,  14-1. 

Magyars,  the,  109. 

Mahomet  II.  of  Turkey,  228. 

Mahomet,  the  Arabian  impostor,  87. 

Mallum,  or  Mallerg,  the  place  of  judg- 
ment, 84. 

Malplaquet,  the  battle  of,  371. 

Manfred  of  Naples,  178. 

Manners  of  the  ancient  Germans,  23. 

Manoeuvres  of  Bliicher,  456. 

Mansfeld  the  Bohemian,  320,  32G. 

death  of,  323. 

Manufactures  of  the  ancient  Germans. 
30. 

Marbodius  the  Marcoman,  53. 

Marburg,  the  conference  at,  276. 

"U.-ircollus,  the  Roman  general,  45. 

March  of  Bliicher,  468. 

March  of  Napoleon  into  German;,  444. 

March  of  the  allies,  466. 

Marchfeld,  the  battle  of,  207. 

Marcomanni,  the  37. 

Miirc-^iannic  war,  the,  63. 

MM:US  Aureiius,  the  Emperor,  63 


Marcus  Maniius,  the  Roman  general,  44. 

Marengo,  the  battle  of,  428. 

Margrave,  the.  111. 

Margraviates,  the,  119. 

Maria  Louisa  of  Austria,  marriage  of  to 

Napoleon,  442. 
Maria  Theresa,  Empress,  374. 

death  of,  415,  4-28. 

in  Hungary,  379. 


Marius  the  Roman,  44. 
Marl  borough,  duke  of,  365-371. 
Marmont,  General,  470. 
Marriage  of  Napoleon  and  Maria  Lou- 
isa, 442. 
Marriage,  purity  of  among  the  ancient 

Germans,  24. 
Marsi,  the,  32. 
Marsingi,  the,  37. 
Marlin  V.,  Pope,  224. 
Martinitz  ejected  from  Prague,  315. 
Matilda  of  Tuscany  with  Pope  Gregory 

VII.,  150. 
Matthias  I.,  Emperor,  311. 

death  of,  317. 

Matthias  of  Thurn,  315. 

Mattiaci,  the,  36. 

Maurice  of  Saxony,  281-291. 

death  of,  299. 

desertion  of  Charles  V.  l»y,  296. 

pursuit  by  of  Charles  V.,  297. 

Maxen,  conflict  at,  400. 
Maximilian  I.,  Emperor,  234. 

campaign  of  against  the 

Venetians,  240. 

character  of,  234. 

death  of  242. 

marriage  of  with  Mary 

of  Burgundy,  231. 
Maximilian  II.,  Emperor,  305. 
Maximilian  of  Bavaria,  318. 
May-field,  the,  106. 
Melanchthon,  Philip,  268,  278. 
Meerveldt,  General,  460. 
Melrichstadt,  the  battle  of,  151. 
Mentz,  diet  of  in  the  year  1235,  179. 
Merits  of  the  Austrian  and  Prussian  ar- 
mies during    "  the   Seven    Years' 
WTar,"  408. 

Merovingians,  the,  79. 
Merseberg,  the  battle  of,  119. 
Mexico,  discovery  of,  250. 
Middle  Ages,  the,  182. 

administration   of  justice 

of,  197. 

architecture  of,  189. 

arts  of,  189. 

chivalry  of,  182. 

cities,  the,  of,  185. 

convents,  the,  of,  194. 

ecclesiastical    institutions 
of,  196. 

Faust-recht,  the,  of,  197. 

jurisprudence  of,  197. 

knights  of,  184. 

mines  of,  188. 

monasteries  of,  194. 

patricians,  the,  of,  186. 

peasantry,  the,  of,  189. 

priests,  the,  of,  193. 

sciences  of,  189-191. 

secret  tribunal  of,  201. 

troubadours  of,  191. 

warlike  spirit  of,  192. 
Migrations  from  Germany,  177. 
Migrations  of  the  Germanic  tribes,  71. 
Milan,  the  city  of,  236. 

the  battle  of,  162. 

Carocium,  the,  of,  165 

razure  of,  163. 

restoration  of,  164. 

two  pictures  at,  74. 

Milanese,  the,  revolt  of,  162. 

subjection  of,  162. 

Military  expeditions  in  Germany,  320. 
Minden,  the  battle  of,  397. 
Mines,  the  German,  188. 
Minnesingers,  the,  192. 
Missaticum,  the,  106. 
"  Missi  regii,"  the,  106. 
Mittel-freien,  the,  183. 
Moeckern,  the  battle  of,  400. 


Msesia,  the  seat  of  the  Wcstro  Gotha 

00. 

Moliacz,  the  battle  of,  270. 
Moldavia,  66. 

seized  by  Russia,  414. 

Molwitz,  the  battle  of,  377. 

Momyllus,  the  last  Roman  emperor,  75 

Mongolians,  the,  92. 

Mongols,  the,  176. 

Mons  Csesius,  the,  59. 

Moral  condition  of  the  Germans  afu.t 

the  great  migration,  85. 
Moral  worth  of  the  ancient  Germans,  24 
Moravia,  109,  393. 
Moreau,  General,  123,  428. 

death  of,  454. 


Morgarten,  the  battle  of,  213. 
Mortier,  General,  470. 
Moscow,  the  burning  of,  443. 
Muhlberg,  the  battle  of,  288. 
Muhldorf,  the  battle  of,  214. 
Miinster,  the  Anabaptists  of,  272. 
Munzer,  the  fanatic,  262. 
Mu rat,  433. 

at  Guldengossa,  459 


Murder,  compensation  for,  84. 

Murten,  the  battle  of,  231. 

Music  of  the  ancient  Germans,  31,  112 

NADASTI,  General,  3CO. 
Naharvali,  the,  38. 
Nancy,  the  battle  of,  231 . 
Nangis,  the  battle  of,  423. 
Naples,  81,  170,  370. 

conquest  of,  177. 

university  of,  175. 


Napoleon  Bonaparte,  422. 
-  abdication  of,  472. 

against  Schwartzenberp, 


armistice  with  refused  by  th» 

allies,  461. 
armistice  with  the  allies  by 

in  May,  1813,  449. 
army  of  in  Italy,  422. 
arrival  of  at  Dresden,  453 
at  Elba,  472. 

campaign  of  in  Russia,  443. 
character  of,  422. 
consulship  of,  411. 
courage  of,  446. 
destruction  of  the  fleet  of  a 

Aboukir,  425. 
emperor,  431. 
first  consul,  427. 
flight  of  from  Moscow,  444 
in  Dresden,  447. 
in  Egypt,  425. 
in  St.  Helena,  472. 
losses  of,  448. 

march  of  into  Germany,  444 
marriages  of,  422,  442. 
plot  of  discovered,  470. 
•  power  of,  441. 


retreat  of,  463,  470. 

slumber  of,  463. 

successes  of,  467. 

Nariski,  the,  37. 

Narsis,  the  Greek  general,  80. 

National  degradation,  351. 

Native  literature,  the,  413. 

Natives,  the,  of  Germany,  19. 

Neglect  of  the  German  language,  113. 

Negotiations  for  peace,  344. 

Nemcti,  the,  49. 

Nerthus,  a  goddess  of  the  ancient  Gcr 

mans,  30. 

Netherland  dialect,  the.  291 
Netherlands,  the,  307,  347. 
Neuss,  the  city,  assaults  of,  230 
Neuwinden.  the  battle  of,  419. 
New  doctrines,  the,  in  the  year  151!) 

256. 

New  Testament,  the,  in  German,  261. 
Ney,  Marshal,  446. 
Nicephonis,  the  Greek  emperor,  128. 
Nicholas  II.,  Pope,  140,  146. 
Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  227. 
Niebelungen,  the,  191. 
Night,  the,  after  the  battle  ot  Leipaic  ii 

1813,  463. 
Nilus  the  monk,  134. 


484 


INDEX 


Niniwegen,  the  peace  of,  356. 
Nobility,  the,  of  Germany,  257,  351. 
Noble  character  of  Rudolphus  I.,  205. 
Noble  qualities  of  Frederic  I.,  emperor, 

169. 

Nobles,  the,  241. 

Nollendorf.  the  battle  of,  454,  456. 
•*  Nondum,"  the  motto  of  Charles  V., 

249. 

Norbert  of  Xante,  the  monk,  195. 
Nordlingen,  the  battle  of,  341. 
Noreja,  the  battle  of,  44. 
Northeastern  Germany,  176. 
Novarre,  the  battle  of,  237. 
Novi,  the  battle  of,  426. 
Nuremberg,  city  of,  229. 

diet  of,  251. 

patricians  of,  186. 

population  of,  187. 

religious  peace  of,  in  the 

year  1532,  270. 
Nussdorf,  attack  on,  359. 

OBOTRITI,  the,  92. 
Odo  the  monk,  195. 
Odoacer  the  Scirian,  39,  75. 
Ohuutz,  the  Jesuits  of,  321. 
Oppeln,  Frederic  the  Great  at,  377. 
Ostrogoths,  the,  66. 

• in  Hungary,  79. 

Ostermann  the  Russian,  454. 
Otfried  of  Weissenburg,  113. 
Otho  I.,  emperor,  123. 

boldness  of,  123. 

energy  of,  123. 

nights  of,  128. 

Otho  II.,  emperor,  130. 

defrat  of,  131. 

marriage  of,  with  the  Grecian 

Theophania,  129. 
Otho  III.,  emperor,  132. 

coronation  of,  133. 

partiality  of,  for  Italy,  134. 

pilgrimage  of,  133. 

superstition  of,  133,  134. 

Otho  IV.,  emperor,  171. 

• desertion  of,  by  the  people, 

171. 
submission  of,  to  the  pope, 

Otho  of  Brandenburg,  191. 

Otho  of  Colonna,  Pope,  224. 

Otho  of  Freisingen,  192. 

Otho  of  Meissen,  180. 

Otho  of  Nordheim,  144. 

Otho  of  Saxony,  111. 

Otho  of  Wittelsbach,  180. 

Otho  the  Illustrious  of  Saxony,  114. 

dttocar  of  Bohemia,  177,  286. 

—  humiliation  of,  207. 

Oudenarde,  the  battle  of,  370. 
Outbreak  of  the  Reformation,    53 
Overthrow  of  the  Turks,  359. 
Oxenstiern,  the  chancellor  of  Sweden, 
338,  342. 

PACHONIUS  the  monk,  193. 
Paderborn,  diet  of,  94. 

superstitions  at,  98. 

Padriabrad  the  Bohemian,  228. 
Painting  of  the  middle  ages,  191. 
Palermo,  tomb  of  Henry  at,  171. 
Palestine,  Conrad  in,  159. 

end  of  the  war  in,  172. 

Frederick's  crusade  in,  172. 

pilgrimages  to,  155. 

Palm,  execution  of,  440. 
"  Panic,  Cimbrian,"  the,  44. 
Pantaleonis  the  monk,  158. 
Papirius,  Carbo,  43. 
Pappenheim,  General,  330,  332. 
"  Parade  guard  of  Berlin,"  the,  391. 
Paris,  city  of,  the,  130. 

capitulation  of,  471. 

the  peace  of,  472. 

the  allies  before,  471. 

Partiality  of  Otho  for  Italy,  134. 
Pascal  II.,  Pope,  152. 
Pascal  III.,  Pope,  1G3. 
Passan,  treaty  of,  299,  348. 
Postim.'s  of  the  Germans,  80 


Paterctilus  Velleius,  16. 

Paul  III.,  Pope,  292. 

Paul  of  Russia,  427. 

Paulus  Diaconus,  105. 

Paunsdorf,  the  battle  of,  462. 

Pavia,  the  battle  of,  1004,  136. 

the  battle  of,  1525,  264. 

the  council  of,  149. 

Peace   between   Austria    and  Prussia, 
380. 

Denmark  and  Germany,  325. 

France  and  Prussia,  421. 

Prussia,  Russia,  and  Swe- 
den, 405. 

Peace,  internal,  138. 

Peace,  negotiations  for,  344. 

Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  382. 

of  Nimwegen,  356. 

of  Amiens,  430. 

of  Campo  Formio,  424. 

of  Dresden,  381. 

"  Peace  of  God,"  the,  139. 

Peace  of  Hubertsburg,  408. 

of  Presburg,  433. 

of  Ryswick,  361. 

of  Utrecht,  372. 

of  Westphalia,  346. 

the  Religious,  300. 

signed  at  Paris,  472. 

Peasantry,  the,  of  the  middle  ages,  189, 
291. 

of  the    sixteenth   century 

262. 

Pepin,  king  of  the  Franks,  88. 

death  of,  89. 

Pepin  of  Herital,  87. 

Pepin  of  Italy,  99. 

Pepin  of  Pisa,  101. 

Pepin  of  Landen,  86. 

Pepin  the  Little,  88. 

Period  I.,  to  the  year  486,  43. 

II.,  from  486  to  768,  77. 

IH.,  from  768  to  919,  89. 

IV.,  from  919  to  1273,  115. 

V.,  from  1273  to  1520,  204. 

VI.,  from  1520  to  1648,  246. 

VII.,  from  1648  to  1815,  348. 

Persecution  of  the  Protestants  by  the 
Jesuits,  357. 

Persians,  the,  30,  101. 

Personal  courage  of  the  emperor  Henry, 
140. 

Perverted  system  of  doctrine  by  the 
Romish  priests,  252. 

Pescara,  the  Spaniard,  264. 

Peter  III.  of  Russia,  389,  405. 

Peter  of  Hungary,  140. 

Peter  of  Pavia,  Pope,  131. 

Peter  of  Pisa,  101. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  155. 

Petrarca  the  poet,  218. 

Petronius  Maximus,  emperor,  75 

Petrus  de  Vincis,  code  of  laws  by,  175. 
treason  of,  174. 


Peucinians,  the,  20. 
Pfaffenhofen,  the  battle  of,  433. 
Pfahlbiirger,  the,  189. 
Pflug  of  Naumbors,  293. 
Pfuhl,  the  Swede,  343. 
Pharsalus,  the  battle  of,  50. 
Philip  II.  of  Spain,  295. 
Philip  V.  of  Anjou  and  Spain,  364. 
Philip  Augustus  of  France,  169. 
Philip  of  Hesse,  270,  280. 

a  prisoner,  291. 

liberation  of,  298. 

Piacenza,  the  crusaders  at,  155 

Piccolomini,  perfidy  of,  339. 

Pilgrimages  to  Palestine,  155. 

Pillerent,  th»  battle  of,  230. 

Pirates,  the  Norman,  109. 

Pisistratns,  104 

Pitt,  William,  408,  429. 

Pius  II.,  Pope,  188  227. 

Plague,  the  great,  in  the  year  1348,  21 

Pliny,  17. 

Plot  of  Napoleon,  470. 

Poetry  of  the  middle  ages,  191. 

Poland,  69. 

dismemberment  of,  414. 

Pomerania,  168,  324. 


Poor  Conrad  League,  the,  242. 
Pope,  bull  of  the,  burned,  250. 
Pope,  the,  a  prisoner,  266. 
Pope,  the,  and  Charles  V.,  rupture    « 

tween,  293. 
Pope,  the,  and  emperor  at  Canossa,    41 

POI'KS — 

Adrian,  93. 

Adrian  IV.,  161. 

Adrian  VI.,  251. 

Alexander  III.,  161. 

Benedict  VIII.,  136. 

Benedict  IX.,  140. 

Benedict  XII.,  215. 

Benedict  XIII.,  223 

Calixtus  II.,  153. 

Calixtus  III.,  227. 

Celestin  III.,  176. 

Clement  II.,  140. 

Clement  III.,  169,  173,  176. 

Clemently.,  178. 

Clement  VI.,  216. 

Clement  VII.,  266. 

Damasus  II.,  140. 

Eugene  III.,  136,  158. 

Eugene  IV.,  226. 

Felix  V.,  226. 

Gelasius  II.,  153. 

Gregory  IV.,  140. 

Gregory  V.,  133. 

Gregory  VI.,  140. 

Gregory  VII.,  140,  14G. 

Gregory  VIII.,  169. 

Gregory  IX.,  172,  17". 

Gregory  X.,  208 

Gregory  XII.,  223 

Gregory  XV.,  321. 

Honorius  HI.,  172. 

Innocent  II.,  161. 

Innocent  III.,  171. 

Innocent  IV.,  173,  JD5 

John  VIIL,  113. 

John  XII.,  126. 

John  XIII.,  129. 

John  XIV.,  131. 

John  XXII.,  214. 

John  XXIII.,  222. 

Julius  II.,  235,  251. 

Julius  III.,  295. 

Leo  I.,  74. 

Leo  III.,  97. 

Leo  IV.,  146. 

Leo  VIIL,  128. 

Leo  IX.,  140. 

Leo  X.,  251,  254. 

Martin  V.,  224. 

Nicholas  II.,  140 

Nicholas  V.,  227 

Pascal  II.,  152. 

Pascal  III.,  163. 

Paul  III.,  292. 

Pius  II.,  188,  22? 

Stephen,  88. 

Stephen  X.,  140. 

Sylvester  II.,  133 

Sylvester  III.,  140. 

Urban  II.,  152. 

Urban  III.,  169. 

Victor  II.,  140. 

Victor  III.,  162 

Zachary,  86. 
Popes,  German,  146. 

the,  and  emperors,  127,  l?l 

rivalry  of,  151. 

Three,  deposed  by  the  couud!  3t 

Constance,  223. 
Portraiture  of  Charlemagne,  Wi-l<i~t. 

of  Gustavus  Adolp'ms.  «£>7 

Power  of  Napoleon,  441. 
Powers  combined  against  France,  '^03. 
"Pragmatic  sanction,"  the,  375. 
Prague,  the  battle  of,  386. 

the  congress  of,  450. 

the  peace  of,  225. 

the  university  of,  224. 


Premontratensian  Monks,  the,  195. 
Preparations  for  the  battle  of  L*  :',.  il 

457. 
Presburg,  the  diet  of,  379. 

the  peace  of,  433. 

Priests,  the  power  of  27. 


INDEX. 


483 


Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy,  305. 
Princes,  German,  elevation  of,  302. 
Princes  of  Germany  allied  with  Freder- 

ick, 410. 

Printing,  invention  of,  345. 
---  of  the  first  Bible,  245. 

-  of  the  Psalms  in  Latin,  245. 
Prisctis,  the  sophist,  73. 
Probstheyda.  battle  of,  401. 
Probus,  the  F.mperor,  05. 
Processions  of  superstition,  217. 
Proeopius,  the  Bohemian,  2-Jii. 

Pn^ress  of  civili/.ation,  122. 

-  of  the   German  Constitution, 

180-1^-J. 

"  Prophetic  women,"  the,  49. 
Protection  of  the  Church,  128. 
Protestant  cities,  the,  281. 
Protestant  princes,  the,  258. 

-  hesitation  of  to  join  Gustavus 


-  league  of  at  Torgau,  207. 
--  reply  of  to  Charles  V.,  270. 
Protestants,  the,  banished  from  Bohe- 

mia, 319. 

-  dissatisfaction  of  with  the 
treaty  of  Ryswick,  302. 


-  declaration  of  war  by  against 

France,  1813,  433. 
--  the  first  king  of,  303. 

-  the  queen  of,  445. 

-  -  the  rich  peasant  of,  233. 

-  under  Poland,  233. 

Prussian  and  Austrian  armies,  the,  396. 
Prussia  u  monarchy,  the  founder  of  the, 

355. 

Prussians,  the  Pagan,  134. 
Ptolemy,  35. 

QUADI,  the,  37. 
Cluakenbriick,  the,  34. 
(luedlinburg,  the  castle  of,  118 
Queen,  the,  of  Prussia,  445. 
Questenberg,  the  Baron,  320. 
Quintilius  Varus,  54. 

RACES,  the  Germanic,  20. 
Rachlmbtugi,  the,  85. 
Radatratsus  the  German,  70. 
Ramillies,  the  battle  of,  309. 
Rapid  march  of  the  allies,  46G. 
Raspe  of  Thuringia,  173,  180. 
Rastadt,  peace  of,  424. 
Ratisbonn,  battle  of,  438 

-  diets  of,  274,  328. 
Raucour,  the  battle  of,  381. 
Raudian  plain,  the  battle  of,  47. 
Raynold,  Chancellor  of  the   Emperor 

Frederick,  103. 
Razurc  of  Milan,  163. 
Reconciliation  between  the  Protestants 

and  Papists,  vain  attempts  for,  277. 
Recreations  of  Frederick  the  Great,  410. 
Reformation  demanded,  252. 

-  outbreak  of  the,  253. 
Reginger,  the  knight,  144. 
Heichsfriede,  the,  199. 

Religion,  the  low  state  of,  in  the  year 

1400,  210. 

Religious  affairs  in  Germany,  27G. 
--  excitement,  307. 

-  orders  of  knighthood  in  the 

Middle  Ages,  184. 
--  peace,  300. 

-  questions,    final    adjustment 
of,  340. 

Remigius  of  Rheims,  78. 

Rene  of  Lorraine,  231. 

Renewal  of  the  Western  Empire,  126. 

Reply    of  the    Protestant    Princes    to 

Charles  V.,  270. 
Restoration  of  Milan,  164. 
Retreats  of  Napoleon,  403,  470. 
Return  of  Frederick,  232. 
Reuchlin,  John,  253. 
Reading!,  the,  30. 
Revenge  of  Henry  IV.  on  the  Saxons, 

145. 

Reverse?  of  Frederick,  391 
Revival  of  the  Papacy,  140 


Revolt  of  the  Anabaptists,  272. 
Revolt  of  the  Milanese,  162. 
Revolt  of  the  Sons  of  Henry  IV.,  152. 
Rhenish  Confederation,  the,   of  1806, 

434. 

Rhenish  League,  the,  in  the  year  1254, 
187. 

1668,  353. 

Rhinefeld,  the  battle  of,  342. 

Richard  J.  of  England,  Cocur-dc-Lion, 

170. 
nrrest  of  at  Vienna,  170. 


death  of,  205. 

in  Palestine,  170. 

release  of,  171. 


Richard  of  Cornwall,  ^:-. 

Richard  of  Treves,  257. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  341. 

Richelieu,  duke  of,  388. 

Riesenberg,  the  battle  of,  225. 

Ripurian  Franks,  the,  76. 

Rise  of  Henry  the  Lion,  16T. 

Rival  Emperors,  171. 

Rival  Emperors  and  Popes,  151. 

Rival  Popes  at  Avignon  and  Rome,  218. 

Rivers  of  Germany,  18. 

Robert  Guiscard  of  Normandy,  151. 

Rodolph  of  Hapsburg,  199. 

Roland,  Cardinal,  and  Pope    161. 

Roland  de  la  Marche,  94. 

Rolland  de  Revaulx,  356. 

Roman  authors,  15-18. 

colonies,  42. 

Germanic  empire,  353. 

law,  the,  200. 

republic,  the,  424 

titheland,  the,  41. 

Romans,  the,  in  Germany,  54. 

conflicts  of  with  the  ancient 


Germans,  44-64. 
Rome,  Emperor  of,  98. 

the  battle  of— 1111,  153. 

1528,  266. 


Romuald  the  Monk,  195. 
Rora,  the  diet  of,  132. 
Rosenplut,  a  poem  by,  330. 
Rossano,  the  battle  of,  153. 
Rossbach,  the  battle  of,  390. 
Rothiere,  the  battle  of,  466. 
Rudger  of  Manesse,  192. 
Rudegir  of  Stahrenberg,  358. 
Rudolphus  I.,  Emperor,  205. 

and  Ottocar  of  Bohemia, 

206. 

character  of,  205. 

coronation  of,  206. 

death  of,  208. 

gray  doublet  of,  207. 

uprightness  of,  208. 

Rudolphus  II.,  death  of,  311. 
Rudolphus  of  Burgundy,  120. 

death  of,  151. 

the  crown  of  sent  by 

the  Pope,  151. 
Redin,  the  Swiss  patriot, 


Rudolphs 

213. 

Rufinius  the  Gaul,  70. 
Rtigi,  the,  39,  79. 
Rupert  of  Bohemia,  222. 
Rupert  of  Cologne,  230. 
Rupert  the  Monk,  85. 
Rupture  between  the  Emperor  and  the 

Pope,  293. 

Russia  and  Britain,  427 
Russia,  campaign  of  Napoleon  in,  443. 
Russian  and  Austrian  generals,  jealousy 

of  the,  400. 
Rysel,  capture  of,  370 
Ryswick,  peace  of,  361. 

SAALFELD,  the  battle  of,  435. 
Sachsenspiegel,  the,  or  Saxon  Mirror, 

199. 

Sacrifices  of  Germany,  429. 
Saladin  of  Egypt,  109. 
Salt  the  German,  19. 
Sansom  the  Monk,  l2:>-i. 
Sanctity  of  marriage,  24. 
Sangipan,  the,  Alaman,  74. 
Sanguinary  battle  at  Rome,  153. 
Sanscrit  language,  the,  15. 


Saracens,  the,  124, 128,  173. 
Sardinians,  the,  422. 
Saxon  Confederation,  the,  65, 188. 
Saxon,  meaning  of  the  word,  22. 
Saxons,  the,  22,  35,  93. 

join  the  allies,  402. 

overthrow  of,  94. 

revenge  on  by  Henry  IV.,  145 

subjection  of,  94. 

union  of  with  the  Franks,  96. 

victorious  over  Henry  IV.,  14-1 

Saxony,  179,  385. 

elector  of,  294 

house  of,  198. 

king  of,  447. 


Scandinavia,  40. 
Scaurus  the  Roman,  44 
Schartlin  of  Burtenbach,  282,  296. 
Schill,  Lieutenant,  437. 

death  of,  444. 

Schism  in  the  Papacy,  250. 
Schmalkald,  the  league  of,  280. 
Schneeburg,  the  mines  of,  188. 
Schoffen,  the  198. 
Scholler,  Peter,  the  printer,  245. 
Schon  of  Culmbach,  the  painter,  192. 
Schwabenspiegel,  the,  or  Swabian  Mir 

ror,  199. 

Schwartzenburg,  General,  403. 
Schweidnitz,  the  battle  of,  405. 
Sciences  of  the  Middle  Ages,  191,  192 
Scipio,  the  Roman  consul,  44. 
Scotch  Highlands,  the,  72. 
"  Scourge  of  God,"  the,  73. 
Scripture,  application  of,  173. 
Scythians,  a  painting  of,  74. 
Second  Period,  the,  77. 
Secret  Tribunal,  the,  201. 
Sedjoucidians,  the,  156. 
Sedusi,  the,  49. 

Segestes,  a  traitor  of  the  Cherasci,  55-58 
Seizure  of  Strasburg  by  Louis  XIV.,  357 
Sejanus  the  Roman,  16. 
Self-devotion  of  Arnold  of  Winkclrie A 

220. 

Seventh  Period,  the,  348. 
Selz,  the  peace  of,  96. 
Sempach,  the  battle  of,  220. 
Semper-Freien,  the,  183. 
Sennoni,  the,  48. 
Septs,  the,  92. 
Sequani,  the,  49. 
Servians,  the,  15. 
Seven  Years'  War,  the,  383,  398,  404 

407. 

Shoe-league,  the,  242. 
Sibella  of  Saxony,  290,  298. 
Sicilian  Vespers,  the,  179 
Sicily,  71. 
Siege  of  Stralsund,  324. 

Vienna,  358. 

Sigambri,  the,  32,  52. 
SigfriedofMentz,  145. 
Sigismund  I.  of  Germany,  222 

-at  Constance,  224 

death  of,  226. 


Silesia,  31;  176. 

Silesian  War,  377. 

Simon  Magus,  146. 

Sitoni,  the,  40. 

Sixth  Period,  the,  246. 

Slavata  ejected  from  Prague,  3J5 

Slavery  among  the  ancient  Germans,  2.Y 

Slavonians,  the,  118. 

Slavonic  tribes,  the,  76,  92. 

Slumber  of  Napoleon,  463. 

Sobieski,  John,  of  Poland,  358-360 

Soil  of  Germany,  19. 

Soliman,  the  Turk,  271. 

Sol  tan,  the  battle  of,  248 

Sorr,  the  battle  of.  381. 

Soult,  General,  427 

Sowthein  Gaul,  the  nattle  of,  44. 

Spain,  72,88,91,370. 

two  kings  of,  304. 

Spaniards,  jealousy  of  the,  249. 
Spanish  succession,  the,  303. 
Spires,  the  diet  of,  277. 
Spriiins,  the  mineral,  of  Germany  19. 
Spurs,  the  battle  of,  237. 
Squillace,  the  battle  of,  131 


4St> 


INDEX. 


Stadien  of  Augsburg;,  253. 

Stahrenberg,  Count,  371. 

State  of  affairs  in  Germany  374. 

State  of  the  country,  240. 

State  of  the  empire,  99,  247,  350. 

States  of  Germany,  473. 

Stauffacher  Werner,  the  Swiss  patriot, 

211. 

Stephen,  Pope,  88. 
Stephen  X.,  Pope,  140. 
Steward-Grand,  the,  87. 
Stilicho  the  Vandal,  70. 
Strabo,  35. 

Stralsund,  the  battle  and  siege  of,  324. 
Straslrarg,  the  seizure  of,  357. 
Strauch,  the  traitor,  287. 
Stuarts,  the,  3G5. 
Ptuhlfreien,  the,  201. 
Stuhlherr,  the,  200. 
Sturm  ofFulda,  86. 
Suardoni,  the,  36. 
Subjection  of  the  Danes,  120. 

of  the  Milanese,  ICO. 

of  the  Saxons,  94 

Successes  of  Frederick,  169. 

of  Napoleon,  4G7. 

of  the  allies  over  France,  419. 

Suevi,  the,  21. 

Suioni,  the,  40. 

Surrender  of  the  German  cities  286. 

Suwaroff  the  Russian,  426. 

Swabia,  76,  111,  179,  181. 

league  of,  233. 

peasantry  of,  261 

Swabians,  the,  117. 
Sweden,  108,  327,  345. 

crown-prince  of,  450. 

peace   between    ana   Prussia, 

405. 
Swiss,  the,  231. 

confederation  of,  211, 219,  347. 

spoils  obtained  by,  231. 

triumph  of,  221. 

Switzerland,  76,  205,  210,  347,  430 
Syagrius  the  Roman,  76,  78. 
Sylvester  II.,  Pope,  133. 
Sylvester  II.,  Pope,  140. 
Sylvius  jEneas,  Pope,  188. 

TABORITES,  the,  of  Bohemia,  225. 

Tacitus,  the  historian,  17. 

Tugliacozzo,  the  battle  of,  178. 

Talents  of  Frederick  the  Emperor,  174. 

Tanfana,  the  idol,  sanctuary  of,  32. 

Tann,  the  battle  of,  438. 

Tannerburg,  the  battle  of.  233. 

Tassilo  of  Bavaria,  95. 

Taunus,  the  mountains  of,  52. 

Tell,  William,  211. 

Templars,  the  knights,  184. 

Temporal  estates  of  Germany,  182. 

Tenchteri,  the,  32,  49. 

Teschen,  the  peace  of,  415. 

Testament,  the  New,  in  German,  261. 

in  Gothic,  67. 

Tetzel  the  monk,  254. 

Teutobod,  prince  of  the  Teutoni,  46. 

Teutoburger  forest,  the,  18. 

battle  of  the,  56. 

Teutonians,  the,  15,  44-57. 

Teutonic  architecture,  190. 

Teutonic  order  of  knights,  176,  233. 

Theodore  of  Bavaria  plundered  by  Aus- 
tria, 414. 

Theodoric  the  Goth,  79,  80. 

Theodoric  the  Ostro-Goth,  97. 

Theodosius  If.,  Emperor,  73. 

Theodosius,  the  Emperor,  69. 

Theology,  debasement  of,  250. 

Theophania,  the  Greek  princess,  128- 
133. 

Thervingians,  the,  69,  262. 

Third  Period,  the,  89. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  316-348. 

Three  days'  battle  of  Leipsic,  458. 

Three  popes  deposed  at  the  Council  of 
Constance,  223. 

Tharingia,  iff,  209. 

the  forest  of,  18. 

Thnringians,  the,  85. 

Tlberind,  the  rattle  of,  169 


Tiberius,  Emperor,  16. 
Tigurini,  the,  44. 
Tilly,  Count,  330. 

—  burning  and  carnage  of 

Magdeburg  by,  330. 

death  of,  333. 

defeat  of,  332. 

Titheland,  the  Roman,  41. 
Toplitz,  the  battle  of,  456. 
Torgau,  the  battle  of.  403. 

league  of,  267. 

surrender  of,  289. 


|  Torstenson,  General,  343. 
I  Totilas  the  Goth,  80. 
Toulon  captured  by  the  British,  419. 
Tournay,  the  battle  of,  420. 
Tours,  the  battle  of,  88. 

the  school  of,  104. 

Trade  of  the  ancient  Germans,  31. 
Tranquillity,  internal,  117,  208. 
Translation  of  the  New  Testament  into 
German  by  Martin  Lu- 
ther, 261. 
-  into  Gothic  by  Ulphilas,  67. 


Treaty  of  peace  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  361. 

Treaty  of  Westphalia,  347. 

Trebia,  the  battles  of,  426. 

Trent,  the  Council  of,  292,  304. 

Tresians,  the,  21. 

Treves,  the  writers  of,  165. 

Treviri,  the,  40,  50. 

Tribes,  the  confederations  of  the,  64-66. 

distribution  of  the,  76. 

migrations  of  the,  71. 


Tribocki,  the,  49. 

Triboni,  the,  40. 

Tribunal,  the  Secret,  203. 

Triumph  of  Charles  V.  in  Africa,  273. 

Triumph  of  German  literature,  413. 

Triumph  of  the  Swiss,  221. 

Troubadours,  the,  191,  192. 

TrucTisess  of  Waldburg,  2G3. 

"Trutz  Kaiser,"  the,  229. 

"Trutz  Pappenheim,"  the  fort,  230. 

"Trutz  Tilly,"  tJi*  fort.  SS5. 

Tubanti,  the,  &i 

Tungi,  the,  20 

Tunis,  the  battle  of,  273. 

Turcilingi,  the,  39. 

Turenne,  General,  344,  355. 

Turin,  the  battle  of,  369. 

Turkey,  war  between  and  Russia,  414. 

Turks,  the,  155,  227. 

conquest  of  Constantinople  by, 

227. 

defeat  of,  271. 

devastations  of,  247. 

overthrow  of,  228,  359. 

Tuscany,    Matilda,    countess    of,    and 
Pope  Gregory  VII.,  150. 

the  prophets  of,  70. 


Two  kings  of  Spain,  364. 
Tyrol,  297. 

invasion  of,  by  Bavaria,  366. 


Tyrolese,  the,  366. 

UBI,  the,  40. 

Ulm,  the  battle  of,  432. 

Ulphilas,  Gothic  translation  of  the  New 

Testament  by,  67 
Ulric  of  Hutten,  257. 
Ulric  of  Pfirt,  219. 
Ulric  of  Wiirtemberg,  248,  280. 
Ulric  Zwingli,  276. 
Union  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  238 
Union  of  Wiirtemberg,  242. 
Unions  of  Tribes,  26. 
Urban  II.,  Pope,  152.  155. 
Urban  III.,  Pope,  169 
Usipeti,  the,  32. 

VAGRIA,  in  Holstein,  86. 

Vain  attempts  to  reconcile  the  Protest- 
ants and  Papists,  277. 

Valdez,  the  Spaniard,  at  the  diet  of 
Worms,  260. 

Valens,  the  emperor,  68. 

Valentinian  III.,  emperor,  75. 

Valerius  Maxirnus,  16. 

Van  der  Noot,  of  Brabant,  417 

Vandals,  the,  29,  72. 


Vandamme,  General,  454. 
Vangioni,  the,  40. 
Vannius  of  the  Sucvi,  -27. 
Varini,  the,  36. 

Varus  the  Roman,  34,  54,  56,  50. 
Vassalage,  182. 
Vehnigericht,  the.  201. 
Veiblingers,  the,  157. 
Veleda  the  prophetess,  30,  62. 
Velleius  Paterculus,  16. 
Vendome,  duke  of,  332. 
Venedi,  the,  38,  111. 
Venetians,  the,  236. 
Venice,  peace  of,  167. 

subjection  of,  to  Austria,  lit 

Verdungus,  the  astronomer,  3'21. 

Veffemte,  the,  203. 

Verona,  the  battle  of,  80. 

Versailles,  the  treaty  of,  383. 

Versontio,  the  city  of,  48. 

Vespers,  the  Sicilian,  massacre  at    71 

Vices  of  the  Romish  priests,  251. 

Victor  II.,  Pope,  140. 

Victor  III.,  Pope,  162 

Vienna,  the  city  of,  63. 

battle  of,  78. 

battle  at,  with  the  Turks,  1683 

358. 

battle  near,  1809,  439. 

capture  of,  by  Napoleon,  43<l 

439. 

concordat  of,  227. 

congress  of,  472A«r- 

peace  of,  441.  V 

revolt  of,  329. 


-  siege  of,  by  the  Turks,  358. 

-  siege  of  Frederick  in,  229. 

-  university  of,  222. 
Villars,  Marshal,  371. 
Villeroi,  Marshal,  309. 

Vincis,  Petrus  de,  the  traitor,  J74. 
Vinilians,  the,  20. 
Viridomar,  the  Gaul,  20 
Vironne,  the  battle  of,  78. 
Visconti,  the  house  of,  236. 
Vispanius  Agrippa,  the  Roman,  40 
Vitellius  the  Roman,  59. 
Vittoria,  the  battle  of,  455. 
Vogt,  the,  196,  212. 
Voltaire  at  Berlin,  412. 
Vopiscus  the  historian,  65 
Vulturnus,  the  bridge  of,  175. 

WACHAU,  the  battle  of,  458. 
Wagram,  the  battle  of,  440. 
Wahlstadt,  the  battle  of,  172. 
Walcheren,  defeat   of  the  British  at. 

440. 

Wallachia,  seized  by  Russia.  414. 
Wallenstein,  321. 
--  and  the  emperor,  334. 

-  appointed  generalissimo, 


---  army  of,  325,  326. 
--  character  of,  322. 
--  confiscation  of  the  ontato 
of,  340. 

-  conspiracy  against,  339 

-  declaration  of,  340. 

-  dismissal  of,  326,  339. 
--  duke  of  Mecklenburg,  321 
--  in  Denmark.  323. 

-  murder  of,  340. 

-  retreat  of,  336. 

-  siege  of  Stralsund  by.  321 
Wallia  the  Goth,  71. 

War  between  France    and  Germany 

266,  354,  360. 
War,  declaration  of,  by  Austria  againsf 

France,  438. 

War,  declaration  of,  by  France,  419. 
War-regulations  of   the  ancient  Go* 

mans,  27. 

War,  the  Silesian,  377. 
Waisen,  the,  of  Bohemia,  226. 
Wartburg,  Luther  at,  261. 
Wartenburg,  the  battle  of,  456 
Waterloo,  the  battle  of,  472. 
Weinsberg,  the  siege  of,  158. 
Weissenberg,  the  battle  of,  319. 
Weisthiimer,  the  200. 


iiNDEX. 


VVenceslas,  the  Bohemian,  201,224 

deposition  of,  221. 

Wendish  league,  the,  188. 
Wenzeslaus,  the  Bohemian,  118. 
Werner  of  Kyburg,  138,  190. 
Wi-rner  of  Mentz,  205. 
Western  empire,  the  renewal  of,  12C. 
Westphalia,  32,  200. 

treaty  of,  346.  347^ 

UYstphalian  league,  the,  188.""" 
Westphalians,  the,  66. 
\\VMro  Goths,  the,  60,  7-2. 
Widukind,  the  historian,  117. 
William  III.  of  Britain,  3t>0,  364. 

— death  of.  366. 

William  of  Holland,  177. 
William  of  Utrecht,  149. 
William  Tell,  211. 
Willihrod,  the  monk,  85. 
Willigis  of  Mentz,  131. 
Wlmpfcn,  the  battle  of,  320. 
Windiler,  the,  20. 
Winefred  of  Mentz,  86. 
Winterfcld,  General,  386,  390 


Wippo,  the  hiographer  and  poet,  137, 

141. 

Wittekind,  the  Saxon,  92. 
Wittelsbach,  the  house  of,  180. 
Wittenberg,  Charles  V.  at,  290. 

riots  at,  261. 

the  house  of,  1FO. 

university  of,  256 

Wittstock,  the  battle  of,  342. 
Wladislas,  Jagello,  233. 
Wladislas  of  Bohemia,  160. 
Wladislas  of  Hungary,  228. 
Wodan,  the  German  idol,  30. 
Wolfgang,  William,  312. 
Wolfram  of  Eschenbach,  191. 
Wolfram  the  knight,  136. 
Worms,  assembly  of  prelates  at,  148. 

desolation  of,  361. 

diet  of,  1495,  243. 

diet  of,  1521,  259. 

diet  of,  1545,  277. 

edict  of,  260. 

Luther  at,  259. 

Wrede  of  Bavaria.  404. 


Wurmscr,  General,  423. 
Wurtemberg,  union  of,  242. 
Wyclifle,  John,  the  Reformer,  224. 
Wyd,  the,  202. 

XERES  dexja  Frontcra,  the  battle  of.  W 

,A 

YORK,  the  school  of,  104. 

ZACHARY,  Pope,  186. 

Zilhringen,  the  house  of,  181. 

Zeal  of  Frederick  the  emperor  for  e<la 

cation  and  science,  175. 
Zeithen,  General,  387. 
Zeitz,  the  battle  of,  456. 
Zend  language,  the,  15. 
Zeno,  the  battle  of,  79. 
Zorndorf,  the  battle  of,  304. 
Zuider  Zee,  the,  51. 
Zulpich,  the  battle  of,  78. 
Zurich,  the  battle  of,  427. 
Zurichers,  the,  44. 
Zwentibolt  of  Moravia,  109. 
Zwingli,  Ulric,  the  Swiss  Hef«>ra»er,  271 


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